Stanford Players in the WNBA at the All-star Break

The end of July marks the half way point for the WNBA, and that means the All-star game. Hats off to former Stanford Women’s Basketball player Nneka Ogwumike for making her third straight All-star appearance for the West in four years in the league. She was named as a reserve, mostly due to her slow start this season because of injuries.

photo Courtesy of Chiney Ogwumike

The other former Stanford players didn’t fare nearly as well. Little sis Chiney Ogwumike, who was drafted number one last year (same spot as Nneka in 2012) and won Rookie of the Year (same as Nneka in 2012), suffered a knee injury while playing overseas (and trying to make more money). She had knee surgery and will sit out this WNBA season. Drat, we really wanted to see her growth from rookie to seasoned vet. She has, however, found ways to occupy her time, making many appearances on TV, including a half time stint at the All-star game (It was on her home court of the Connecticut Sun, and she was photo-bombed by big sis Nneka. We saw you steal a sip of her water, sisters have no boundaries!).

What about other Stanford alum in the WNBA? Jayne Appel, playing for San Antonio started the season injured, and just found her way back into games. Kayla Pederson remains with former teammate Chiney Ogwumike in Connecticut. Nicole Powell retired before the season started, but has landed on her feet coaching for the Oregon Ducks, a Pac-12 foe for Stanford!

Jeanette Pohlen returns to Indianapolis after missing the 2014 season due to a torn left Achilles tendon. She won a WNBA title in 2012 with the Fever, but it was bittersweet as she was injured in the playoffs and did not play in the championship game. Candice Wiggins, also a WNBA champion with the Lync in 2011, started her eighth season in the WNBA (my, how time flies!). It is her first season with the New York Liberty (if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere). Wiggins was the 2008 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, and has averaged 9.6 points in her career while playing for Minnesota, Tulsa and Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, Amber Orrange, drafted by the Liberty with the 23rd overall pick in April of this year, was waived by the team in May.

Overall Stanford has had 27 players play in a regular-season WNBA game since the league's inception in 1997. Tara VanDerveer’s program boasts 11 first-round draft picks and has had six players win a total of seven WNBA titles.

Oh, the West side (the best side) won, 117-112.

Looking forward to seeing basketball in the Fall and Winter.

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Stanford Basketball Alums in the News

Before the 2015 Stanford Women’s Basketball Season starts, (or as C and R call it, the era after the Ogwumikes), we wanted to highlight some notable accomplishments of Stanford basketball alums. Well, as it so happens, we wanted to honor two of them, both with the last name Ogwumike.

Okay, not that we want to exclude anyone, but older sister Nneka and younger Chiney have been on a rocket ship of a ride. And it’s funny, because younger sister Chiney has always followed in Nneka’s footsteps.

Chiney followed her to Stanford, where the sisters were an unstoppable dynamic duo who had court ESP and always knew where the other was, or were rebounding each other’s misses. They also took Stanford to two Final Fours together, and in Nneka’s case, two before Chiney and Chiney got one more after Nneka graduated.

In Nneka’s senior year, she worked on the transition to the WNBA, working on an outside shot and playing away from the basket. She was the number one pick in the WNBA and won rookie of the year honors.
Chiney also followed that blueprint, working on scoring away from the basket (although her jump shot is a little flat and not all there). Her hard work rewarded her with the number one pick in the WNBA, the first sisters to accomplish that in the WNBA, and the second pair of siblings since Peyton and Eli Manning did it in the NFL. Oh, they also were the first sisters to play in the same WNBA All Star game. And they ended up guarding each other!

So it is no surprise that Chiney also won Rookie of the Year honors. C and R just want to point out that…well, that is so hard to do! She was just a few weeks out of Stanford when she reported to the Connecticut Sun in the wake pf Tina Charles demanding a trade (Ciney had to get special permission to miss a game to attend the Stanford graduation ceremony.) In just four short months she was selected for the All-Star game and kept up against the best in the world to win Rookie of the Year barely six months removed from college. That is so tremendous.

So Nneka didn’t take the time after the WNBA. In fact, both Nneka and Chiney were invited to the Team USA training camp to try out for the World Championship team. Alas, only Nneka was chosen (Chiney’s day will come), and she helped Team USA win the Gold Medal in the Worlds that was held in Turkey.

Not a bad few months for these two Stanford alums.

Looking forward to 2014-15 season and seeing who will make history.

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WNBA All-Star Sister Weekend

Back in April when Chiney Ogwumike was drafted number one by the Connecticut Sun, she and her sister, Nneka Ogwumike made history. They were the first pair of siblings in the WNBA to be drafted number one. Heck, let’s take that a step further to show how rare that is. The feat has only been accomplished one other time in any major sport, men’s or women’s, when Peyton and Eli Manning did it in football. And that is some great company!

So leave it to the intrepid Ogwumike sisters to make history again when they became the first pair of sisters to be chosen to participate in the WNBA All-Star game. Granted, both go in as reserves, but it is still a pretty cool feat. And not even Nneka can say she got the All-Star nod her rookie season, as Chiney has done. Nneka had to wait a year, when she went for the first time last year. This is her second nod.

The sisters also made personal history when they played against each other July 15^th of this year. In the sisters' first WNBA meeting, Nneka scored 24 points and got the win, while Chiney contributed 18 points in the loss.

Why is that noteworthy, their first time playing against each other? The famous story around the Stanford campus is that the two did not play each other in practice. Well, they did in an early practice in Chiney’s freshmen year, when Nneka was the wise junior. Chiney elbowed Nneka, the story goes, and Nneka threatened revenge, so Chiney excused herself to stand by coach. And that’s when Stanford Women’s Basketball coach Tara VanDerveer said that’s it, you two will never be on opposite sides. And they weren’t. Whether on the court or off it. Each is the others biggest cheerleader.


So the all-star game, while sharing the pre-game stuff together, will mark the second time they have to play each other. The third time will be when Chiney’ Sun goes to LA in August.
While the All-Star game is fun to watch the best of the best, when the sisters play each other, it is so conflicting to C and R. Who to root for? Although we all know West side is the best side.

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Looking Back at Stanford’s Season

Even though summer is just starting, C and R would be remiss if we did not have a recap of The Stanford Women’s Basketball 2013-14 season (more from the official Stanford site). And 2013 started out the year of “13.” Or say we say the year of Chiney Ogwumike. Chiney Ogwumike took the team on her back and propelled them to the Final Four, their sixth appearance in seven years. Unfortunately they had a date with UConn and lost in the semis, but it was a great ride.

Stanford’s overall record was 33-4. Notable wins included Tennessee (for the third straight season) and both times against Cal in a week. They won the Pac-12 regular-season title, for the 14^th time in a row. They did lose in the semis of the Pac-12 tourney to eventual winner USC, thus earning them a number 2 seed in the NCAA tourney. You can read a year in review for the Pac-12.

Chiney Ogwumike had some help. A pleasant surprise was freshmen guard Lili Thompson. Her aggressiveness and confidence also rubbed off on junior guard Amber Orrrrange and she upped her game as well. Another pleasant surprise of the season was the return of fifth year veteran Mikalea Ruef. She has her best year and peaked during the NCAA regional finals, ultimately being named the MVP of the region over buddy Chiney.

And what can we say about Chiney? Well, a lot actually, so here goes:
She led Stanford to three Final Fours during four year career. Her senior season, she was unanimous All-American, named the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year, (the nation’s top academic honor and first from Stanford) was named to the Capital One Academic All-America Team for the second straight year  annnnnnnddddddd….was awarded the  John R. Wooden Award winner as the national player of the year,  She became the first Stanford and Pac-12 women’s basketball player to claim the John R. Wooden Award.

As for the Pac-12 conference Awards, she leaves as one of the most decorated players in the history of the Pac-12. She now holds the Pac-12 all-time scoring and rebounding record, while claiming eight single-season or career records including tying the scoring average record, a mark set in 1989. She scored 2,737 points, besting fellow alum Candice Wiggins and grabbed 1,567 rebounds, besting fellow alum Kayla Pedersen, in addition to setting the single-season conference record for points scored at 967, passing fellow alum and her sister, Nneka Ogwumike. She swept the Pac-12 Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards for the second straight season, with the defensive honor being her third in a row. That makes her a two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year, three-time Defensive Player of the Year and four-time all-Conference. No one, man or woman has ever won the Pac-12 Offensive and Defensive player of the year award, and she has done it twice! Lastly, she set a record for being named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the ninth time this season and the 18th time in her career.

She finished the season as the only player to rank in the national top 10 in scoring (26.1 ppg - fourth), rebounding (12.1 rpg - ninth), field-goal percentage (60.1 - fourth), and double-doubles (27 - third).
After being named to every major award’s preseason watch list as well as to every preseason All-America Team, Ogwumike went on to a season in which she averaged 26.1 points and 12.1 rebounds per game while shooting 60.1 percent from the field. Those numbers helped Ogwumike earn her second straight selections to the ESPN, USBWA, John R. Wooden Award, and Associated Press First Teams, with the AP nod being her third overall after being named to the second team in 2012.  Additionally, Ogwumike was honored at the Final Four in Nashville by being named to the WBCA Coaches’ All-America Team for the third straight season, joining Candice Wiggins (2005-08), Nneka Ogwumike (2010-12) and Nicole Powell (2002-04) as Stanford’s only three-time WBCA All-Americans. She was honored by the Stanford Alumni Association as one of two graduating seniors to receive the 2014 J.E. Wallace Sterling Award for outstanding service to Stanford.

