Stanford W Basketball

Stanford guard Anna Wilson is planning to return for the 2021-22 season.

The fifth-year senior, who is the younger sister of Seattle Seahawks star Russell Wilson, confirmed Monday she intends to suit up for one more year. She told the Associated Press' Janie McCauley the chance to return is "just a really awesome opportunity to have."

Star @StanfordWBB guard Anna Wilson has just announced to me she will return to play a sixth season for the Cardinal, and Alyssa Jerome will stay for a fifth year with reigning national champions. pic.twitter.com/SkQ87NJdhn

— Janie McCauley (@JanieMcCAP) May 11, 2021

Wilson's comments came outside Chase Center before the national championship-winning Cardinal were honored during the Golden State Warriors' 119-116 victory over the Utah Jazz. She expressed frustration at the somewhat informal nature of her announcement:

Frustrated in the way this was released. I feel cheated of the space needed to explain what this year has meant to me, why I chose to come back & how my teammates have played a role. I didn’t publicize yet; I hadn’t formalized the words that describe all Stanford has meant to me. https://t.co/GLkza41wlX

— Anna Wilson (@a_willy03) May 11, 2021

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA allowed Division I athletes in fall and winter sports to gain an extra year of eligibility. That allowed players such as Wilson, who would otherwise be out the door, to give it another go.

The Seattle native made 33 starts for Stanford in 2020-21, averaging 4.6 points and 2.1 assists while shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 45.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Seattle Storm selected Cardinal assists leader Kiana Williams in the second round of the 2021 WNBA draft, so Wilson's experience should be invaluable in the backcourt.

And with Alyssa Jerome also coming back, Stanford's roster from a season ago is almost totally intact. Head coach Tara VanDerveer is adding three players (Brooke Demetre, Okikiola Iriafen and Jzaniya Harriel) in the top 100 of HoopGurlz's 2021 recruiting rankings as well.

Twenty-nine years separated VanDerveer's second and third national titles with the program. She might not have to wait anywhere near that long for No. 4.

The Wilson family knows championships.

Anna Wilson helped lead the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team to a 54-53 victory over the Arizona Wildcats in Sunday's national championship game and earned a congratulatory tweet from her brother, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, in the process:

Drive. Will. Passion. Energy.
You’ve earned it all through hard work, leadership, prayer, & immeasurable Faith.

I Love You Anna Wilson.
I Love You Champ. @a_willy03 pic.twitter.com/5Q8MLX9NtF

— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) April 5, 2021

Russell was in attendance throughout Stanford's run to the title in Texas and watched the team earn a dramatic 54-53 win in the championship clash.

Arizona's Aari McDonald had an opportunity to win it at the buzzer, but her contested jumper rimmed out.

Wilson did a little bit of everything and finished with five points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal while helping handle the ball and run the offense from the backcourt.

She now has a championship to match her brother's Super Bowl victory.

The Stanford women's basketball team earned itself quite a fan Sunday.

President Joe Biden tweeted his congratulations to the Cardinal and praised the Arizona Wildcats on a "hard-fought season."

Congratulations to @StanfordWBB on their NCAA Women's Basketball Championship win, and to @ArizonaWBB on a hard-fought season.

This year, every college team went through a uniquely challenging season but Coach VanDerveer's team shows how grit and tenacity can prevail.

— President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) April 5, 2021

Biden also praised the "grit and tenacity" of Stanford in what was a "uniquely challenging season" for all teams as they competed amid the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presented.

Stanford clinched the title with a dramatic two-game run at the Final Four in Texas. It defeated South Carolina 66-65 in the national semifinal after the Gamecocks were unable to capitalize on a chaotic scene in the final seconds when they created a turnover and had shots from Brea Beal and Aliyah Boston that could have won it rim out.

There was a similar situation in Sunday's final when Arizona had the ball down one on the final possession.

Aari McDonald's contested jumper just rimmed out, clinching the 54-53 win and a presidential tweet for Stanford.

