Erica McCall felt right at home. She knew everybody on the court, having worked out with visiting Cal State Bakersfield, for whom her father Greg McCall coaches, all summer.
McCall scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season and the 10th of her career, to lead the Stanford women’s basketball team past the Roadrunners, 83-41, in a nonconference game Tuesday.
The Cardinal (9-2) hosts Chattanooga on Monday at 7 p.m.
“It was kind of weird,” McCall said. “When my dad comes to the gym I always look for him to help me. I couldn’t do that today.”
The two did share the limelight before the game, as the father presented the daughter with a plaque that honored her contributions to the United States women’s basketball team that won a gold medal at the World University Games over the summer.
“It was special for me,” McCall said. “My dad has worked with me on basketball all my life. He instilled the love of the game in me. We were talking before the game and he told me not to be nervous, that it was just his team.”
McCall has participated in open gym with the Roadrunners as long as they’ve been at Cal State Bakersfield. It’s her second favorite team.
“We all worked on our jump shots together,” McCall said. “I had to show them how I was doing.”
Freshman Alanna Smith, who added 14 points, also had her father in town. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other since the summer.
Smith is Stanford’s first international player, coming from Australia.
“I’ve had to adjust,” she said. “It is a different game from Australia to college.”
One of the biggest differences has been the weather. December means summer in Australia and Smith enjoys the heat. The forecast calls for 90-degree weather through Friday.
“They’re going through a bit of a heat wave there. Temperatures got up to 108 degrees,” Smith said. “I am missing it a bit.”
Smith, who helped the Aussies finish third at the FIBA world championships over the summer, recorded double figures in scoring in back-to-back games for the first time. She’s averaging 7.5 points a game.
Karlie Samuelson added 13 points and Kaylee Johnson put together another solid performance with 11 points and seven rebounds in 11 minutes.
“She’s been playing well,” Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said of Johnson. “Maybe she relaxes more coming off the bench. I think we have a good, nine-player rotation and I’m always to have everybody play.”
The Cardinal never trailed in the game, dominating the paint. Stanford outscored the Roadrunners 40-12 inside and out-boarded them 61-36, including 18-12 on the offensive glass.
The Cardinal had 21 assists, seven from Lili Thompson, and blocked 12 shots. The blocks were the second-most ever in a single game.
Stanford scored the final 17 points of the second quarter, nine from Kaylee Johnson, over a span of 6:04 to take a 42-18 lead into the intermission.
The Roadrunners were 13-of-68 from the field (19.1 percent) and 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from 3-point land.