Thompson’s basket, McCall’s block rescue Stanford from upset
The 12th-seeded Jackrabbits led by eight with less than five minutes left and were living up to their nickname, outracing the bigger Cardinal to the hoop for layups and hitting post-up jumpers.
Just when Stanford needed her most, however, Lili Thompson shot through the lane for a tying basket with eight seconds left.
“Sometimes, to win when you don’t really play well is in a lot of ways more satisfying than when you play really well,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said.
The Cardinal (26-7) will play top-seeded Notre Dame on Friday night in the Lexington, Ky., Regional semifinals.
Having beaten DePaul and given Notre Dame and Maryland tough games before losing, the Jackrabbits weren’t in the least intimidated by Stanford.
[...] the Cardinal were the ones looking tense.
The Jackrabbits committed just seven turnovers, and Stanford shot 45.5 percent (10-for-22) from the foul line.
“Bri played great defense on her, and when I saw the ball in her hands, I knew I could get a clean look at it,” McCall said.
“The season has come to a screeching halt,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said.