She also had wrote the lyrics to this song:


Coach Tara Vanderveer got her 900th career victory this season, and in her understated style, no one got to see it, which was fine by her. The win came at the Puerto Vallarta gave tourney that clearly was not ready for prime time. No televised games, or even videotaped for later. Official score keepers and statistician  had to be borrowed from the teams. She now stands alongside legends Pat Summitt, Sylvia Hatchell, C. Vivian Stringer and Jody Conradt in the exclusive 900 club.

The pinnacle of the season was Stanford clinching their trip to the final four at Maples Pavilion and getting to see their inspiring win in person. C and R are still smiling. What will next year hold?

Season tickets are now on sale!

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Stanford in the Elite Eight

By now, everyone has heard the story of the Penn state coaches hanging out with Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer in the offseason to pick her brain on the triangle offense. Guess Tara forgot to show them the back door option.

Stanford played their best ball in a long, long time. Perhaps the long season wore on them, but the last quarter of the Pac-12 season was a little lackluster. Not today. And not when playing in Maples.

Penn State and the Stanford Women’s Basketball team were playing in the Sweet Sixteen, held on Stanford’s home court. Much has been written about having neutral sites, but the truth is fans don’t come out if their home team is not playing, the site loses a lot of money, and a lot of empty seats happen. So while this is an inelegant solution, the powers that be are still scratching their heads on how to make this better.

Penn State came out powerful and athletic, and kept it close for about half of the first half. Then Stanford got hot, All-Everything Chiney Ogwumike got going, and Stanford played shutdown defense. Stanford outscored Penn State 25-7 to end the half and held Penn State without a field goal for nearly six and a half minutes.

Bonnie Samuelson, Mikaela Ruef and Lili Thompson play good D on Lucas (Photo Courtesy of Kelley L Cox )

Stanford’s Lili Thompson got the assignment to guard Penn State’s great scorer, Maggie Lucus. She averages about 21 points a game. Lili held her to 6 points in the fist half. And for the game? Six points. That’s right they shut her down in the second half. Lucas was scoreless. Tied her career low, too. She was 3-for-14 from the floor, including 0-for-5 on 3-pointers. Her last points were nine and a half minutes left in the first. Wowsa! 

Penn State set screens, and even double screens, to try to free up their outside shooter Lucas, but nobody prepares for a game like Tara Vanderveer. Stanford knew the screens were coming and either got over them or switched personal on her so she never got an open look.

Shout out to Mikeala Ruef. Ruefie helped on a lot of those switches on Lucas and played intense defense. She also contributed 11 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals. She was one of two Stanford players that got a double-double. The other was that beast Chiney Ogwumike. She had 29 points and 15 rebounds. That marked her 25th double-double of the season, and 83 for her career. Double Wowsa! Amber Orrrrange was second in scoring for Stanford with 18 points.  Lili Thompson and Mikaela Ruef both finished the game with 11 points. That’s four, count-em, four in double figures. Stanford will need that kind of effort from everyone from now on.

Shout out to former Stanford alums Nneka Ogwumike, Jayne Appel, Kayla Pedersen, Lindy Larocque and Sarah Boothe in the house. Noticed Toni Kokenis was sitting in the stands with them. Wonder if it was a NCAA rule she couldn’t be on the bench?

Come back to Maples Tuesday night at 6PM Stanford time when they take on North Carolina (Oh yeah, number one seed South Carolina didn’t even make it to the elite eight, go figure).

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Stanford Whips Washington

This was supposed to be the grudge match. The Stanford Women’s Basketball Team needed to avenge its only Pac-12 loss vs. Washington, and since Washington was coming to Stanford’s house, no way were they going to let a loss happen again.

One thing you will get after beating a Tara VanDerveer team: the opposite game. Last game, against Washington’s zone, Stanford was nine for 41 on threes or made just 21% of them. This game Washington stayed in the zone and Stanford shot 37% from behind the line, going nine for 24. Last game most of the threes came in the final two minutes when Stanford was furiously attempting a comeback that would end short. This game most of the threes came during runs of 11-0 during the first half and a on a 16-4 run to open the second and Stanford built a 30 point lead and never looked back.

Last game Stanford played uninspired defense that let probable Pac-12 Freshmen of the Year Kelsey Plum get 23 points. This game, well Plum got 21 but Stanford held her in check the first half and frustrated her all night. Stanford also held Washington scoreless for over six minutes in the first.

Chiney Ogwumike gets interviewed by sister Nneka, then turns the tables (photos courtesy of C and R's smart phones!)

But one thing is a constant in a Stanford Women’s Basketball game this year and that is the play of senior Chiney Ogwumike, who knows her time is finite. Plus older sis ands WNBA star Nneka Ogwumike was in the house and we know how inspired Chiney can get when Nneka is on or near the court to her.

Last game Chiney had trouble scoring against Washington’s zone, and true to form, they doubled her most of the night. Chiney still scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her 21st double-double of the season. She scored 21 points in the first half, leading Stanford to a 45-32 lead at half time. Chiney was four points shy of tying her career high. She also increased her career scoring total to 2,543, leaving her 87 shy of breaking former Stanford star Candice Wiggins' Pac-12 record.

Bonnie Samuelson added 14 points for Stanford, making four of seven from behind the three-point line. Freshie Lili Thompson had 11 while shooting three of six from behind the line. Fellow guard Amber Orrange added 10 points and four assists. Mikaela Ruef, who grabbed 22 rebounds last game, had a game-high 14 rebounds in this one.

Last game the score was 87-82, with Stanford on the losing end. This game, the score was 83-60. There was no way Stanford was going to let Washington score over 80 points again.

Nneka Ogwumike, who will be commentating for the Pac-12 Networks at the Pac-12 Tournament in Seattle, interviewed her sis after the game.

Last regular season game at Maples Saturday, and senior night for Chiney Ogwumike Sara James, Mikalea Ruef (who went through it last year) and Toni Kokenis, a former All-Pac-12 guard whose career ended as a result of concussions last season. Hope to see you there. 
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Stanford Flattens Oregon State

So two years ago, Stanford’s inside player Nneka Ogwumike decided in her senior season that she needed a mid range game to make her more versatile for the WNBA. She developed a nice shooting touch, and although she wouldn’t beat you with a three, if you stopped her from going inside, she could pull up for a nice jumper. She got herself drafted #1 and won the WNBA rookie of the year.

Flash forward to today and little sis Chiney Ogwumike is following in her footsteps. She is a danger inside, and if you leave her one on one in there, even against your best defender, she usually will score (UConn seeming to be the only exception). So Chiney has been working on her outside game for when she runs up against the UConn’s of the world, but it has been a little slower in developing then Nneka’s was. Mostly, it is the arch that is missing. Her outside shots beeline it for the basket.

Now, usually when the Stanford Women’s Basketball Team beats you, it’s because Chiney Ogwumike beat you inside. And that was certainly true today against Oregon State. Chiney scored 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Except today was different in that Chiney Ogwumike also beat OSU outside. Her shots still beelined towards the basket, But they went in. and when Chiney can hit for the outside, everything is going Stanford’s way. Stanford as a team went on a 29-4 run in the first eight and half minutes, and Chiney scored 17 of those points, and they never looked back.

Stanford's Lili Thompson (Ben Margot / AP Photo)

Oh, OSU had a few runs of their own, and shot the three ball in a timely matter just to keep pace, but that 20-point cushion could not be bridged. The final score was 89-67 Stanford. 

Four Stanford players scored in double figures. Freshmen starting guard Lili Thompson scored a season-high 19 points, made three out of four 3-point attempts, stole the ball twice and matched season bests with five rebounds and five assists. She also threw her body around on the court and was intimidating to OSU. Mikaela Ruef finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists. Taylor Greenfield had 13 points and made two 3-pointers. Bonnie the Bomber made a three with an assist from her younger sister Karlee (yes, sisterhood runs deep at Stanford). Speaking of threes, Stanford was 7-10 on 3-point attempts, and correct C and R if they are wrong, but that is a whopping 70% accuracy.

Said Oregon State’s coach, "Stanford set the tone tonight. They came out and punched us in the face basically for the first 10 minutes of this game." And punch they did, as for the second game in a row, an opposing player had to get medical treatment for a bloody nose. No more “Nice Girls from Stanford”, Pac-12.

Chiney Ogwumike posted her sixth 30-point game and 10th double-double of the season. She also passed out a career-high six assists. She passed Jayne Appel (2,125) for fourth place on Stanford's career scoring list. By season's end, Ogwumike also could overtake Kate Starbird (2,215), older sister Nneka Ogwumike (2,491) and possibly even Candice Wiggins’ conference record of 2,629 points (although coach Tara VanDerveer might not want that to happen, adoring Candice, LOL).

Next up Stanford travels to Utah and Colorado for more Pac-12 action.

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Stanford Crushes Ducks, Ogwumike Gets Record

They say defense wins championships. Well, the best offense in the nation went against an under-appreciated defense and the defense won. Well, couple the Stanford Women’ basketball Team’s defense with Pac-12 foe Oregon’s LACK of it and you get a 96-66 Stanford win.

