SEATTLE — An unexpected rally has Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer on the cusp of more college basketball history.
Career win No. 999 for VanDerveer was one of the wilder ones in recent memory and maybe had a little tinge of revenge.
“Might have been one of the harder ones,” VanDerveer said. “That’s a number I’ll remember up here.”
Briana Roberson sparked a second-half rally with 14 points, Brittany McPhee led No. 10 Stanford with 17 points and the Cardinal rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit to beat No. 7 Washington 72-68 on Sunday night.
Even the greatness of Washington star Kelsey Plum couldn’t deny the Cardinal (19-3, 9-1 Pac-12) an impressive road victory and a bit of payback for two losses to the Huskies (20-3, 8-2) last year. Washington beat Stanford in the 2016 Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals then toppled the Cardinal in the Elite Eight as the Huskies reached the Final Four for the first time in school history.
This time it was Stanford making all the important shots in the closing minutes to stay on top of the Pac-12 standings with Oregon State.
“I’m really proud of our team; the fight we showed the resilience we showed,” VanDerveer said.
Plum scored 44 points and moved into third place in the NCAA career scoring list, before fouling out in the closing seconds. But while Plum carried the Huskies, her supporting cast provided very little and allowed the Cardinal a chance to rally. She made seven 3-pointers, but her final attempt with 6 seconds remaining bounced twice on the rim and fell off. It was her only 3-point miss and could have pulled the Huskies even.
She was 17 of 27 overall and the 44 points were one off her career high. Aside from Plum, the Huskies were 6-of-37 shooting.
“Graduation for Kelsey Plum doesn’t come soon enough for me,” VanDerveer said.
The largest crowd ever to see a Washington women’s basketball home game — a sellout of 10,000 — included Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. They were treated to a dazzling performance by Plum, but one that came in a losing effort.
Plum was more irritated than invigorated after the loss partly because of foul trouble. Plum picked up her fourth foul in the closing moments of the third quarter on an illegal screen. She had to be subbed offense-for-defense in the fourth quarter and sat nearly four minutes.
“If anything it’s a no-call or a foul on her. I didn’t move or anything like that,” Plum said. “I think that completely changed the momentum of the game and was really unfortunate.”
Roberson had scored in double figures only once in conference play but sparked the Cardinal with a pair of 3s late in the third quarter and the first five points of the fourth quarter to pull Stanford even at 55-55 with 9 minutes left. McPhee’s driving basket with 8:27 left gave Stanford its first lead since 2-0 and the teams exchanged the lead four more times into the closing minutes.
After Washington went ahead 66-62, Stanford scored six straight points, capped by McPhee’s steal and layup for a 68-66 lead with 1:17 remaining. Natalie Romeo missed a runner in the lane and Stanford made 4 of 6 free throws in the closing minute.
“Tara basically got on me to look at the basket and let the shots fly,” Roberson said. “Teammates did a very good job of finding me. It’s awesome to see what no hesitation does and confidence and looking for the first shot.”
Washington led 45-33 at halftime in part to 11 made 3-pointers, while Stanford was just 1 of 11 from deep. That flipped in the second half. Washington had just one 3-pointer in the second half; Stanford made five.
During the second quarter, Plum moved past Jerica Coley and Lorri Bauman and into fourth on the NCAA career scoring list as the Huskies took a 45-33 lead to the half. And she moved into third past Patricia Hoskins on a driving layup less than 3 minutes into the second half.
While Plum moved up three spots on the all-time scoring list, it’ll be a while before she’s catching anyone else. She now trails second-place Brittney Griner by 145 points.
