The NCAA women’s basketball tournament in San Antonio came to a conclusion on Sunday, with Stanford nipping Arizona 54-53 in a showdown between Pac-12 teams at the Alamodome.
Here are three takeaways from the championship game:

Tough enough: Stanford’s offense, with its pinpoint passing, off-the-ball movement and non-verbal communication that seemingly leads to high-percentage shots, is a thing of beauty. The free-flowing attack and 3-point shooting, though, could easily lead to the perception that the Cardinal were a finesse team.

Stanford erased any notion of such a stigma this weekend. The Wildcats edged Arizona 54-53 in the final on Sunday, only 48 hours after clipping South Carolina 66-65 in the semifinals. Both games came down to a missed shot at the buzzer, making Stanford the first team, women’s or men’s, to win both its final and semifinal games each by a point.

“I said this game was not a pretty game, but it was a gritty game,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said of the Arizona contest. “We had to dig in. They’re very athletic. They’re very quick. They’re very fast. At this level, sometimes they really let a lot of physical play go. We had to toughen up. We had to dig in. I’m really proud of our team for doing that. I think our grit and resilience really helped us get the nets.”

One need not look any further than how the Cardinal were able to contain Arizona’s high-scoring guard Aari McDonald, who had averaged 30 points in her previous three tournament games. McDonald finished with 22 points, connecting on only 5 of 21 shots.

The stingy defense helped Stanford overcome 21 turnovers. On the game’s final sequence, McDonald as initially guarded by Stanford senior Anna Wilson, but teammates Lexie Hull and Cameron Brink joined in and forced McDonald into a contested jumper that bounced off the back rim as time expired. McDonald made 16 of 63 attempts (25.4 percent) in three games this season vs. Stanford. The Wildcats made only 17 of 60 shots (28.3 percent) on Sunday.

“I was just like, ‘Oh, please, God, don’t go in,’ ” Stanford guard Haley Jones said of McDonald’s potential game-winning shot. “We had like three people on her. They were suffocating her. She’s a great player. We knew she would be the one taking the shot.”

Haley Jones led Stanford with 17 points and eight rebounds and was named the game’s most outstanding player. Hull added 10 points and 10 rebounds and was named all-tournament, while Brink tallied 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Well worth the journey: Because of the coronavirus pandemic, all teams had to adjust to strict protocols (testing and social distancing) in order to have a season.

Perhaps no team, though, had its everyday existence upended than Stanford. Because of COVID-19 regulations in Santa Clara County, where Stanford is located, the Cardinal spent 2 1/2 months on the road and in hotels.
Stanford was prepared for “bubble-like” atmosphere of the NCAA basketball tournament the last three weeks in San Antonio.

“I don’t think any other team in this tournament had to live out of a suitcase, live out of a hotel for 10 weeks during a season,” said Stanford senior guard Kiana Williams, a Wagner graduate. “We had to do that because that’s how bad we wanted to play. We couldn’t play at Stanford at our arena at Maples, so we had to go elsewhere. We went to (Las) Vegas, then we were in L.A., then we were at the (Golden State) Warriors’ facility (in San Francisco). The adversity we’ve been through this entire year, we didn’t want to go through all that for no reason.”

The start of something: Arizona enjoyed a landmark season, playing for its first national championship and earning its first appearance in a Final Four. While the Wildcats are expected to lose high-scoring guard Aari McDonald to the WNBA, they will try to get Sam Thomas and Trinity Baptiste to return for an extra season awarded by the NCAA because of the pandemic.

With Thomas and Baptiste potentially in the fold, Arizona will have a nucleus to build around. Incoming recruits Aaronette Vonleh, Madison Conner and Anna Gret Asi could provide a boost for next season. Vonleh is a five-star post player, Conner is a four-star guard and Asi is a combination guard from Estonia. The Wildcats are also poised to sign one of the nation’s top classes in 2022. Arizona has already received a commitment from Kailyn Gilbert, a high-scoring guard out of Florida, and is also being considered by four other top-20 prospects.

