By Daniel Martinez-Krams on December 18, 2019

Once again playing like the top-ranked team in the country, Stanford (10-0, 0-0 Pac-12) stomped Tennessee (8-2, 0-0 SEC) 78-51 in Maples Pavilion on Wednesday night. Junior guard Kiana Williams led the way with 19 points, shooting 7-of-13 from the field, 2-of-4 from range, hauling in four rebounds and dishing seven assists.



Williams now has 1,002 points in her Cardinal career.



“We’ve got to take pride in our defense,” Williams said. “We have a lot of weapons on offense so I think it comes down to getting stops on defense and making sure we’re executing our game plan.”



Sophomore guard Lexie Hull was a rebound away from a double-double with 11 points. Freshman forward Fran Belibi had seven points, three rebounds and three blocks before fouling out.



“People are really working hard at both ends of the court and they’re encouraging each other, which I think is so special,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said.



Despite not scoring in the past three contests, freshman forward Ashten Prechtel dropped 10 points and went 2-for-5 from beyond the arc. Prechtel added eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks.



Although it was not the best night for Hannah Jump, who was 2-for-8 from the field all from 3-point distance, the freshman guard sank a three in transition when Tennessee denied the lane to Williams.



On one Tennessee possession in the fourth quarter, Prechtel blocked two separate shot attempts before Hull contributed a third to force a shot clock violation. In total, Stanford had nine blocks.



While Tennessee came into the contest with a +17.1 rebound margin, the best in the country, Stanford was plus-six on the night.



“To out rebound them is a feat in itself,” VanDerveer said.



After a season-high 21 turnovers last time out, the Cardinal limited the total to a more manageable 13.

Stanford is missing senior guard DiJonai Carrington due to a knee issue and junior forward Maya Dodson with a foot injury. Sophomore guard Lacie Hull, who was unavailable last game, was back on the court for nine minutes with a steal.



Enchanted by the long ball, Stanford launched 30 and knocked down 11. Trying to keep pace, Tennessee chucked up 19 but could only connect on five. Forward Rennia Davis made eight of the first 12 points for her team and all but one of the Vols’ 3-pointers.



On the night, Davis shot just 5-of-20 but made 40% of her 3-point attempts. Guard Jordan Horston, the only other Volunteer to contribute meaningful scoring with nine points, was 0-for-3 from deep.



The win was just the 12th for the Cardinal in the 37-game series history between the two storied programs and the 27-point margin the largest for either side.

Contact Daniel Martinez-Krams at danielmk ‘at’ stanford.edu.

