Stanford women's basketball suffers first loss of season to Indiana on the road

Time for the Cardinal to learn and grow and get better for next game.

Indiana's Sydney Parrish (33) defends Stanford's Brooke Demetre (21) during the Indiana versus Stanford women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It was a good run, but the first loss of the Kate Paye era has occurred for Stanford. On Sunday afternoon, the Stanford Cardinal (4-1) played on the road for the first time this season and took on Indiana. Despite a hard fought battle they were unable to come away with the win, falling to the Hoosiers 79-66.

Nunu Agara and Brooke Demetre both put together strong games and led the way for Stanford, but the strong play from Indiana’s Chloe Moore-McNeil (21 points, two assists, two rebounds), Yarden Garzon (18 points, eight rebounds, three assists) and Shay Ciezki (19 points, three rebounds, two assists) was too much as they managed to pull away late in the game to win. 

Indiana's Yarden Garzon (12) shoots over Stanford's Nunu Agara (3) during the Indiana versus Stanford women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Agara finished with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists while Demetre finished with 14 points seven rebounds and an assist.

To start the game, the Cardinal made nine out of their first 13 shots but unfortunately, the Hoosiers were also on fire as they managed to go 9-for-14 on shots in the first quarter, leading 24-22 after one.

The second quarter started off well for the Cardinal, as Jzaniya Harriel managed to get to the free throw line and convert on both of her shots to get Stanford within two points. However, Indiana took total control from there, going on a 14-0 run for the next five minutes allowing them to lead 42-31 at the end of the first half.

During the second quarter run, the Cardinal missed eight shots as they went nearly 10 minutes without scoring, Demetre ended the drought when she scored off a jump shot with 2:35 left in the half.

The Cardinal really struggled with scoring for a large portion of the game, shooting only 26% (8-for-30) combined between the second and third quarter, but luckily they were able to keep things close through the third quarter. Demetre made two free throws after being fouled on a rebound attempt to cut the deficit to only single digits. 

With Stanford down 67-57 with under four minutes to go in the game, Indiana’s Lilly Mesiter and Ciezki got hot, with Mesiter scoring Indiana’s next four points at the free throw line and Ciezki making a big layup to put the Hoosiers up 16 with just over two minutes left in the game. Despite the Cardinal making their final nine shots and shooting 50% (9-for-18) from the field in the final quarter, it was too little too late as the final Indiana run put the nail in the coffin.

In addition to the big games from Demetre and Agara, other notables for Stanford include Courtney Ogden (10 points) and Chloe Clardy (10 points, two rebounds, steal). 

Off for the next few days, Stanford returns to action when it hosts Morgan State inside Maples Pavilion on Friday, Nov. 22. Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (PT) and will air on ACC Network Extra.