Stanford Shines in Senior Night

Senior Night for the Stanford Women’s Basketball team is always emotional. Some get overwhelmed emotionally. Some cry. Some feed off the energy and family in attendance and set a new career high during the game. That someone is Chiney Ogwumike.

Stanford Seniors! Sara James, Mikaela Ruef, Toni Kokenis, Chiney Ogwumike (Photo courtesy of Pac-12 Networks )

A few years ago, Stanford broke with tradition of having the senior ceremony right before the actual game, due to several players being overcome with emotion and then not playing very good basketball. So after Stanford beat Washington by a score of 84 to 64 and officially won the Pac-12 regular season title, Stanford fans stayed behind and the players and families were introduced, speeches were made, and yes, tears were shed. But not from one Chiney Ogwumike. She said she wouldn’t cry, she is too happy, too happy for her four years at Stanford and all the rich and varied experiences it has brought her.

Chiney was honored along with Sara James (must be called Sejjie we learned), Mikaela Ruef, who is a fifth year senior and went through this last year as she was not sure if she was coming back, and Toni Kokenis. Toni retired last year after repeated concussions, yet choose to stay with the team and attend every practice and game even though she could no longer participate. Of course someone asked if she missed the game. The emotional answer was yes.

A big shout out to Mama Ogwumike for an eloquent speech on how thankful she has been for the Stanford family and how they had embraced her daughters. Yes, you can’t talk about Chiney Ogwumike’s Stanford career without mentioning older sister Nneka Ogwumike, who had a stellar Stanford collegiate career and was the number one draft pick in the WNBA and went on to win rookie of the year (and that last year with Nneka as a senior and Chiney as a sophomore was a thing of remarkable beauty to watch unfold). But Mrs. Ogwumike said when it is all said and done, it is the relationships that have been built that will be remembered and treasured forever. Dad Peter was reluctantly prodded into speaking too, and his booming voice showed where Chiney gets her heart and passion for playing. Don’t you want to be adopted by the Ogwumikes?

So in the game, as we mentioned, Chiney scored a career high and Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer let her, meaning she kept her in long enough to get number 37, a point over her old record before Tara took her out for a rousing standing ovation with two minutes left. And truthfully, Stanford needed her points AND her defense. Washington State was not going away, despite being down all game. They have two really good guards in Lia and Tia who did not give up, and really took it to the basket. I am sure WSU and the entire Pac-12 nation is glad Chiney is a senior.

More game facts:
Senior forward Chiney Ogwumike scored a career-high 37 points with 13 rebounds for her 13th 30-point game and 22nd double-double of the season. She scored 21 of those points in the first half. Chiney Ogwumike’s 37 points increased her career scoring total to 2,580, bringing her to 50 points away from breaking Candice Wiggins’ Pac-12 record of 2,629 career points. Chiney already has the Pac-12 career rebounding record, so every rebound builds the record. She currently stands at 1,483.

Junior point guard Amber Orrange scored 20 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists. She came just two points and one rebound shy of her respective career highs.

Junior forward Bonnie Samuelson scored 10 points for her fourth double-digit scoring performance over the past five games. She hit two 3-pointers in the game.

Speedy Freshie Briana Roberson continues her energetic play, scoring eight, which I believe ties her career high.

One disturbing trend, Stanford was 4-23 for 3-pointers. When teams key on inside player Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford must make outside shots to open things up and have a more balanced scoring attack. This will be imperative in the NCAA tournament, especially if Stanford wants to come back to Maples for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight.

Stanford is the 14-time Pac-12 champion and the No. 1 seed at the Pac-12 Tournament for the 13th time this year. They get a bye in Seattle and will start in the quarterfinals, facing the winner of Thursday night’s UCLA-Colorado first-round contest.

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Stanford Survives Colorado

Was it the altitude? Was it Colorado’s ‘tude? Whatever it was, it was a physical game with lots ‘o fouls, and Stanford had to work for this Pac-12 win.

The Stanford Women’s Basketball team beat Colorado in mile-high Denver 87-77, but hats off to Colorado, they never gave up. Stanford had a lead of 18 in the first half and got it to 19 with 13 minutes left to play, but Colorado would battle back to cut it to seven. It didn’t help that Stanford’s two best players, Chiney Ogwumike and Amber Orrrrange, had foul troubles and had to sit more minutes then usual. Amber would foul out with a minute left in the game.

Sara James Battles for the Ball (Photo-Cliff Grassmick)

Once again, big shout out to Pac-12 Networks for showing the game. C and R caught it between football games, or maybe it was a continuation of one, as players were getting hit and crashing to the floor. Stanford was whistled for 25 fouls, and Colorado 24. Oddly, mild mannered freshmen Karlie Samuelson was called for a double technical when tangling with Colorado’s Arielle Roberson and it was the mildest foul of the game.

Speaking of Freshman Karlie Samuelson, who we have the nick named KSam (but has caught on with nobody) she set season highs in points (19), 3-pointers made (5) and field goals made (5). Her previous high in scoring was eight points. And did she hit some threes, going 5-8 from behind the line including hitting one at the buzzer to end the first and send the Buffs to the locker room with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Speaking of threes, Stanford as a team was 8-15 from behind the line at the half and 10-21 for the game. Colorado, by comparison was Colorado 1-5 at the half and 4-13 for the game. Taylor Greenfield, Sara James, Lili Thompson, Amber and yes, for the second straight game, Chiney, each had one made 3-pointer. Post player Chiney made her third of her career, the second of the season. She just forgot to call “bank” when it went in.