Oregon came into Maples leading the country with 105.3 points. They were also the only women’s team averaging over 100 points. Then they met Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike. Chiney suffocated Oregon’s Chrishae Rowe, who was averaging 24.5 points a game (about the same amount Chiney averages, 25.8). Rowe was held to just five points in the first half and 11 for the game, five of those with the Stanford starters including Chiney on the bench.

Chiney Ogwumike blocks a layup-attempt from Oregon's Lexi Petersen. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Chiney received plenty of help on defense from her teammates. Stanford held run-and-gun Oregon to a season low 66 points, 39 below its nation-leading season average of 105 per game. Oregon’s 41 percent  of made 3-pointers plunged downward when Stanford held them to 23 percent (6-of-26).

When C and R saw the two teams line up for tip off, we thought Stanford was going to have their way rebounding and inside, as the Card looked taller. Imagine our surprise when Stanford Head Coach Tara Vanderveer dialed up a first half game plan of threes. Stanford used quick perimeter passing to counter Oregon’s zone and when the first Stanford player behind the line was a little bit open, they launched. And launched they did, hitting 12-24 behind the arc. Stanford also stopped Oregon from launching their own threes. Oregon missed their first nine 3-point tries and wound up 6 for 26 on 3-point tries for the game.

Stanford’s Bonnie Samuelson matched a career high with six 3-pointers and scored a career-best 21 points in just 17 minutes. Younger sister Karlie Samuelson (1), Taylor Greenfield (2), Jasmine Camp (1) and Lili Thompson (2) all hit triples as Stanford matched its season high with 12 makes from behind the arc. BTW, the bench scored 47 points, something that has been lacking all season.

The half ended Stanford up 51 to 33, (the official scorers table would change it to 34, something we didn’t know they could do). So Oregon came out of the break and employed a typical coaching move when the other team is making threes. They went to a man to man defense. And what happens, Stanford fans, when you leave Chiney one on one inside? It’s Chiney all day. Chiney had a quiet first half for her, only scoring 14 points and going 10 minutes without a basket, and then suddenly in the second she is stepping around her one defender. She ended up with 33 points and 14 boards for her ninth double-double of the year, before Tara took her out with five and a half minutes remaining.

Speaking of Chiney, she also set the Pac-12 and Stanford rebounding record in this game. She needed just ten to set it. Heck she could do that in her sleep. Hats off to Oregon, who boxed her well, and held her to just six rebounds in the first. C and R were counting on their fingers to see when she would get #10 for the record. She grabbed what we thought was the tenth rebound only to have an Oregon player tie her up for a jump ball. The announcer said it was her 10th and we cheered. Turned out it wasn’t, so the NEXT one was the record. Either way, she grabbed 14 boards to seal the deal.

Chiney passed former Stanford player Kayla Pedersen’ mark of 1,266 for the Pac-12 record. Earlier in the game she passed another Stanford great, Jayne Appel. Last game, she passed her sister, Nneka Ogwumike, who now stands fourth on that list. So Stanford holds the top four spots of the conference rebounding record. Chiney is at 1,271 and counting, with a whole season of Pac-12 left to play. This record might stay for a long, long time.

One thing Oregon did do well was push the ball in transition. One player grabs the rebound and goes the length of the floor as fast as possible without passing. If you don’t stop ball, they go all the way to the glass. And Stanford let too many of those go by. Goes to show you, always room for improvement.

Looking forward to the rest of the Pac-12 season.

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Stanford Beats Washington State, Clinches Pac-12 Title

The Stanford Women’s Basketball Team won their last regular season game against Washington State 72-50. That win gets Stanford their 13th straight Pac -12 Championship and 22nd overall. Unfortunately, Cal won their last home game, too, and because they lost to each other, Stanford has to share the Pac-12 Title with their rivals. This is the first time Stanford has not won the regular season conference title outright since 2004. The Cardinal shared the title with Arizona that year. This is Cal’s first Pac-12 title, regular season or tournament.

And hats off to Cal. They beat Stanford once, and didn’t lose focus for the rest of the season, wining all their games since. Cal Coach Lindsey Gottleib has our early vote for Pac-12 and National Coach of the Year. But this ain’t Cal Golden Blogs, so on with the Stanford show.

Chiney Ogwumike scores 28 and grabs 13 rebounds (AP Photo/Dean Hare)

Stanford beat Washington State how they have been doing it all season long: On the coat tails on All-American, All-everything Chiney Ogwumike. She had 28 points and 13 rebounds. And that was in just 28 minutes of play. Well, she did have 22 in the first half alone, so she could sit down in the second. The 28 points set a new career high for the junior forward. Chiney recorded her 24th double-double of the season and 54th all time, a continuing Stanford record. She also broke Stanford's single-season rebound record with 381. The previous record of 376 was by her sister Nneka Ogwumike during the 2009-10 season. Chiney has the post season, AND one more year to break that record. 

C and R have always maintained if anyone is going to break Nneka’s records, we are glad it is Chiney. Although sister Nneka was good-naturedly griping at Chiney on Twitter that the statistician would give Chiney  credit for a rebound when it was really hers due to their similar build. She had a bit of a point about playing with Chiney limited her rebounds. Nneka’s last two seasons she shared with Chiney, so not only were they fighting the other teams for rebounds, they were technically fighting each other. Nneka’s senior year, in particular, Chiney’s role was to rebound and Nneka was to take the first shot. If Nneka missed, Chiney inevitably got the rebound and the put back. It was, and is, her bread and butter. This year, Chiney is the only rebounder, looking at how she has consistently gotten double figure for most of the season.

And Mama knows best. When C and R traveled to LA to see Nneka in her rookie season with the LA Sparks, we caught up with Mama Ogwumike. We asked her how she thought Stanford was going to do without Nneka’s scoring and rebounding. She told us to wait and see, Chiney will rise to the occasion now that Nneka is not there. Boy, was she right.

And let’s listen in to the post game press conference. "What can you say about Chiney, she is so difficult to guard, she scores and rebounds and gets knocked around... And she does it all with a smile on her face, " Washington State coach June Daugherty said. "We call her the smiling assassin." Smiling Assassin. We love it. Gotta get some T-shirts made!

And let’s hear from her coach, Hall of Famer Tara Vanderveer: "Chiney is amazing, she is a great player and an even better person, she is a leader and a very special person to coach, she does so many things on the court rebounds, steals, blocks," VanDerveer said.

And let’s hear from the player herself: "I was surprised, I don't go into a game trying to break records, I just try to come in and play aggressive, but those things don't happen without teammates, that put me in great positions to score and rebound," Ogwumike said. "I told them go out and play defense and I will rebound”

Rebound she did, and defense they did. The rest of the Stanford team, that is. They are the first Stanford team to hold all opponents under 70 points a game. For this game, The Cougars shot only 25 percent from the field and went 1-14 from the 3-point line. And they hit that only 3-pointer of the night with 20 seconds on the clock. And with the Stanford starters firmly on the bench. And Stanford held Washington State Freshmen guard Lia Galdeira to only eight points and seven rebounds. Galdeira leads the nation in scoring as freshmen at 14.9 ppg.  Stanford’s stingy defense held all the Cougars to single digit scoring ands rebounding, and scored 16 points off 14 Cougar turnovers.

Other notables for Stanford, Joslyn Tinkle added 13 points, and Mikaela Ruef scored seven and pulled down 10 rebounds. Sara James contributed nine points and six rebounds. Still no action from guard Toni Kokenis, who has an undisclosed medical condition.

Next up is the Pac-12 Tournament. Even though Stanford and Cal are regular season co-champions, Stanford is the number one seed due to the tie breaker. We have read the tie  breaker is better winning percentage or points allowed, or something like that. Games start March 7th, although Stanford and Cal each have a first round bye and won’t play until Friday. See ya in Seattle.

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Chiney Ogwumike’s Record-Setting Performances Sinks Oregon

Sorry this is so late, C and R were up late watching the Oscars. Stanford was all business and dismantled Oregon in a very business-like manner. They beat the Ducks 74-50. Oregon was stuck at nine total points until 5:45 was left in the first half. The crowd exhorted Stanford’s stingy defense to hold them under 20 for the half. Oregon got 19 points with 40 seconds left in the half, and although Stanford hustled on defense, The Ducks got a three-pointer with five seconds left. Half time score was 40-22.

Chiney Ogwumike Scores Down Low against Oregon. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

First, we cannot say enough about Chiney Ogwumike’s ability to score down low. She is so explosive and quick to the basket. And she is fierce putting that ball up in the air and in the hole. She is virtually unstoppable if she catches the ball with her feet in the paint (In the UConn loss, she was pushed out of the paint before she touched the ball, and therefore could not score). Tonight against Oregon, she scored and scored some more. 

She scored so much she had a double-double by halftime. She scored 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. For the game, she scored 27 points and grabbed an eye-popping 24 rebounds. Yes, her 52nd double-double of her career, which breaks the Stanford record previously held by her sister, Nneka. Her 24 rebounds was also a career high. What is the Stanford single game rebounding record? Well, it was 23, previously held by, you guessed it, her sister Nneka. Well, if anyone is going to break Nneka’s records, it might as well be Chiney. Chiney also became the sixth player in Stanford history with at least 1,000 rebounds (1,010) and 1,000 points (1,600).

