On the first day of the final month of the year, Stanford provided the answer to a trivia question.
Who was the best team to visit San Diego in 2023?
In beating the Aztecs 85-44 Friday in front of 3,708 fans at Viejas Arena, the third-ranked Cardinal offered a glimpse at the kind of consistent excellence that rarely comes to town.
They were the Dodgers visiting Petco Park in August. UCLA’s football team at Snapdragon Stadium in September. Stevie Nicks and her backing band Wednesday night at SDSU’s Open Air Theatre.
Only better.
The highest-ranked women’s basketball team to visit Viejas Arena in 16 years imposed its will from the jump behind the stellar play of All-American forward Cameron Brink, who finished with a game-high 25 points and 12 rebounds while playing the equivalent of 2 1/2 quarters.
“She plays really hard, she gets everybody involved and she’s a very smart player, too,” SDSU guard Abby Prohaska said. “She takes advantage of the defense. You make one mistake, and she capitalizes on it. There’s a lot of people that probably wouldn’t be able to stop her.”
Stanford forward Cameron Brink shoots over San Diego State guard Alyssa Jackson during Friday’s game.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Stanford opened the game on an 11-0 run, sucking much of the pregame optimism (and noise) out of a “field trip game” crowd that included more than 2,000 schoolkids.
SDSU trailed 8-0 by the time it got its first rebound. When the Aztecs finally scored on an Adryana Quezada layup midway through the period, Stanford needed just 10 seconds to answer back. Brink hit a quick layup, and — following a Cardinal stop — Hailey Jump hit a 3-pointer.
Like that, it was 18-2.
Brink’s fadeaway baseline jumper with 35 seconds remaining in the second quarter gave her 21 points on 8 of 11 shooting, eight rebounds, two assists and three blocks.
At. The. Half.
“No single person can guard her, so we had two (defenders) on her the majority of the time,” SDSU coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said. “It’s challenging. How do you gameplan? You don’t. you hope you can contain and keep her off the glass.”
San Diego State guard Abby Prohaska (24) drives to the basket against Stanford guard Talana Lepolo (10)
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
SDSU showed some fight, especially in the first half. Prohaska’s left-handed jumper in the paint with 6:41 remaining before halftime cut the Cardinal’s lead to eight points. But then Brink hit a layup, was fouled, and hit the and-1 free throw. She did it again on the Cardinal’s next possession, too.
The 6-4 senior from Beaverton, Ore., hit 10 of her 15 shot attempts. She was perfect from the free-throw line; at one point, she stepped back and drained a 3.
Jump nailed 3 of 5 3-point attempts and finished with 13 points. Nunu Agara added 11 points in 16 minutes. Stanford dished out 18 assists as a team; SDSU had six.
“(The Aztecs are) a physical team so they try to make up for that height difference with physicality, but I think we did a good job playing through that and I think our guards did a great job getting it inside,” Brink said. “It’s such an underrated skill of being able to lob it over defenses, so they did a really good job of finding me. Without them, I wouldn’t score what I did.”
San Diego State forward Kim Villalobos (23) goes up for a shot against Stanford forward Nunu Agara (3)
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Brink was lifted midway through the third quarter with the Cardinal leading by 36.
By the start of the fourth quarter, she was riding a stationary bike behind the visiting bench and singing along to “Party Rock Anthem” at it blared over the arena speakers.
There, for the first time all day, she cooled off.
Stanford forward Kiki Iriafen (44) celebrates a 3-point shot from the bench.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Notable
Quezada led the Aztecs with 12 points on 5 of 11 shooting, and Kim Villalobos added 10 on 5 of 14 shooting. Take away their performances, and the Aztecs shot just 9 of 36 (.277) afield. … Ten different Stanford players scored; 12 played. … The 11 a.m. tipoff messed with Prohaska’s pregame routine, which usually includes a walk in the city. The guard was still able to drink her pregame coffee and smoothie. … Friday marked Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer’s 1,194th career win, and her 1,042nd victory in 38 seasons at Stanford. Said SDSU’s Terry-Huston: “I was able to coach against the best to ever do it.”
