Chloe Clardy had 12 points in her return to the lineup. Credit: GoStanford.com

On Sunday, Stanford women’s basketball defeated No. 16 North Carolina on the road in overtime by a final score of 77-71. Stanford junior wing Courtney Ogden led the way for the Cardinal with 21 points and four rebounds while freshman forward Lara Somfai had 13 points and eight rebounds. North Carolina senior forward Nyla Harris led the way for the Tarheels with 18 points and five rebounds while junior forward Ceira Toomey had 16 points and five rebounds.

BOX SCORE: Stanford at North Carolina-Sunday, January 4th

North Carolina led Stanford 18-14 at the end of the 1st quarter. Elina Aarnisalo led the Tarheels with eight points, while Lara Somfai led the Cardinal with eight points. It was a tight game up to that point.

At halftime, North Carolina was ahead 34-29. Aarnisalo led the Tarheels with 12 points on 4-5 shooting from the field, 2-2 shooting from 3-point range, and 2-2 shooting from the foul line. Stanford needed to slow her down. Somfai continued to play well for Stanford with 11 points and five rebounds.

By the end of the 3rd quarter, North Carolina led Stanford 54-50. Ogden hit a huge 3-pointer to beat the buzzer for Stanford, bringing her total to 13 points. The Cardinal stayed close but needed to find a way to pull ahead.

When Ogden reached 19 points for the Cardinal, the score was tied at 65-65 with 9.0 seconds left. Stanford called for time, but Chloe Clardy was unable to get a bucket inside to fall. The game went to overtime.

In overtime, Stanford defeated No. 16 North Carolina 77-71 in overtime. The Cardinal secured a ranked win on the road—a huge bounce-back victory, similar to the men’s team’s win against No. 16 Louisville. Ogden (21 points), Somfai (13 points & 8 rebounds), Clardy (12 points), and Alexandra Eschmeyer (10 points) did a nice job of providing a balanced attack.

What made this win all the more impressive for Stanford was the fact that they won despite Nunu Agara fouling out before overtime hit while scoring just six points. On top of that, Somfai was able to stay on the floor despite picking up her fourth foul before regulation ended. She ended up playing 38 minutes. Stanford had plenty of excuses to lose this game, but instead they found a way to come out on top. Chloe Clardy returning to the lineup after being out due to an illness/concussion protocol made a real difference.

The two biggest stats that pop out is Stanford out-rebounding North Carolina 40-28 while also shooting 15-18 (83.3%) from the foul line compared to North Carolina’s 18-30 (60.0%) shooting from the field. While North Carolina got to the foul line a lot more, Stanford did a much better job of making their foul shots when they got there. Talana Lepolo was a perfect 4-4 from the foul line and is now a perfect 14-14 on the season. Stanford made the plays they needed to in crunch time and took advantage of opportunities that North Carolina gave them. The Tarheels left the door open and the Cardinal did a great job of walking through that door.

What also makes this a big win for Stanford is that this came after a disappointing 74-46 loss at NC State. It’s easy to get down on yourself after a tough loss. Instead, Kate Paye and her staff did a great job of getting the team to put that loss in the rear view mirror and put all their energies into defeating a ranked North Carolina team. After not defeating a ranked team last season, Stanford has defeated two this season, defeating then-No. 22 Washington on December 19th. That’s a real sign of progress.

Up next for Stanford is a home game against Wake Forest on Thursday, January 8th. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX.

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