“We want to come back here,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “I’m trying to build a program like Tara (VanDerveer) has, build a program like Geno (Auriemma) and Dawn (Staley), all the other trailblazers in this profession. I’m not satisfied with just being here, being in the tournament. I want to build a program where you’re surprised when they don’t win. Like when you look at Tara, Geno, Dawn, it’s surprising if they don’t win a championship; it’s a disappointment. I don’t want to come here once and be done.”

By the numbers
4: Coaches who have won three national championships. Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer accomplished the feat on Sunday and joined Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma, Baylor’s Kim Mulkey and the late Pat Summitt of Tennessee.

6: Number of area athletes who have won NCAA Division I women’s basketball national championships — Wagner’s Kiana Williams, Jay’s Clarissa Davis, Roosevelt’s Michelle Thomas, Poth’s Gwen Gillingham, Cornerstone’s Sune Agbuke and East Central’s NaLyssa Smith.

Williams paced Stanford to a title with Sunday’s 54-53 win vs. Arizona. Davis helped Texas become the first team to claim an undefeated crown, earning MVP of the Final Four after the Longhorns topped Southern California 97-81 in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1986. USC featured Cheryl Miller and Cynthia Cooper.

Thomas was a freshman when Texas Tech edged Ohio State 84-82 in Atlanta behind Sheryl Swoopes’ title-game record 47 points. Thomas died last August at age 47. In 1994, the 6-foot-7 Gillingham was a top reserve as the Tar Heels nipped Louisiana Tech 60-59 on Charlotte Smith’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Agbuke played but didn’t record any statistics as Baylor used a big second half to pull away and defeat Notre Dame 80-61 in the 2012 final in Denver. Brittney Griner recorded 26 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks for the Bears (40-0).
In 2012, Smith tallied 14 points in 17 minutes — eight in the final 11 minutes after Lauren Cox, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, suffered a knee injury — and helped propel Baylor past Notre Dame 82-81 in Tampa, Fla.

Quotable quotes
“I never really thought about it. This isn’t why I coach. I wanted to be a teacher. Each year is a great year. I enjoy working with all our players. … It was a very, very tough tournament to play the three games in a week, to deal with all the COVID stuff, I’m so proud of our team.” — Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer on 29 years between winning titles

“I never doubted this team for one minute. Tara kept telling us after every practice, in the locker room, in between games and stuff that we’re the best team here. We just have to go out there and prove it. I feel like we were ranked No. 1 for a reason, but also rankings don’t matter. The tournament was in one location so nobody really had an advantage, although this is my hometown, so I feel like we were the home team. We had to go out there and give it our all and fight. The last two, three games were dogfights. We came out on top because we wanted it more.” — Stanford senior guard and Wagner graduate Kiana Williams

“To be at the same school for so many years, have sustained success, shows what a phenomenal coach she is. So much time, that she’s still coaching at this level, having so much success, speaks volumes to her and who she is, what she does. I’m very happy for Tara. I think she’s amazing. She’s helped me since I became the coach at Arizona. She’s believed in me. She’s given me advice, constructive criticism. She’s always cheering for me. She always says she cheers for me except for one time in the year, when we play each other. She’s one of the best there is.” — Arizona coach Adia Barnes on Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer‘s longevity

“Honestly, you never know. She’s made some wild shots because she’s just that great. You hope it doesn’t go in. I didn’t really have an idea. When the buzzer went off, I didn’t really realize what happened. I think if you go back and watch, I kind of stood there for a second. It hadn’t clicked that we actually just won and the shot didn’t go in. I really had no thoughts. My mind was completely blank when she shot the ball. There’s three people there, that’s all you can do. It not up to us any more at that point.” — Stanford guard Haley Jones on Arizona’s Aari McDonald’s desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer

“I’m not ashamed. Like, we made it to the championship game. We came within a basket of winning a national championship. So I’m proud. It’s hard. It does hurt. But I can’t ask for anything more of this team. To shoot 28 percent and come within one point, 27 percent from the three, lose by one point. We did some other things really well, so I’m proud. No one thought we would be playing a championship game. They did everything I asked. It’s just the shots didn’t fall and the little things we weren’t able to execute on.” — Arizona coach Adia Barnes on her team

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