Welcome to Pac-12 play. Everywhere you looked Friday night there was a body.
If it wasn’t Stanford’s 6-foot-4 inch Alanna Smith tipping a pass from Arizona’s Lucia Alonso, it was one of her teammates boxing out for a rebound.
And boy, did Stanford rebound.
No. 24 Stanford dominated the glass and cruised to a 61-46 victory Friday night over the Wildcats at McKale Center.
The Cardinal (9-6, 3-0 Pac-12) out-rebounded the Wildcats 51-32, and had 25 offensive boards.
“Rebounding was a thorn in our side,” said UA coach Adia Barnes. “Twenty-five offensive rebounds. It felt like 40. The challenge playing a 2-3 zone is rebounding. I thought the zone, was effective, as they were 6 of 27 from the three. Although, in the zone, when they take three’s the rebounds are long.
“It can be deflating mentally, but we didn’t play awful. We executed our game plan, but didn’t get the stops. You can’t give up an 8-0 run and be down 14. That’s a challenge we will have.”
The Wildcats (4-10, 0-3 Pac-12) were outscored 23-11 in that first quarter, yet fought back and played the Cardinal mostly even the rest of the way.
“Stanford is so smart,” said UA’s Sam Thomas. “They knew our offense and our personnel. We had to find something different to contribute. I think at the end we did.”
With 5:09 left in the first quarter, Destiny Graham got smashed between two Stanford bigs, and tweaked her knee.
Graham would be back with less than two minutes in the quarter to gut it out. She finished with four points and seven rebounds.
She isn’t the first Wildcat to be injured in Pac-12 play. Thomas got a black eye in the Utah game and teammate Marlee Kyles had a concussion. Kyles didn’t feel the symptoms until the following day.
She sat out against Colorado and Stanford and is day-to-day.
Thomas, who finished with 10 points, said it’s been an eye-opener and that she didn’t realize it would be so physical.
Alonso was the only other Wildcat in double figures, with 15 points.
Rim shots
Adia Barnes’ Radio Show kicks off this Monday at 6 p.m. at Brother John’s BBQ at 1801 N. Stone. Barnes’ show airs every Monday through Feb. 26.
After Monday, the show will be at Abuela’s Cocina Mexicana, at 60 N. Alvernon Way.
The show is one hour and is hosted by UA’s play-by-play announcer Derrick Palmer. It can be heard on KTUC 1400-AM.
