UCLA

Well, first of all, readers this year will notice something new about C and R. We have fans not related to us in anyway! And not one, but two, two fans reached out to us and told us to stop watching that stupid Gametracker and listen to Stanford’s low-powered radio station… over the Internet! Cue Homer Simpson’s “D’oh!” and don’t C and R feel stupid. Yes, we knew of Stanford’s radio station, KSZU, but thought you could only get it on your radio if you lived near Stanford. Then our fans told us the radio station is streamed live over that there Internet. Will wonders never cease?

So as we are waiting for the 2 PM start between the Stanford Women’s Basketball team and UCLA, we turn on the TV. Yes, yes, we KNOW our game will not be on TV, but we see that there is women’s college basketball on TV. Who is it? Why it’s Tennessee, ranked lower then us, playing Memphis, which is not ranked in the top 25. And on pay per view women’s college basketball is Rice and Tulane, both teams not ranked in the top 25. Then at 2 PM, there is a televised women’s college basketball game, between Marshall and Southern Miss, both teams NOT RANKED. Why couldn’t they show the #2 team in the country, Stanford? R thinks it is a West Coast/PAC10 bias/conspiracy.

So we fire up the computer and get to the KZSU website. We hear cool Indian music but no game. Then about 2:03, we go to live coverage. We also turn on Gametracker for the stats.

Man, it is hard to follow something as free-flowing, fluid, and quick paced as basketball on the radio. C and R collectively sigh. Ros Gold-Onwude (called RGO by the announcer, George Steinbrenner or something like that, it was hard to tell, our little tin computer speaker is not the greatest), anyhoo, RGO makes two three pointers right off the bat. We are sure head coach Tara VanDerveer is happy about that, what with us starting out 0-13 from three point land last game before we hit a few.

Nneka Ogumike makes a long jumper and we are glad she has permission to break the play off and pull up outside. Then she works inside and it is the Nneka and Ros show, and we are up 13-3, all points from Nneka and Ros.

Joslyn (Jingle) Tinkle comes off the bench and is paired with senior center Jayne Appel instead of for her, and we applaud that decision as we shake our imaginary tinkle bells. Jingle quickly makes a basket.

Soon we are up 21-9, Nneka has nine points and no one on UCLA has more than 2, according to George Steinbrenner on KZSU. Injured guard JJ Hones is struggling with her shot, and we say (to the computer) put Ros back in, she was on fire! And this is not the first time we have questioned Tara VanDerveer’s decisions.

Interesting, the announcer says UCLA is playing us “player to player” instead of “man to man”, and C and R discuss this. C does not mind the “man to man” tag when women are playing basketball, as she feels it has lost its gender designation. She says that is what anyone calls it, such as saying everyone is an “actor”, not designating the difference between men and women, actor and actress. R likes that the announcer is aware of the gender difference and there is a flaw in C’s argument because “actor” does not mean “man” or “woman”, whereas “man to man” means MAN. This is also not the first time R has disagreed with C.

The Internet announcer says this is a slow game for Stanford offensively but they are playing great defense. Gametracker says UCLA is shooting 21%. We hate to say, no offense and slow defense makes boring basketball and Jack a dull boy.

Melanie Murphy comes in for JJ, and she is our second injured guard. We are killing UCLA, and they are currently tied with us for the lead in the PAC-10. At halftime, it is 34-18, and they got a quick score by stealing and getting basket in the final seconds. The announcer says Stanford got off to hot start but has cooled off.

Uh oh, that’s what we did at USC and we let them back into the game, with them coming within 9 points. C hopes that we don’t repeat this mistake in the second half. R votes we turn on that episode of Glee with all that hair, and they sing that song from “Hair”. She thinks we have this game in the bag.

We get the Glee DVD in and going, and believe you me, it takes C and R a long time to find the right DVD, find the right remote, and find the right menu to get to the Hair episode and find the right button to make it play. While we are doing all that, we see that UCLA has come within 7 points after five minutes have gone by in the second half. It is 40-31. Oh no, just like in the USC game.

We start to pay attention. GameTracker stats shows that Nneka has 4 fouls at the 12 minute mark. Jayne gets her fourth at the 9 minute mark. But Ros (RGO) has 16 points. Way to go, Ros. UCLA closes to within 5 points at the 8 minute mark. Come on, clock, we need time to run out so we can outlast them. Jayne fouls out at the 2:44 mark. We are only up by 3! C and R can’t remember anyone fouling out this year, and in Jayne’s four year career, only once or twice before. This is not good.

Ros comes in for Jayne and our spirits lift. Ros goes for a lay up! We hold our breath. Ros misses a lay up. But wait, Nneka gets the rebound and puts it back in. We are leading 59-54. Nneka gets fouled and makes both. She is fouled almost immediately after that and makes two more to make us go ahead 63-59. GameTracker says Nneka is 11-12 from the free throw line. The announcer says she has improved so much over her freshmen year when she would miss a lot of free throws. C and R remember, always shouting at her, “This ain’t high school!” when she missed. (Oh hey, the word “freshmen” is applied to men and women in their first year of something, without regard to “gender” just like “man to man”, but I digress).

So anyhoo, UCLA races down the court and makes a jumper and 63-61, a 2 point lead for Stanford with 1:06 left! Kayla misses a jumper and C and R stop breathing. After 50 million time outs UCLA has the ball with 9 seconds and they inbound. Jeanette Pohlen, with only 6 points all game, blocks their shot. Nneka grabs the ball and gets it to Ros and UCLA quickly fouls her with 4 seconds left! Ros makes both (good, because this ain’t high school) and we are up 65-61. We hang on to win by that score.

Ros had a career high 18 points. Nneka had 21 points and 9 rebounds, missing a chance at a consecutive double double. Jayne finished with 10, limited by her foul trouble. Kayla Pederson, the only player to play all 40 minutes, had an uncharacteristic 6 points. She hasn’t scored in single figures in a while.

The announcer sums it up by saying Stanford did not play well in the second half, letting UCLA get 43 points. When we played UConn, we lead at the half then played a horrible second half. We shouldn’t be repeating that mistake, even with lesser teams, as UCLA proved they just might take the second half.

Next up Washington at home and no more GameTracker. Bring a pair of sneakers, get in free. Also, little girls clinic before the game and meet the team for autographs afterwards. Whew. Welcome home, Stanford.