It was senior night at Maples, with Mikaela Ruef and Joslyn Tinkle wearing the Stanford “S”  on their home court for the last time (unless you count the two NCAA games they could play there). C and R wore their Tinkle bells one last time, and heard several others tinkling throughout, but Jos had a quiet night. She scored a basket on a turn-about-is-fair-play with Sara James. Tinkle had given up the rock to a streaking Sara James and the next fast break Sara gave it back. But that two points were the only two of the night for Jingle. Gonna need more at that tournament time. Ruefie was getting the few rebounds Chiney missed. She was a woman on a mission. She would end up with nine for the night and five points.

The rest of the team didn’t fare so well. Amber Orrrrange scored 12, and did a great job driving, pulling up and scoring. However, no one else for Stanford got in double figures. That is a little disconcerting. “I don’t think we played particularly well,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I thought we were kind of flat, honestly.” She doesn’t pull punches.

After the game, the Stanford faithful gathered near the Stanford bench to hear some heartfelt stories from the Stanford Senior Dads. Ruef has always had a head for basketball, and might get into coaching some day. She also might play again next year. She just got accepted into her Master’s program. Chiney decided they were going to “retire” Jos’s bow, and Tinkle was asked how she keeps her make-up on during a game.

Cal had a scare, coming back from a 17-point deficit to win by two points to beat Oregon State. Must admit we were crossing our fingers that Oregon could pull it off so Stanford would win the Pac-12 regular season title outright. Looks like Cal and Stanford are going to share it. The Pac-12 tournament will sure be interesting.

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Stanford, Tough D, Beats UCLA

This was a tough, physical game. It featured one flagrant foul and technical for swinging elbows, and one player getting an elbow in the face and a lacerated cheek. Yes, those were two different plays.
Still, the Stanford women’s basketball team prevailed 68-57 over UCLA in a game that featured both teams taking turns going cold and letting the other team go on long runs. Stanford had 15 turnovers and UCLA had 21.

Chiney Ogwumike, right, tries to score over Markel Walker. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike got going early and often, scoring 12 points in the first and 26 for the game. She only grabbed seven rebounds so her streak of nine straight double-doubles came to an end. Same with her hopes of tying the Stanford record of 51 career double-doubles set by her sister Nneka Ogwumike. Chiney is currently on 50. That’s okay, she can do it in front of her home crowd this coming weekend. 

UCLA’s Alyssia Brewer’s quote on Chiney was a little cryptic. "Overall I think we did a pretty job on her," UCLA senior forward Alyssia Brewer said. "I know she had 26 points but all of her shots were tough shots. I gotta give her credit for being able to make those shots and she does come prepared." Yes, they were tough shots, but that’s what Chiney does, she makes those tough shots. You might have forced her to take tough shots, but if she is knocking them down, you are not making it hard enough. Turns out this is Chiney’s 20th 20 point game this season. In ten games against ranked opponents, Chiney is averaging more than 21 points and11 rebounds.

The game was so physical early on that Stanford coach sent in backup 6’5 center Tess Picknell in the first half. She scored a basket and swung her elbows and got the aforementioned fragrant foul. To some observers on Twitter, they thought the UCLA player did not give her room to clear the ball and baited the center into the foul. As for the second vicious elbow, Chiney Ogwumike got an alley-oop pass and was going for a lay up when Kari Korver got in her way. Chiney’s elbow came down on her cheek and sliced her cheekbone, spouting quite a bit of blood. In this case, Korver got the foul, had to leave the game and will need multiple stitches to her cheek. Chiney, to her credit, went over to the bleeding Korver and apologized and said she didn’t mean to injure her. Pretty classy.

As we mentioned, both teams would go on runs and then get cold. UCLA got within two right before the half but Bombing Bonnie Samuelson hit a three to put Stanford up by five. UCLA would get within five points in the second half, too, but could not get closer.

Mikaela Ruef, who is experiencing a renaissance of scoring, had her second double-double of her career. She scored 10 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Joslyn Tinkle was one rebound away from matching that, also scoring 10 and grabbing 9 boards. That would have been her third straight double-double. However, she is four points away from joining the 1000 point club. Again, it is nicer to do it at home this weekend.

Stanford has two games at home this weekend against Oregon State and Oregon(and senior night) and two away games at the Washingtons. Both sets of teams are bottom dwellers in the Pac-12 conferences. Looks like Stanford and Cal will share a piece of the Pac-12 regular Title if everybody wins as they should.

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Stanford Struggles with UConn

Groan. It’s not that C and R can’t take a loss, it’s the way that the Stanford Women’s Basketball team lost to archrival UConn. They were embarrassed.

Here’s the thing, this is how C and R thought this season would go. Not that we want to be Negative Nellie’s but let’s look at last year. Pull up any box score from the 2011-2012 season and you’ll see Nneka Ogwumike high scorer and Chiney second-high scorer, and the sisters will have combined for half or more of Stanford’s total points. If the team were lucky, maybe a third person would break double figures or get to 10. And Chiney scored most by rebounding Nneka’s misses, or if they doubled Nneka, Chiney could knife inside, and make the other team pay. Take Nneka out of that equation, since she graduated, and you have one prolific scorer and not a whole lot of help. C and R predicted that all opponents would have to do is double Chiney and no one would step up.

And that is exactly what UConn did. Credit to them, they had a definite and exacting game plan and stuck to it, because frankly, Stanford could not or did not adjust. More on that later.

Chiney Ogwumike is doubled-teamed by UConn - Sean Harvey / SF Chron

So what did UConn do? First, they took away Chiney. Big tall Stephanie Dolson, who is a true 6’5, guarded her. Then when Chiney touched the ball one or two more people came over on her. The result was she was off balanced and pushed out away for the basket more than normal.

But here’s the rub. When two and then three people are double teaming you, there should be other people open. But for Stanford, no one cut to the basket or got in a passing lane to give an option to Chiney. The other offensive players were just standing around, used to Chiney scoring. And when she did miss, and three defenders have effectively walled Chiney off from the rebound, no one else from Stanford rebounded. Although we did note Stanford’s two guards would back pedal on defense to limit UConn’s fast break chances, so they were just following orders. But where were the forwards? Joslyn Tinkle, who celebrated her birthday on game day, had just two points for the game. It was not good basketball.

So Stanford went to plan B. Amber Orrrrange, playing point, would drive down the middle, to meet Stephanie Dolson. Amber could not get a good shot off, sometimes eating the ball and looking to pass it back outside. She scored zero points for the game.

Rinse and repeat those two scenarios. To the tune of 13 first half points for Stanford and 31 for UConn. What was really frustrating was Stanford Head Coach Tara VanDerveer, who is the master of the adjustment at the half, did not seem to adjust enough to try something different.

The third thing UConn did was press in the backcourt. Stanford is notorious for not being able to handle the press, but this was ridiculous. Either the ball would get stolen, and it was mostly Amber that was the victim of those steals or now the shot clock was eaten up and Stanford had to rush their shot selection. Stanford had 14 turnovers for the game that resulted in 15 points for UConn. And UConn is not the kind of team you want to fall behind.

But the worst thing is Stanford did not play smart. TVD said her team was doing things “out of character”. Some of it was little things, such as when Toni Kokenis’ defensive player fell down, she passed to a guarded player instead of taking a wide open shot. And some of it was big. In the second half, Stanford did adjust and figure out how to break the full court press. The guard bringing the ball up would throw to an open player at the half court line. And here is where all of Maples was flummoxed. That player would turn to the basket and there would be three white shirts against two navy shirts and instead of attacking the basket and taking advantage of the numbers, they would wait and hold the ball, letting UConn get all five players back on D and then start their rotation, shot clock ticking down. And this happened a lot. The Maples crowd at first exhorted their team to press it forward. Then the crowd booed. I have never, ever heard the Stanford fans boo their own team.

So Dolson is limiting Chiney and Stanford can’t go down the middle when she is in there. So when Dolson does go to the bench for long stretches, Stanford….stops attacking the middle and does not get it to Chiney? What? Instead they stuck to this very exacting rotation of players, who move one at a time. No cuts or quick movements without the ball. And when a Stanford player did catch the ball, they stood flatfooted, not in a triple threat or looking to shoot over their defender. Their body language said "I am waiting for the next rotation to pass and will not drive or shoot on you". That makes for easy defending.

Stanford did have a mini run when Bonnie Samuelson got two threes and Geno got T’ed up for hassling the refs. (If you call going from down 23 to down 15 a mini run). And guess what? Dolson was on the bench for that run. She came back in, scored a basket and that put the lid on anything, because, Stanford had still not altered their game plan.

The one time in the second half when Stanford pushed the ball against UConn’s press, Mikaela Ruef took the ball to the basket hard. Big Stephanie Dolson stepped up to defend and Ruef jumped up, and forward into Dolson. Their bodies met and although Ruef took a hard spill on the floor, Dolson was called with her third foul, as the refs will favor the offense in a meeting of the bodies. Smart. So, does Stanford even try that again? No. Do that one more time and Dolson has four fouls and would go to the bench and you can have some breathing room. But no, no one tries that. Chiney again catches the ball and jumps up and backwards to try to get away from Dolson’s arms and the result is another missed shot and another rebound scooped up by UConn. Not smart.

