March Madness 2022: Francesca Belibi dunk highlights No. 1 Stanford rout of Montana State

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Stanford's freshmen have been joining everybody else in begging Francesca Belibi to dunk all season, insisting they came to school here just to see her do it.

Belibi obliged at last on the big March Madness stage, blocking a shot at the 3-point line then driving the length of the floor to slam the ball home with one hand for her third career dunk. The play thrilled her teammates and the awestruck home crowd in the second quarter of top-seeded Stanford's 78-37 win against 16th-seeded Montana State on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

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"It’s really funny because I dunk all the time and when I look back at pictures everyone is still just as excited as if it’s their first time seeing it," Belibi said. "So it’s really cool to see that on their faces. They’ve been getting on me all year about not dunking so far. The freshmen have been like, ‘We came here for this so where is it?’ So it was really cool to get it and make it happen and just get engulfed. I felt really loved."

Montana State forward Taylor Janssen (24) battles for a rebound against Stanford guard Haley Jones, right, during the first half of a first-round game in the NCAA women's college basketball tournament Friday, March 18, 2022, in Stanford, Calif.  (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

Belibi’s dunk was the first by a woman in the NCAA Tournament since Brittney Griner did it in 2013 and just the third overall along with Candace Parker's feat in 2006. A 6-foot-1 junior who routinely dunks in warmups and practice, Belibi had a pair of slams last season — on Dec. 13, 2020, at rival California in Berkeley and a week later at