It'll be an all-Pac 12 matchup for the first time in the history of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament final as No. 1 seed Stanford will take on No. 3 Arizona.

Stanford held on for dear life to win 66-65 in a hard-fought Final Four game over No. 1 South Carolina, which missed two potential game-winning buckets in the final couple seconds. Haley Jones' 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting led Stanford.

Arizona then stunned UConn 69-59 behind another phenomenal performance from Aari McDonald (26 points) and fantastic team defense that held the Huskies to just 35.7 percent shooting. The Wildcats led wire-to-wire.

Now Stanford and Arizona will face off on Sunday in the national championship. Stanford is looking for its third national title, while Arizona is shooting for its first.

Here's a look at how the two teams' previous matchups went down alongside three reasons for why each team can win this one. You can also find a score prediction at the end.

    

Previous Matchups

Stanford beat Arizona in both of their regular-season matchups, and neither game was particularly close.

The Cardinal opened a 44-20 halftime lead before winning 81-54 in the first meeting, with Jones posting an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double. Arizona shot just 25.8 percent from the field, with McDonald going 3-of-18.

The second game was a far closer affair, but Stanford still led wire-to-wire in the second half in a 62-48 win. Four Cardinal players scored in double digits, with Lacie Hull's 16 points paving the way.

McDonald led all scorers with 20 points but needed 24 shots to get there. The Wildcats made just 17-of-55 field goals (30.9 percent).

     

Why Arizona Can Win

1. Variance

The Wildcats shot 34-of-121 (28.1 percent) over the pair of Stanford losses.

Stanford is an excellent team with a 33.0 percent field goal defense rate, but Arizona is a far better shooting team that what it showed against the Cardinal.

The Wildcats began the Final Four making 41.3 percent of their field goals, and the guess here is that they won't be held around the 30-percent range for a third time.

   

2. Defense

Arizona's defense has been sensational, as best evidenced by its performance against UConn. The Wildcats have held their five tournament opponents to an average of 52.2 points per game on 96-of-261 shooting (36.8 percent).

Arizona set that defensive tone in the first round against Stony Brook, forcing the Seawolves to commit 25 turnovers. Overall, Arizona's tournament opponents have committed 80 turnovers.

That's largely because of the dynamic defensive duo of McDonald and Sam Thomas, who have combined for 29 steals and seven blocks. McDonald is the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and Thomas was Pac-12 All-Defense in 2020.

3. McDonald

Obviously. McDonald put UConn on its heels with hot shooting in the first half, scoring 15 of Arizona's 32 first-half points in a low-scoring affair. She was 4-of-6 from three-point range at one point and ended up with more buckets from downtown than the entire UConn team.

It's been the McDonald show this entire tournament, though. Her 32-point, 11-rebound performance in a 66-53 win over Indiana put Arizona in the Final Four.

That followed a 31-point outing against a Texas A&M team that could have arguably had a No. 1 seed but fell on the No. 2 line. McDonald's effort guided Arizona to a 74-59 win.

A 17-point, 11-rebound, four-steal performance in a 52-46 win over BYU followed a 20-point afternoon versus Stony Brook.

McDonald is simply relentless and can never be counted out. If she gets the three-point shot going, watch out.

     

Why Stanford Can Win

1. History

An obvious answer here, but Stanford has gotten the job done against Arizona twice before. The Cardinal led by double digits for the entire second half in the first game and the whole fourth quarter in the second matchup.

Their defense was relentless, and their scoring depth helped too. Four players scored in double digits during each contest.

Granted, a pair of strong Stanford wins doesn't guarantee an automatic victory for the Cardinal, but their performances could be harbingers of what's to come.

    

2. Depth

It's pick your poison when playing this Stanford team. Five players score 7.6 points or more per game, with four posting 9.9 PPG at minimum. If one player has an off-night, another one could be going off and ruining the opposition's evening.

That's more or less what happened in the Final Four against South Carolina. Lexie Hull (third in scoring) had an off-night shooting (4-of-17), but Jones was excellent.