How ugly was this? Let’s quote some statistics. Well, the final score was 61-35. At one point in the first half, the score was 22-7. Stanford was 5-22 in the first half for a 15% completion rate, and a little better in the second, going 6-24 for 25%. That makes 19% for the game. That was Stanford’s lowest single-game shooting effort and fewest field goals made. Stanford was also uncharacteristically ineffective at the line, going 11-20. Ruef was 0-4, and scored zero points for the game .Oh, silver lining, it wasn’t Stanford’s worst home loss, that was a 1983 96-51 loss to Long Beach State before Tara’s time. And Chiney did score 18 points in this game. It just seemed like she missed all her shots. No one else for Stanford reached double figures.

UConn had a balanced offensive attack, with four players in double figures. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had 19, and three players had ten, with an additional bench player with nine. How balanced is that?

As bad as Stanford was, why hasn’t the rest of this season’s games gone this way? Why did other Stanford players step up in those games and not here? How did Stanford get to be 11-0 before this game if a team can so easily exploit their weaknesses? The rest of the season will be interesting to watch.

Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, to see if Stanford can recover from this game.

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WNBA Weekend

This weekend was the Nneka Ogwumike Weekend in LA, to watch her play in the pros, arranged by the Stanford Fast Break booster club.

First we would like to thank the Stanford Fast Break Club and Otis Watson in particular for their efforts to arrange the trip. Several LA Sparks officials spoke to our gathering and person after person said what a wonderful, charming, mature, smart person Nneka, the Stanford Women’s Basketball Alum, was. It’s nice to see they discovered in a few short months what we had for four years. They also said they don’t remember a booster club making an effort to support a player out of college like this, traveling en masse and arranging events, so that was kinda neat. Also, C was one number, one number away from winning Nneka’s autographed jersey! Thanks for arranging the prizes, too.

So C and R are sitting there in the private suite eating dinner with other Fast Break Club Supporters, minding their own business when this handsome gentleman asks if he can join us. C and R being ever so hospitable, say sure. R asks if he is from the Stanford area and he answers no. He’s Nneka’s agent. Oh darn! Turns out he is Orlando Castano, Jr. of 4Front Sports. C pumps him full of questions for the next 25 minutes, questions we had for Nneka anyway, such as what endorsement deals does she have in the works?

He said Nneka is Team Nike, which we are glad to hear because they are high profile and seem to take an active interest in promoting women athletes. She has a shoe contract. Also she has a yogurt deal and two trading cards deals. He said the first trading card deal is automatically given to the first four women of the draft. The second one he worked out of Leaf trading card and they normally don’t deal with women. Also he got the same monetary deal as the men pro athletes get, and we thought that was terrific. Much scouring of the Internet and the Leaf site brought us this announcement about Nneka Ogwumike's card, so if Leaf Cards they are serious about selling Nneka, they need to do a better job promoting it.

We also asked Orlando about the recent report about Nneka going to Poland in the off  season. Last we had heard Nneka wanted to go back to Stanford and get her MBA. Stanford even gave her a postgraduate scholarship. Now we read she will try to take correspondence courses while overseas. He said he worked out a good deal for Poland and then the next few years overseas as well. It was here we revealed we were bloggers and were going to print just about everything we talked about (everything you say can and will be used against you!) and let him take back anything he didn’t want to see in print, because our little blog is so high profile. He said maybe not sure the exact next- few-years plans. So if you really want to know what’s in the works for Nneka in the next few years come up to C and R on the sly and whisper out of the side of your mouth you want to know what insider information we have. Then we will have to kill you! Just kidding, but we feel so special! LOL!

Nneka’s agent also said he was trying to work out a deal to make Nneka the face of the Girl Scouts. It was Girl Scout night for the Sparks, Laurel Richie, current WNBA president, was the former head of the Girl Scouts, Nneka was a girl scout, a perfect marketing storm, and just goes to show you there are no coincidences in sports or marketing. By the way, anyone know the CEO of Chipolte? Nneka’s agent would love to talk to him/her.
Another thing he shared was if she averages a certain amount of points and rebounds by the end of the season, she gets a bonus from Nike. Talk about pressure. We were nervous for her all game to make her numbers. Wonder if other WNBA stars have that kind of deal?

Nneka’s Mom
As a special guest, Nneka’s mother, Ify Ogwumike flew in for the weekend. We said hi to her, having met several times at Stanford. We said we blog about Nneka. She said it was nice to put a name to the face but we are sure she was just being polite. We shared this on twitter at the time, but the apple sure doesn’t fall from the tree. Mama Ogwumike is just as warm and personable as we find Nneka. And so intelligent, just a pleasure to talk to. You just want to be in their orbit. We asked can you believe how far Nneka has gone from dribbling in the driveway to college awards to a number one pick in the pros, and she said no she still can’t believe it, especially from parents that had no idea that talent in sports could lead to anything.

We also talked about younger sister Chiney, still back at Stanford…ah Chiney, Mama Ogwumike says Chiney is the wind for Nneka and Nneka herself has said Chiney has given her the confidence. Then all three of us said laughed and said Chiney has all the confidence she needs. Now Stanford fans, C and R included, are worried about this upcoming Stanford season without superstar Nneka. Secretly C looked up Chiney’s high school record to see how she did in the 2 years without Nneka. Sure enough, she won a championship without Nneka. So when R asked about the upcoming season Mama Ogwumike said don’t worry about Chiney. When Nneka is around she defers to her, when she is by herself the real Chiney will come out. She also said we ain’t seen what Chiney can do. So Stanford fans, you heard it straight from the proverbially horse’s mouth we are in for some awesome Chiney talent.

Rebecca Lobo
ESPN announcer Holly Rowe was supposed to come and speak to the group, but had a previous engagement. So they got the ESPN announcer who was calling the game that night: Rebecca Lobo.

For those of you not in the basketball know, Rebecca was a star for UConn (although she did win a gold medal with Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer as coach) and Rebecca is still very close to UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. She said when she was told of the gig, she said, "let me get this straight, you want me to go to a Stanford booster club and speak to them about Nneka?" We all laughed at the irony of it all.

Rebecca Lobo spoke of Nneka being a class act and wonderful young person. Her only one bad decision was in where she went to college…Rebecca said to Geno, “there’s two more of them ya know,” referring to Nneka’s younger sisters still at home. And Geno said, “there’s two more of them?” We could just imagine that in our heads, him saying that. Rebecca said, “yes, so you better get on that.” Geno said, “I think that door is closed.”

WNBA Prez Laurel Ritchie
Okay, first of all, every time I think of Laurel Ritchie my head wants to say Lionel Ritchie so I was cracking myself up when she was speaking. She was very accommodating and a good speaker and had a good sense of humor about herself. I can see why she was picked, even though she NEVER saw a WNBA game or even played the sport, which she was the first to admit. C got to ask her nosy question, which was you have this great resource in NBA TV and why aren’t more WNBA games on it. She basically said I’m working on it. But that didn’t answer my question. Yes, she better be working on it, she’s the WNBA president after all, but I asked wanted to know is it the NBA forces that be that keep the WNBA off the airways? Do they consider it an inferior product to put on their channel? Do they think they will lose ratings putting on WNBA games versus the what they currently have? Inquiring minds want to know.

Lionel Ritchie, I mean Laurel, also said she thought Nneka was just wonderful and special but found herself wanting to pull her aside during a game when she was guarding Tina Thompson. She was thinking, Nneka, don’t you know who that is? That is Tina Thompson, one of the founding members of the WNBA. She should be treated like a treasured (and fragile) commodity. But there was Nneka playing her as hard as can be. It was a cute story that got chuckles from the audience. However the story turned dangerously prophetic.

The Game
As we were making our way to our seats, there’s Nneka’s face up on the Jumbo-tron, plus pictures when she was 2 and 7. She is doing a public service announcement for the Girl Scouts (a little foreshadowing by Orlando, so we were not surprised). Nneka on the Jumbo-tron said she was once a girl scout and how it helped her stay on track. We gave it thumbs up and hope she will be able to do more.

The game started and we waved our yellow “We love Nneka” signs printed by the Fast Break Club. You could tell Nneka was feeling us as she was “up” for this game. And we mean hyped up. Her exuberance was getting in the way of her playing in a controlled manner. She got a charging call on offense trying to dribble through the opposing players. She jumped high for a block but was faked out and got burned. She hustled so hard on defense. She went to the ground several times. She drove to the basket but was pushed under and tried hard to reach around and shoot only to have the ball hit the bottom of the backboard. She was also knocked to the ground on that play with no foul call.

We wondered if she felt the pressure to make her points to get her Nike bonus at the end of the year. We sure did knowing that just sitting in the stands. She did get a double double for the game, as did all the starting Sparks, so everyone could relax.

It was interesting to see her trying so hard. Those elongated steps to the basket, jumping high in the air for rebounds. Back in her college days, when she did that, it meant she was taking over the Pac 10/12 game and was getting ready to score a plethora of points. But here in the WNBA where everyone is a superstar in their own right, it didn’t work. She was out rebounded, she was blocked, foiled or stymied on her drives to the basket. She couldn’t take over the game at will, but she never, ever gave up. She worked hard on every play and that is the sign of a champion (Nneka would say after the game about her WNBA opposition, that maybe not everyone is fast, but everyone is talented).

