The No. 12 Stanford Cardinal (16-5, 8-1) won their 59th straight game over the Washington State Cougars (13-7,4-5) in Palo Alto, Calf. on Saturday, 75-56. Washington State was unable to stop the Cardinal in the paint throughout the contest, and Stanford took advantage. Stanford did a great job of shutting down shooting guard Tia Presley throughout the game.

Stanford’s defense completely shut down Tia Presley. (Courtesy of College Sports 360)

Stanford took control of this game straight out of the halftime locker room with a 6-0 run to retake the lead, after trailing 39-37 at the half. Senior guard Amber Orrange was a key part of that run as she scored four of those six points. The closest WSU would get in the second half was when Presley hit a three pointer to close within one, 43-42. But from that point on it was all Stanford.

The three-point bucket that Presley hit at the beginning of the second half was the first shot from the field she had hit all game. As she had gone 0-3 from the field — and 0-1 from three-point land — during the first half. Stanford did a great job of keeping a defender in Presley’s face throughout the contest and not letting drive into the lane. Presley ended up scoring four points, that three-pointer and one free throw.

Despite Presley’s struggles, the Cougar offense was clicking in the first half as they scored 39 points while shooting 43.1% from the field. Washington State was using a trap defense to generate turnovers and quickly get the ball back into its offense, especially Lia Galdeira.

Galdeira fouled out of the game with two minutes left. She led all scorers with 18 points, Galdeira also pulled in nine rebounds and was one a way from a double-double when she fouled out.

Stanford figured out how to break the Cougars trap defense during the break, and the Cardinal stopped turning the ball over. This put a lot of pressure on WSU’s defense to seal the lanes and keep the Cardinal from getting the easy lay-ups that they had gotten at the start of the game, and the second half. Unfortunately, Washington State was unable to keep Stanford’s offense out of the paint, and the Cardinal took advantage, to the tune of 38 points.

Next-up for the Cougars is a trip to Berkley, Calif. to take on the California Golden Bears at 5 pm on Monday, February 2nd. This game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.

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