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With dozens of close friends and family in the stands, the town star was struggling in the biggest game of the year. Kiana Williams had missed 11 consecutive shots and her Stanford Cardinal was in its biggest halftime deficit in the past four years.
Within minutes of the start of the third, Williams finally got one. On the way back to the field, she shook her head in shock and turned her hands around as if to say, “Alright. Now let’s go.” From there it was all Cardinal.
“Once I got that first shot, things started for us,” said Williams.
The overall seeded Stanford overcame a cold shooting streak to lose second seed Louisville, 78-63, and advance to the Final Four. Despite a spell of cold shooting in the first half, they used depth and height to close Louisville. There wasn’t enough top Dana Evans could do to keep the Cardinal’s season alive.
Williams finished with 14 points, five assists, four steals and four rebounds in a statistics-packed row.
“I just had to change my mindset,” said Williams. “I was forcing things. I think I wanted it too much. I didn’t let the game come to me. Tara took me, my coaches took me, and my teammates came to get me. I just had to change mentality. which comes out in the second half. ”
Stanford will face seeded South Carolina in the Final Four at 6 p.m. Friday. The other semi-final is No.1 UConn and No.3 Arizona at 9:30 p.m.
The Williams Lights return for Cardinal
Stanford fell into its deepest deficit of the season when the Cardinal trailed by 12 at the half. They struggled to shoot 10 for 26 overall in the first half. They savagely missed some attempts and failed to convert rebounds to points in the second half despite a larger formation than Louisville.
The fight did not last long in the second half. Williams came to life at 6:48 of the third after missing 11 straight shots between the second and the start of the third quarter. She lit a 17-2 run which she herself finished with a float that put Stanford back to the lead, 46-45, at 2:26. Haley Jones had four rebounds, two at each end, during the race.
Louisville took a two-point lead twice and entered the fourth quarter leading 50-48. Stanford beat the Cardinals, 30-13, in the final quarter to return to cruising altitude in the tournament. Williams makes two 3 points and Ashten Prechtel hit two of his own in addition to a layup and a free throw.
Prechtel played 16 minutes on the bench and was an extra spark in the second half. She had 16 points, four assists and three rebounds. Lexie Hull led Stanford with 21 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Jones had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Louisville controls the first half
Stanford struggled to hit anything from the start. They made one of nine 3-point attempts after seven players sank it from a distance in the Sweet 16 victory. Louisville turned the steals into a quick lead and Evans found space for some easy shots against. a defense that usually plays tighter.
Evans had just 10 points in the first quarter as the Cardinals took a 21-13 lead to take him to a 38-26 half. Entering the Elite Eight they were 25-0 leading at the half.
In his last college game, Evans racked up 24 points and was 6 for 8 on a 3-point range. She added three rebounds, three assists and a steal. No other Cardinals player has put more than eight. Freshman Hailey Van Lith, Evans’ backcourt mate and the next likely face of the program, had seven points and three rebounds.
Head coach Jeff Walz said ahead of the game his team needed to hit 10 3-pointers to have a chance against the Stanford offense and the Cardinals hit exactly that mark (10v19).
Stanford nears 3-point tournament record
The Cardinal averaged nine 3 points per game from 38.3% depth and has been even better in the last three games of the tournament. They’ve made at least 13 3 points on each outing and overall they make almost half of their field goal attempts.
It took Williams’ spark in the third quarter to reignite the offense and create space for all of their weapons, including those on the bench. They shot 44.1% as a team and finished 7 of 17 at 3 points.
In four games, they made 50 3 points, placing them third in tournament records for most of an entire series. The 2015 UConn team made 54 and the 2016 team 53. The Cardinal will likely break the record in the Final Four game and could set it much higher if he reached the final.
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