Remember when Laurel Ritchie told the story that Nneka needs to treat founding veteran Tina Thompson as a rare and fragile commodity? Nneka was trying so hard in this game and would hit the deck on several lose balls. One lose ball Nneka dove headfirst and her head hit Tina Thompson (yes, the fragile founding member) on her knee and ankle and Tina bent awkwardly back in pain. Nneka disengaged her self from Tina and Tina was screaming in obvious agony. Laurel Ritchie must have been cringing in her luxury seat. Tina was helped up but did not put any weight on he injured leg. We thought for sure ACL, but found out the next morning knee sprain, but Tina did not travel back with the team to Seattle.

We also met up with Sue Favor who writes for her blog Hoopism and Basketball Ways, as well as for Hoopfeed. She covers the Sparks and gets to sit on press row. C and R were jealous until we remembered you can’t get free t-shirts while on press row. Here is her article about us Nneka supporters.

So instead C and R sat behind three adorable young boys who were cheering on the Sparks. Seattle scored a basket, probably getting by Nneka because C said “darn it” (yes she did, she is very mindful of little kids and their ears) and one of the little boys turned and said, it’s okay, we’re still winning.” Then for the rest of the game, he announced the deficit. When it got to 24 points more for the Sparks over the Seattle Storm, even jaded C and R were impressed. The boys cheered every Sparks’ basket and especially cheered for Nneka. We asked Dad if they were big fans and came to all the games because they were so knowledgeable and so into it. He said no, this was their first WNBA game ever. He was supposed to take his 3 nieces but they couldn’t make it so he brought the boys. They really had a great time and goes to show you the WNBA is not just for women spectators. They even got caught up in catching a t-shirt just like C and R and we showed them how to stand on the chair arms to elevate their position. Then C fell over a row trying so hard to catch a t-shirt thrown by none-other-than Nneka Ogwumike after the game. Oh yeah, Sparks won 83-59.

Big shout out to the Staples center for having the best popcorn, forger hot dog or soft pretzel. The popcorn was salty, crunchy, slightly buttery but not too oily. You didn’t feel like wiping your hand after every handful. Kudos.

After the Game
Nneka came up to our private suite in her uniform, muscles rippling and looking incredible fit and athletic. She said hi to everyone and someone asked if she heard us cheering and saw all the signs and she said absolutely, which surprised me, she seemed so focused on the game. Then she laughed her wonderfully warm, infectious laugh and you just instantly fall in love with her. That laugh makes you feel young again. That laugh says she is your best friend.

Clarification on classes
Nneka said the WNBA will pay for grad school! They will give $5000 a year to anyone who wants to go back to school. Plus she has the free post graduate scholarship awarded to her by Stanford. As we mentioned, she is trying to work out with Stanford to do some work online while playing in Poland to get her MBA. So in addition to learning her team’s new system, make her numbers and win rookie of the year, she is studying to take the GMAT (graduate Business school test) in July, so that must be coming up soon. This young woman doesn’t fool around nor waste her time playing video games like other young people.

What was it like playing against your old Stanford teammates, she was asked? She said it WAS weird. She said so many times he wanted to high five Jayne Appel or Jeanette Pohlen as they ran down the court because she was so used to being aware and rooting for them. At one point she was guarding Kayla Pedersen who plays for the Tulsa Shock and she got knocked down and Kayla said, “Nneka are you okay?” with genuine concern and reached down and helped her up. Opposing players don’t usually do that. She also said the scouting report was easy on Kayla because she played against her for 3 years.

That brought up a series of questions about preparation for opponents, comparing the pros to collage. We were surprised by Nneka’s answer saying wins and losses meant more in college, that more seemed to be at stake. Not that they didn’t take it seriously in the pros, mind you. She also said Tara VanDerveer prepared her well for the pros. She went on to say with Tara, it was about the system and finding the best shot. Here in LA, her coach says if you are open, shoot. So she feels like she has more license to be creative and shoot, and was told,  “do what you do best.” Coach Ross gives everyone free reign to do what they do best and find a way to score. Interesting, since we heard from Sue Favor who writes for Hoopfeed among other blogs as we mentioned, that when the Sparks get behind they play selfishly instead of team ball and fall apart. Maybe some more discipline ala Tara VanDerveer would be beneficial. Both systems seem to have their pros and cons.

Then Nneka signed autographs for everyone and had to go “take an ice bath.” Sounds like she ices her whole body. The next day was a new opponent, The Atlanta Dream, and the Fast Break Club members were going to do it again, have speakers, see the game and have Nneka talk, but C and R had to get home to the kiddies and kitties.

Even though we went away prize-less, dare we say it, the trip was priceless. We even got in two rounds of golf, one in Santa Maria and one in Pismo Beach, and got to see a wonderful young lady do what she does best. Dazzle with that smile. What a great weekend.

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Basketball Thoughts

Time has a way of slipping away when there is no schedule of women’s basketball games to follow. But since Stanford lost (again) in the Final Four to eventual National Championship Baylor, lots of basketball things have happened.

One, Stanford’s Nneka Ogwumike was drafted number one by the LA Sparks. It was fun to follow her and her sister Chiney on twitter and practically get a blow by blow account of everything back stage that lead up to the draft. We knew when Nneka was shopping for her draft dress (she selected orange, because she heard orange pops on camera), we knew when she was traveling to ESPN studios (yes, she HAD seen bigger satellites on the run up one of Stanford’s hills to the “dish”) and where she was and how she felt (nervous, calm, excited). It added a special touch to the pride all Stanford fans felt (first time Stanford alum went number one) when her name was called, even though it was a little bit anti-climactic in the sterile studio.

On the other hand, all the articles leading up to the draft, literally said, “Nneka, then who?” They really insulted the rest of the draft prospects. Then ESPN cut away televised coverage after the allotted hour had been reached even though there were still names to be called not Ogwumike. No respect.

Andrew Luck, another former Stanford player was also drafted number one, this time in the NFL, and congratulations to him. Projected income for him is $20 Million over, say, 5 years. Nneka and the other top three draftess will make $48,000 this year. Number 5 and down will earn less. Sigh.

To make matters worse, if you were drafted in the second or third round of the WNBA, your chances of making the team are slim to none. UConn coach Geno Auriemma said it took a number of years, but finally the WNBA has youngish, seasoned veterans that are not retiring, and with 11 roster spots, teams could conceivable take zero rookies. Wish there was more teams out there for women who still want to play in the US.

Nneka has said since she is in California, she wants to go back to Stanford in the off season for her MBA instead of overseas to make more money. After reading between the lines for Jeanette Pohlen, Jayne Appel and Kayla Pedersen, it didn’t seem like they enjoyed their time overseas, anyway. With Nneka’s $48,000 salary, though, she might need to make more money to pay for grad school. Luckily, Lisa Leslie is a part Sparks owner and Nneka’s new mentor. Let’s hope she helps Nneka get endorsements, commercials and or modeling jobs to pay the bills.

In other news:
Legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summit, who was diagnosed last year with early onset dementia retired from UT. She preserves her dignity and win loss record, lets head coach Holly Warlick officially put her stamp on things, gets the cameras and focus off her condition, and allows her son to graduate and leave home to accept a women’s basketball assistant coaching position. Tennessee gave Pat a title (professor emerits) and a position to stay and help mentor players as long as she wants. Very cool of them.

C and R were rankled by a blogger posting a headline stating Pat Summit was “forced out” by Tennessee. We have seen no evidence of that in any other media. Irresponsible blogger publishing things without checking facts and just going on opinions (hey wait a min…no it wasn’t us, we checked).

We wish Pat well even though we have rooted against her orange-tinged team forever.
Well, WNBA starts in like, five days, summer Olympics are right around the corner, so plenty more women’s basketball and women’s sports to watch and be dazzled, captivated and pleased by. Stay tuned.

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Stanford Falls in Final Four Semi Game

Making it to the Final Four is one big party, a parade of awards, a chance to play dress up, and get sized for rings. Pretty heady stuff. Too bad they still have to play the games. Stanford came up short in the semi-final game, losing to Baylor 59-47. Let’s face it, Stanford had the game plan, they just couldn’t execute on offense.

After much secrecy, ESPN reportors reported just before the tip off that Stanford would play a 54 defense against 6’8 Brittney Griner, who had won the Player of the Year Award the day before. To Stanford fans, this defense was not new, having seen it done to Cal and a couple other teams this year. It has five Stanford players surrounding the paint and the four better scorers and leave one Baylor player open. It worked for a half. Jordan Madden was the first victim to find herself surprisingly open. She missed a lot, going 2-8 for the half. Brittney Griner only had 7 points and went many minutes without touching the ball.

But Stanford could not hit on offense. They could not hit a three. Stanford’s standout player Nneka Ogwumike played away from the basket to pull Brittney Griner away from helping. When Stanford got some back door passes, it worked. When Nneka tried to shoot from out there, she missed. She also would have 7 points at the half. Freshmen three-point specialist Bonnie Samuelson was brought in off the bench and instantly hit a three. That would be her only one, although she popped a second one and the ref said she stepped out of bounds.

The half time score was 25-23 Baylor, and that was because Lindy LaRocque did not take care of the ball and it got stolen for a lay up. Stanford only had 4 turnovers against Baylor’s quick defense, but they lead to 8 points. That won’t win you games. When Stanford came out of the locker room at the half, they put Nneka back inside where she is most comfortable, which means she had to go right at Brittney Griner, and she did.

Nneka drove in and as she jumped, and Brittney jumped to block, Nneka flew in the air to the other side of the basket for a reverse lay up. Nneka went inside again and was fouled by Griner. Then the third time she attacked the basket and made a high bank shot. And like that she has 13 points. The fourth time she was blocked.

