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Jones scores 24 as Stanford beats Washington State 82-44

Posted January 02, 2022 6:00 am

By CHRIS MITCHELL

Washington State head coach Kamie Ethridge directs her team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Stanford, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) The Associated Press

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) - Second-ranked Stanford was down six players heading into Sunday's game at Washington State, but it didn't make much difference.

Haley Jones scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as Stanford pounded Washington State 82-44, extending its all-time record to 70-0 against the Cougars. Jones,a junior guard, also led the Cardinal with three assists.

Kiki Iriafen scored 13 points and Hannah Jump and Fran Belibi added 10 points each for Stanford (9-3, 1-0 Pac-12), which did not drop in the rankings after losing at No. 1 South Carolina 65-61 in its previous game on Dec. 21.

'œIt's a great, great win for our team,'ť Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. 'œA lot of different people stepped up. Haley had a really good game. Anna Wilson gave us great minutes.'ť

With the Gamecocks loss to Missouri earlier this week the Cardinal could move to No. 1 on Monday when the new poll comes out.

VanDerveer said five of the six players were out for COVID-19 protocols, the sixth was in a car accident, but is OK.

'œHoping we'll get people back next week,'ť the Hall of Fame coach said. 'œThis is the world we live in. I'm really excited that we had a lot of different people ready to play today.'ť

Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 15 points and sister Krystal Leger-Walker added 12 for Washington State (9-4, 1-1), which was coming off a win over California. Charlisse Leger-Walker has scored in double figures for eight straight games, but she made just 7-of-21 shots against the Cardinal.

Stanford, the defending national champions, may have been short of players, but the Cougars could not capitalize on that advantage.

Stanford led 36-26 at halftime, but outscored the Cougars 46-18 in the final two quarters. Washington State's three points in the fourth quarter were their lowest total for a quarter this season.

Washington State shot just 31% in the game and committed 20 turnovers.

'œWe were bad in every phase,'ť Washington State coach Kamie Ethridge said. 'œClearly we need to work on offense. We don't know what we're doing at times.'ť

'œWe have to find a post, or we have got to learn to play without one," Ethridge said of WSU's poor inside play. Center Bella Murekatete had just two points for the Cougars.

'œHaley was really dominant in the post and the paint,'ť Ethridge added of Jones

THE STREAK

Stanford and Washington State first played in 1983, and the Cougars are still looking for their first victory. Ethridge said the statistic is somewhat meaningless to her current players. 'œI think that is more of an indication of how good Stanford has been forever,'ť she said.

STANFORD STATS

The Cardinal shot 46% from the floor, made 13 of 16 free throws and won the rebound battle 48-34.

NO FREEBIES

Washington State shot just four free throws, making two.

BIG PICTURE

Stanford: A strong showing for a team missing so many pieces. The Cardinal are heading into conference play in the right direction. Stanford has a balanced scoring attack, as five players average 8.5-or-more points per game. Cameron Brink, who leads Stanford at 13.2 ppg, was one of five players who did not make the trip to Pullman.

Washington State: The Cougars came in allowing just 55.9 points per game., but could not stop the Cardinal, who scored 44 in the paint. The Cougars are the only team in the Pac-12 to play two conference games this weekend, as the rest of the league had to postpone games due to COVID-19 protocols.

UP NEXT

Stanford hosts Oregon on Friday.

Washington State has another tough game as the Cougars play at No. 4 Arizona on Friday.

___

More AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer directs her team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Washington State, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) The Associated Press

Stanford guard Haley Jones grabs a rebound during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Washington State, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) The Associated Press

Washington State center Bella Murekatete, right, grabs a rebound against Stanford forward Francesca Belibi during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) The Associated Press

Stanford guard Haley Jones (30) shoots over Washington State guard Krystal Leger-Walker (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) The Associated Press

Washington State guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, right, shoots over Stanford guard Lexie Hull during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) The Associated Press

Washington State guard Krystal Leger-Walker (4) grabs a rebound against Stanford guard Haley Jones (30) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) The Associated Press

Stanford guard Lexie Hull, right, fights for control of a rebound against Washington State center Bella Murekatete during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) The Associated Press

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