3 takeaways from Utah Valley women’s 43-point loss to Stanford in Wolverines’ NCAA Tournament debut

Stanford guard Kiana Williams (23) watches her three-point shot while being guarded by Utah Valley center Josie Williams (40) during the second half of a college basketball game in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Sunday, March 21, 2021. | Charlie Riedel, Associated Press

Utah Valley women’s basketball team went into its first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history as a large underdog against top seed Stanford on Sunday.

The final score, 87-44, reflected the lopsided nature of the matchup between a first-time NCAA team and a Cardinal program under coach Tara VanDerveer that routinely makes deep runs in the national tournament.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

• Stanford took control early, getting out to a 20-3 lead before finishing the first-quarter ahead 29-9. It didn’t get better from there, as the Cardinal outscored UVU 24-11 in the second quarter to take a 53-20 lead into the break, and Stanford outscored the Wolverines in every quarter.
• The Cardinal (26-2) were dominant in most every statistical category, shooting 55.2% (to 23.5% for the Wolverines) while hitting 15 3-pointers and putting up 24 assists, 40 rebounds and eight blocks. Kiana Williams led the way with 20 points, including six 3-pointers, and three assists.
• The Wolverines (13-7) put up a better effort in the second half and were outscored only 34-24 after the break. One of the bright spots for UVU was junior Josie Williams, a Roy High alum who had 18 points on 5 of 9 shooting, five rebounds and a block as the Wolverines made program history.

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