And then the wheels came off. No one else from Stanford was scoring. They stopped going back door. Stanford got it to 34-21 Baylor. Then Chiney got called for an illegal screen and her third foul. Nneka did a screen and SHE got called for an offensive foul.

Then Chiney got her fourth and then a short time later, her fifth at the 7:48 mark. Although, it wasn’t that big of a loss as she was ineffectual against Griner inside. She could hardly rebound, and she certainly didn’t get any put-back points. She would leave the game with just 4 points. But at that point, the game was not lost, if someone else could step up and make threes. Jos Tinkle, who has a steady hand the latter part of the season, only scored 2 points and missed all three of her three-point attempts.

Stanford was limiting Brittney Griner, but now Jordan Madden and a bench player by the name of Terran Condrey were making their shots. If you would have said to Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer that Brittney Griner would get one field goal in the second, half, and Nneka would lead all scores with 22, AND Stanford would win the block-battle with 5 team blocks to Brittney Griner's 2, she would have thought the game was in the bag.

But no one, not even Baylor counted on Madden scoring 9 and Condrey scoring 13. Baylor point guard Odessey Simms had a better second half, scoring 11 for the game. And Tara would not have liked Stanford going 2-17 from three-point land. And the fact everyone else not named Ogwumike combined for 21 points.

Like we said, the game plan was there, but the other players did not step up and score.  The second half ended 59-47, and like that, Stanford’s stellar season was done.

Yes, it was stellar season. That was only their second loss, going 39-2 for the year. They made it to the Final Four. Nneka was in the running for Player of the Year. She got to share this amazing journey with her sister Chiney. She sometimes single-handly put Stanford on her back and won games by herself. It was as much fun to watch as it must have been for Nneka and Chiney to share, and the other Stanford team members to experience.

Although they did not win a championship, we will always remember this season with joy. Congratulations to the coaching staff, players and support system of Stanford on a great year!

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Stanford Victory Over Duke Propels them Into Fifth Straight Final Four

The Stanford Women’s Basketball team is going to the Final Four for the Fifth time in five years. Stanford seniors have gone to four straight Final Fours. There was the net cutting and the trophy hugging, and lots of smiles all around at the regionals, especially for the Stanford Faithful who made the trek back to Fresno. But…

C and R hate to bring up what everyone is trying hard not to say. Stanford is 0-4 in Final Fours from the last four years. Their opponent they have to play to get to the championship game is the number one ranked team in the nation, Baylor. They feature an athletic, dunking 6’8 Brittney Griner. They are undefeated this year. All the bigs had their shot, Tenn, UConn, Notre Dame, and lost. But…

Stanford senior Nneka Ogwumike was gracious in her interview after her team easily dispatched Duke 81-69. She said she is excited to play Baylor, and she knows Brittney and thinks she is nice and Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey is a good coach, but she is looking forward to it (as opposed to C and R who are dreading it). But…

Yes, we know Baylor has other weapons besides Brittney, namely Odyssey Sims. But Baylor has not seen the likes of two Ogwumikes who play as one. This year they have been a perfect compliment to each other. Nneka has developed an outside scoring touch and Chiney gets any rebounds she misses and puts them back. If anyone can do it, bet on these sisters (and thank you Obama for betting against them, picking St. John’s to go to the Final Four. They didn’t even make it to the Elite Eight).

Stanford controlled this game from the first lob from freshmen Amber Orrrrange to Nneka. When Duke went to a zone early on to try to limit Nneka, Amber drove and good ball movement got to open players, who hit some threes. Amber would have 13 for the game.

After Stanford got out-rebounded in their last game against a shorter South Carolina team, they made it a priority to get the ball. Chiney, with bulky knee and brace got 17 of them all by herself. She chipped in 12 points. Nneka once again saved the day when Chiney went to the bench with three fouls and she herself had three fouls, she scored 29 timely points and grabbed 9 boards.

Memo to the rest of the team: When Nneka and Chiney each have three fouls and Duke knows it and drives into the lane right at the sisters, one of you not named Ogwumike have to step up and either stop the drive or take the foul to save them. Because as much as anyone attached to Stanford hates to admit it, without the sisters, Stanford is sunk. Although…

Stanford did hit some threes tonight as we mentioned, seven of them to be exact. Tinkle had three of them and finished with 13 points. Having four starters in double figures helps the Stanford cause a lot, and takes pressure off of the sisters.

As we mentioned, Baylor is also going to the Final Four. They beat Tennessee earlier this evening and a lot of chatter if this was Tennessee coach Pat Summit’s last game. There was a scuffle on the court near the end of the game, and three Baylor players left the bench to see what was going on. Trouble is, rules state if a player leaves the bench to enter the court, they are assessed a technical foul and ejected from the game. Both teams got the technical foul, so no shots, but one of the three Baylor players ejected was Brittney Griner. Then the twitter-sphere erupted as to would she and the others be suspended for the next game? The Final Four game with Stanford? Rules said since there was no fight and the bench players did not fight then there is no suspension. R said she would not want to beat Baylor that way, and we all know she has a point. Still…

Final Four game is set for April Fools Day on ESPN. If anyone can solve the Brittney puzzle, it’s Tara VanDerveer, who recruited a 6’8 inch guy to be her in their practices. I bet his phone is ringing off the hook right now with Stanford coaches trying to get him into practice for the next 6 days!

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Stanford Gets Sweet Sixteen Win over South Carolina

Stanford prevailed in the Sweet Sixteen over South Carolina 76-60, but it was a hard fought contest. South Carolina was undersized, yet they wanted to minimize Stanford’s second chance points, so they won the rebounding game 38-36. They planned on being physical with Stanford sisters Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike, and they were, twice knocking Chiney to the ground in obvious pain on her already wobbly knee. They keyed on the inside players wanting to make the outside (read other players not named Ogwumiek) try to beat them. Two out of three ain’t bad.

South Carolina was physical and they keyed on the sisters, but they still could not stop Nneka. Nneka scored 39 and grabbed 10 rebounds, and stayed in the game with 3 fouls. Chiney, not her usual self on rebounds and put-backs due to her knee, had four blocked shots and contributed 11 points, and still managed to get 10 boards. In fact, the sisters scored Stanford’s first 14 points, and 50 of Stanford's 76.

A the start of the game, Chiney came out of the locker room wearing a huge knee brace, which had C and R speculate there might be a tear in there somewhere. After the game Chiney called the brace more cautionary then necessary, and Tara VanDerveer is paranoid to a fault about knee injuries to players, so we will see. Still, Chiney went down twice. The first time she was undercut as she went up for a rebound and fell hard. The second time she was knocked to the ground and hit the knee full on, which caused obvious pain on her face.

Luckily, the refs called a foul on that play, which was always in question as they let obvious brutal contact go and then would call strange non-fouls. In a word they were horrible. Bonnie Samuelson came in to take Chiney’s shots as she went to the bench with ice on her knee, and made both. Nneka had three fouls, and South Carolina was licking their chops thinking she was going to go to the bench for a long stretch but if there is anyone Tara can trust to not foul, it’s Nneka. She would make her coach look good.

C and R got to see a lot of the contact up close. We did make the pilgrimage to Fresno, and our original seats were up high and off to the side of the basket, behind all the action, so we went down behind the basket where apparently they didn’t sell any seats and had the section to ourselves (we did share with the Stanford band). Unfortunate for us, Tinkle’s wild throw for a three to end the half and make Stanford go into the locker room 36-30 was at the opposite end. BTW, that was Stanford’s only three of the night. We did see Chiney’s second fall and grimaces of pain and Nneka’s concerned handholding. Also saw Chiney get bandaged up twice and blood removed from her jersey as she had  actually claw marks on her arm. Guess what, no foul was called.

Then C got food poisoning (thanks Fresno) and barely survived the night.

Monday’s Elite Eight is against Duke, the team the East Coast media at one point said should be seeded higher than Stanford. Duke’s outstanding guard Chelsea Gray is a sorta hometown girl and had 50 of her fans there Saturday. The announced crowd was 3,754, but it seemed like more, still off the type of crowds we see on the East Coast. We can’t go back to Fresno for Monday’s game, what with life and work getting in the way, however the game is televised, and starts at 6:00 PM Stanford time. Go Card, fifth final four and Nneka last are on the line!

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Stanford Roughs up West Virginia in Round Two

Stanford Women’s Basketball Coach Tara VanDerveer won this game against West Virginia the day before it was played. Tara is not one to toot her own horn or run to the media, so when she DOES talk to the media, Stanford fans notice. She did it a few weeks when she thought the Pac-12 was getting slighted, and she did it yesterday when she found out she was playing a defensive-minded team that liked to win, in their coaches words, “ugly.”

Tara implored the media that while she doesn’t mind a physical game, she hoped the refs would call it fairly. And no one likes wrestling matches on the floor, she continued, or when there is holding or bodies flying. She planted that subliminal seed in the ref’s head that they had to call contact. And who was one of the trio of refs? None other than Pac-12’s own Melissa Barlow.

Now, Stanford fans are chuckling at that, as we see her about every other game and we think she is horrible, making bad calls. But hey, everyone has pride in their work, so just maybe she was tired of hearing the East Coast trash the Pac-12, so maybe, just maybe, she had a little Pac-12 chip on her shoulder and some extra love for a team she sees about once a week. Coupled with the fact her crew has just been called out to call the game fairly, and boom, Stanford got some home-cooking calls 3,000 miles away from home. Just like Tara VanDerveer planned it.