However, Hull was the star in the Elite Eight against Louisville, scoring a team-high 21 points. Before that round, Hannah Jump splashed five three-pointers against Missouri State in the Sweet 16.

The bottom line is that this deep rotation is relentless, and it can cause problems even for an elite defensive team like Arizona.

    

3. Downtown

Stanford makes nearly nine three-pointers per game, and its 286 makes on the year places the Cardinal fourth in all of Division I. The Cardinal are also sixth in three-point percentage (38.6).

Guard Kiana Williams leads the way with 81 makes, and Hannah Jump (57) and Lexie Hull (44) buoy her efforts.

Stanford simply buries teams from three, making 10 or more on 12 different occasions. Breaking that down further, Stanford has made 13 shots from beyond the arc seven times.

If the Cardinal get hot from deep on Monday, then Arizona may be forced into a track meet where McDonald and Co. have to match them. That's advantage, Stanford.

     

Prediction

Arizona will come into this game as the clear underdog even if the Wildcats are coming off a fantastic win over a pre-tournament favorite in UConn. Simply put, Stanford has had the better season and beat Arizona twice by a combined 41 points.

However, this game should be a lot closer. Arizona isn't nearly as poor of a shooting team as it showed against Stanford earlier this season, and its defense should be able to keep the Cardinal within arm's length.

Plus, there's a scenario where McDonald becomes invincible and goes for 30-plus points an 10-plus rebounds while contributing elite defense. If that happens, Stanford is obviously in trouble.

The No. 1 overall seed will also find itself with problems if it goes cold from three. The Cardinals have lost two games this season (back-to-back to UCLA and Colorado), and it's no coincidence that the team shot a combined 7-of-32 from beyond the arc against the conference foes.

The formula for Arizona is to slow this game down a bit, play excellent defense, defend the three and hope McDonald produces some more magic.

The guess here is that happens. Yes, Stanford's offense can be relentless, and there's a scenario where the Cardinal just bury the Wildcats from three. A number of players could get hot from deep and give Arizona problems. Jones could also take this game over in the post herself, much like she did against South Carolina.

However, Arizona is fearless, relentless and playing fantastic ball. The Wildcats are the pick.

Pick: Arizona 63, Stanford 62

A heartbreaking finish capped Stanford's 66-65 win over South Carolina in the Final Four of the NCAA Division I women's college basketball tournament on Friday in San Antonio.

South Carolina was THIS close to winning the game on a buzzer beater 🤯 https://t.co/n9jCk2OHxx

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 3, 2021

South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston stole the ball from Stanford forward Cameron Brink with the Cardinal up one and seven seconds remaining.

The ball found its way to South Carolina guard Brea Beal, who missed a running layup with a couple seconds left.

Boston then flew in for the rebound and got a game-winning shot attempt before the buzzer, but the ball bounced off the back rim and onto the floor.

Before the sequence, South Carolina guard Destanni Henderson went on a personal 6-0 run to turn a 64-59 deficit into a 65-64 lead. Stanford guard Haley Jones (24 points on 11-of-14 shooting) responded by grabbing an offensive rebound and nailing a baseline jumper with 32 seconds left for the 66-65 edge.

Stanford got a stop on the other end, forcing South Carolina to play the foul game in hopes of putting the Cardinal on the line, but Boston got the steal instead, leading to the end.

South Carolina isn't getting as far as it did without Boston, who was named one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, given to the best women's and men's collegiate basketball players.

The sophomore entered Friday averaging 13.8 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game for a 26-win South Carolina team. Boston was also phenomenal again in the Final Four, posting 11 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.

And obviously, South Carolina would have had a much harder time putting itself in position for the win if not for Boston's game-ending defense.

As for Beal, the sophomore has been excellent on the boards, averaging 7.4 for the tournament. She also led South Carolina with three steals on Friday.

After the game, Las Vegas Aces star, WNBA MVP and ex-South Carolina standout A'ja Wilson tweeted the following:

https://twitter.com/_ajawilson22/status/1378139911971278849

As for Stanford, the Cardinal will advance to the national championship to face Arizona.