Stanford women’s basketball won the NCAA tournament last year. They returned much of their core this year, and again entered March Madness as a No. 1 seed. The Cardinal roster is so loaded that they’re able to take a player like Fran Belibi — a former top-20 overall recruit and McDonald’s All-American — and comfortably put her in a bench role.
Belibi, a 6’1 junior forward, only plays 13 minutes per game for Stanford, but she might be the best athlete in women’s college basketball. Belibi is known for her dunking ability. She started to gain notoriety for throwing down multiple dunks last year. She saved her most impressive play for this year’s NCAA tournament.
With Stanford blowing out No. 16 seed Montana State on Friday, Belibi completed an absolutely ridiculous and historic sequence. First she blocked a three-pointer. Then she recovered the ball, sprinted down court, and finish above the rim with a dunk. Watch it here:
You rarely see a player dunk in the women’s NCAA tournament. It appears that Brittney Griner did it most recently back in 2012 when she was playing for Baylor. Candace Parker also did it while she was at Tennessee.
Our pals at Secret Base made a video about it:
At 6’1, Belibi is the second shortest woman to dunk in a college game. You have to have serious hops to throw down at that size, and Belibi does.
The ESPN halftime recreated how they would have reacted if they were on the bench for that dunk, and it’s perfect:
Belibi is an incredible athlete, and that was truly a bonkers sequence. Stanford keeps on rolling, probably because they have players as talented as Belibi hanging on their bench.