Let’s looks at the highlights. Stanford came ready to play. They were fast and they were quick. Sweat was gleaning off their bodies at each time out. Announcer Mary Murphy said you can’t hit what you can’t catch, meaning it’s hard to be physical when Stanford is stealing the ball and making points in transient. Stanford would score 19 points off of West Virginia’s turnovers, as opposed to 2 points off of Stanford turnovers for WVU.

Tara also won this game by her advance scouting. She broke out that new offense C said she hated. You know, the one where the guard brings up the ball and the four other Stanford players are standing even with the foul line. No one is under the basket. And then Stanford did back door cuts to an unguarded basket the whole 1st half. West Virginia didn’t know what hit them.

WVU defense was playing out of position. Their posts were near the free throw line and no one to help them when their player did the back door cut. When you are scoring uncontested lay-ups, it just looked too easy. Stanford was up to a 22-point lead in the first, after rattling off a 17-0 run. And here’s where the other coach lost the game. He never adjusted his defense in the first half to counter Stanford’s back door play. Both teams went into the locker room with the score 38-17.

Surprisingly it wasn’t the sister act of Player of the Year contender Nneka Ogwumike and her sister Chiney scoring all the points. WVU had the game plan to try and contain them. They didn’t count on freshmen Amber Orrrrange. Amber sliced her way to the basket and when that was taken away, she hit some pull up leftie jumpers. She had 12 points in the first half and a career high 18 points for the game. Plus no turnovers against a “physical” defense. Nneka scored a quiet 16 and Chiney 13. Toni Kokenis added 10 and Tinkle had 9, with 2 three pointers, so the starting five all contributed. A good sign instead of the usual Nneka and Chiney show. Final score was 72-55.

West Virginia also tried to get the sisters in foul trouble. That worked in the second half, with Nneka going to the bench with 3 fouls with 16 minutes still left to play in the second. However, West Virginia couldn’t capitalize. Then Chiney got her third foul four minutes later and went to the bench. Nneka came in and got her fourth. Much was made about WVU players fouling out 13 times this season to none for Stanford, so Nneka had to play it cool to avoid getting tossed. But with a 20-point lead, it was not hard.

Speaking of Chiney, she was playing with a taped-up knee after falling hard in the first round game. At one point she had a great burst of energy to lead the fast break while West Virginia was lulled into compliancy on defense. Then she was limping. I hope she is able to rest it for the next 5 days until Stanford plays again in Fresno.

Stanford plays South Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen in Fresno on Saturday. Let’s show those East Coasters we like women’s basketball and pack the house.

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Stanford Wins in First Round of NCAA Tournament

Well, now that the dust has cleared and the letter written about disrespect has been read (Hampton), they actually played the games starting Saturday. And Stanford, as befitting a number 1 seed, beat Hampton University 73-51.

Ya know, it’s tough for a #16 seed. Here you go and win your conference, scrape and scrap and suffer and sweat all season long, and your reward is to play a bigger, better team and lose and go home, which was about 10 miles from the gym in this case. So unfair to Stanford if you want to talk about disrespect, Hampton!

Anyhoo, the game started out close. Here Hampton got their hopes up by hitting a three-pointer to make it a one point game at the 7-minute mark in the first. And then, Nneka Ogwumike runs you over. She scored 28 points, 22 in the first, and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double, to overwhelm Hampton (and directed the mop up crew to clean the floor to boot).

Stanford fans have seen this phenomenon all season long. Sometimes it’s the one-two punch of Nneka and her sister Chiney. But not this time. Stanford had some drama of its own.

Early in the first half around the 17 minute-mark, Chiney knifed in for an offensive rebound. To C and R, it looked like the Hampton player fell on Chiney’s ankle, who then toppled into a second Hampton player. Chiney got called for the foul.  And stayed down. When she did get up, she was limping.

Stanford fans everywhere stopped breathing. She subbed out and went to the locker room. Social media was all abuzz, bruised knee was the official reading. Dad followed her into the locker room, so it seemed more serious then a bruised knee.

She came back out, rested, sat next to the coaches (See, good as new, put me in, coach), went back in, got burned on defense, came out a minute later, went back to locker room, came back out and rode a stationary bike for the rest of the half. Watched her sister Nneka hit a three-point shot with seconds left to lift Stanford to a 42-27 lead, and went into the locker room to listen to genius coach Tara VanDerveer give her famous half-time adjustments.. Then Chiney played the second half and ended up with 9 points. Whew, had us dizzy with worry and relief.

So, while Chiney’s drama was all going on and Hampton got within one at the 7-minute mark, Nneka took over. Stanford went on a 20-6 run since the one point difference, scoring 14 straight unanswered points after Hampton’s three. Hampton just had the 6 points after the 7-minute mark, and that was with the Pac-12 defensive player of the year riding a bike.

And that three-pointer with 7 seconds left, it was as if Nneka was saying, here, take that into the locker room and chew on that. And, as most teams have found out, there is no answer to Nneka. Stanford went on to win 73-51.

Jos Tinkle scored 16, adding points that Chiney usually provides. It helped that she hit 4 three-pointers. In fact, she was 4-4 from behind the line, we think a career high for made three pointers for her. That certainly helps open things up for Nneka to work inside. Guards Toni Kokenis also added 9 and Amber Orrrrange added 7, with a career high 11 assists. Well, when you are throwing it to Nneka, who can score at will, it helps a lot.

Next up is a very tough defensive team in West Virginia. They are long and tall. Hope Chiney’s knee is up for the challenge. Should be on ESPN2 at 4 PM Stanford time.

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Stanford Wins Inaugural Pac-12 Basketball Title Over Cal

Now Stanford can say it for reals, they are Pac-12 Champions. They won the Pac-12 regular seasons by going undefeated and earned a number 1 seed in the post-season tournament. Then they had to play the games. And they almost lost to a defense-minded ASU in the semis. And the finals were against the only team to take them to overtime this season, Cal. But it didn’t really matter. Stanford won all of them, and got to cut down the nets.

Again, this was a physical game with inconsistent refereeing. Cal keyed on the inside duo of sisters Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike. Stanford perimeter players responded by going 1-8 from three-point land in the first. Cal, on the other hand, which is not known for its outside shooting, made 5-9 three pointers in the first, enabling them to keep the score close at the break, 37-31. Cal had been in the hole by as much as 13 points earlier in the half.

But both teams knew the three point shooting were both anomalies. Cal would go 0-3 on threes in the second, and Stanford would be 4-8 from behind the line. And the biggest surprise of them all was newly minted three-point shooter post player Nneka Ogwumike. She made not 1, not 2, but 3 threes. She missed a 4th attempt somewhere, C and R don’t remember amidst the yelling and the screaming and the cats-running for cover over at SC’s place. The twitter-sphere went crazy. Nneka had not made a three all season! She previous had made 2 threes in her career! It was out of this world!

And also timely. Sister Chiney went out of the game with 4 fouls with 9:37 to play and Stanford with a 10-point lead. Nneka herself had 3 personal fouls. And that’s when she hit it, her first three, for a 13-point lead and it wouldn’t get any closer. The game ended with the score 77-62, Stanford.

So just what got into Nneka to start bombing threes? Apparently, she makes the all the time in practice.  Sister Chiney counseled her earlier saying she’s got a great outside shot, but as soon as she steps over that line, she physiologically psyches herself out (Or something like that, Chiney tells the story better). Chiney told Nneka to stop placing such importance on the line and just shoot, especially if the shot clock is winding down. And she did! Three times, and it was a dagger in Cal’s heart.

Let’s look at the records:
Nneka Ogwumike became the all-time scorer in Pac-12 Tournament history. Nneka also equaled Pac-12 Tournament record for most points in a tournament (71). Chiney Ogwumike broke the Pac-12 Tournament record for most rebounds in a tournament with 36. Stanford set a school record with its 28th consecutive victory and extending its win streak over Pac-12 foes to 78 games.

Then let’s look at stats:
Both sisters had a double-double. Nneka had 29 points, and 12 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocked shots and 3 threes! Sister Chiney had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and one flagrant elbow call (Brittany Boyd missed both shots, so there was some justice in the air). The sisters combined for 46 points and 25 rebounds. Freshmen guard Amber Orrrrange added 13 and 3 assists. Nneka averaged 23.7 points 10.3 rebounds during the tourney.

Let’s look at the awards:
Nneka earned the Pac-12 tournament MVP. Nneka and Chiney were named to the all-conference tournament team. Stanford took home a shiny trophy and Nneka wore the net around her neck on the flight home.

Things we learned from twitter:
Mikaela Ruef did not make the trip down to LA. She had surgery on her foot the day before. She plans to make the NCAA tournament, although it is not clear she will play, although that does seem doubtful.

Things we learned from fans that were courtside, of which there were few, (announced attendance was 1,845):
Bonnie Samuelson was hurt. She was seen limping and crying when she left the floor. The thought is Nneka might have landed on her leg. Having the MVP land on you is a small price to pay for a Pac-12 Championship.

Next up:
Selection Monday, where the 64-team field will be set and Stanford will find out how may thousands of miles they will have to travel. It will be on ESPN at 4 PM Stanford time.

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