STANFORD, CALIFORNIA — The reigning national champions looked the part at Maples Pavilion on Friday as the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal overpowered No. 16 Montana State 78-37 in the first round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament.
Hannah Jump led the Cardinal with 15 points and Lexie Hull had 13.
Stanford's size and length gave the Bobcats fits the entire game. Taylor Janssen finished as Montana State's leading scorer with 12 points, while Darian White followed with six.
MSU, which was appearing in the tournament for the third time in school history, finished the first quarter with zero points and started the game 0-for-21 from the field.
Janssen scored MSU's first bucket about one minute into the second quarter, but things didn't get much better for the Cats from there. Just minutes later, Stanford's Francesca Belibi blocked an MSU shot on the perimeter and threw down a fast-break one-handed dunk on the other end to give the Cardinal even more momentum. Belibi finished with 12 points.
The Bobcats made their first 3-pointer with about four minutes left in third quarter, another ice-breaker from Janssen, on the way to finishing 4-for-24 from beyond the arc.
Montana State finishes its season with 22-13 record. Stanford improves to 29-3 and advances to the second round, where it will face No. 8 Kansas.