Speaking of Chiney, she 34 points. That makes her sixth 30-point game in the past seven games and eighth of the year for those of you keeping g score at home. The current Pac-12 rebounding record holder grabbed 16 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season. Wow, no wonder she is in consideration for Player of the Year.

No other Stanford player got in double figures, but freshmen Lili Thompson scored nine, with her one made three. For the second game in a row, she took a punishing blow. This time a big body crumpled her leg under her. She went out but returned.

Three point specialist Bonnie Samuelson, sister to KSam so logic dictates she be BSam, did not score  a three, but mixed it up inside and had a tough put back for the first time….ever. We usually don’t see her inside.

Hopefully Stanford can get back to Cali and recover from the altitude and the cold. They next play the Arizonas at home.

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Stanford Survives Texas

Subtitled: Don’t Mess with Texas, Just Beat ‘em

The Stanford Women’s Basketball team played Texas, and it was a home coming of sorts with four former Texas players for Stanford, three on the starting roster.

Texas had some interesting players, too. One was a Nneka, Nneka Enemkpali, who shares the unique name with Nneka Ogwumike, who had a stellar career for Stanford and graduated two years ago and is sister to current Stanford starter Chiney Ogwumike. And it was Chiney vs. Nneka as they took turns guarding each other. C and R have never cheered against a Nneka so it was new territory for all of us.

Texas also has Imani McGee-Stafford, who is 6 foot 7 inches. It’s like playing another Brittney Griner. Her mother is basketball standout Pam McGee, who played in the WNBA, won two national championships at Southern California and a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics, and her brother is JaVale McGee currently plays for the Denver Nuggets. Wowza!

The game opened with Stanford in their black uniforms that C loves. Freshmen Lili Thompson and Karlie Samuelson (now nick named KSam to differentiate her from her sister, Bonnie, BSam) got the start, to compliment veterans Amber Orrrrange, Mikalea Ruef and all-everything Chiney Ogwumike. (Ogwumike, Thompson and Orrrrange are the three from Texas).

Then 6’7 (sorry, takes too long to type her name) is blocking and shooting threes. Which brings an interesting point, why is she at the high high post at the three point line? C and R see she is setting screens out there but then she is so out of place for rebounds. Good thing she missed a lot of open shots close to the basket when she did move inside, going 4-14 for the game.

On one play 6-7 split two Stanford defenders and went straight to the basket and no one in a black uniform could stop her. Her lay in is practically a dunk. Good thing she did not do a lot of that and good thing her jump shot is suspect, because when she did shoot, she missed. She also traveled a lot when she put the ball on the floor. As we have said about Brittney Griner in the past, just have her stand on the low block and throw her the ball to her outstretched hands. No one can stop that without fouling. Good thing this was not in the game plan for Texas. And when she did screen, she shifted and stuck out elbows. Stanford finally got a call when she elbowed Lili, who at 5’7 gives up a foot off height to her.

Early in the first half, it was Mikaela Ruef stepping up and scoring. Ruef was guarded by 6-7, and when the Texas center stayed in the paint to help against Chiney, Ruef was left open. Ruefie was the lone bright spot in first half with 10 points.

Texas also got to the free throw line a lot more than Stanford in the first. It was 16 free throw attempts for Texas vs. three for Stanford, with Texas getting 10 points off of the FTs. Stanford did not go to the free throw line in the first 17 minutes.

In the first half, Stanford was missing rebounds. The announcers did point out at the top of the show that Texas is also a good rebounding team, and dang they were. Texas dominated the offensive glass, getting 10 points off of second chances. Texas was beating Stanford at its own game with offensive rebounds, and the first half stats were 28 rebounds for Texas, 17 for Stanford. The second half wasn’t better, Stanford getting out-rebounded 55-40.

So that brings us to Chiney. First of all, through no fault of her own, Chiney couldn’t get her usual traction around the basket due to 6’7.  UConn proved in two games in two years that if you push Chiney off the low block, she doesn’t do well. Texas saw this tape and kept Chiney out of the paint. Stanford would have NO points in the paint in the first half. That’s right, not a typo, no points in the paint in the first.

Chiney said she is working on her outside game, just as her sister Nneka before her. So this was as good as time as any to use it. Except, it wasn’t quite ready for prime time, at least not in the first half. Chiney shot a long two, not even close, air balled a three, and consistently hit the front of the rim on her long shots. In Stanford’s final possession, she had to throw up a quick three with time running down, her second air ball of the half, much to the amusement of the Texas student body.

Lest you think C and R are picking on our Chiney, here is her post game quote: “This game forced me to be outside, and it was a little uncomfortable at times,” Ogwumike said.

Chiney was held to just four first half points.

To be sure, Stanford was lucky to “only” be down 37-30.

But we would be remiss to point out that Chiney still contributed in the first. She set up a screen to free up KSam that allowed her to knock down a three. Had a block. And then after (we are sure) a verbal tongue lashing from Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer in the locker room at half, (we’ve been inside those lockers a half, we know), came the second half.

The second half started and here comes Chiney, or “You can’t keep an Ogwumike down” (for long). Chiney opened the second half with another perimeter shot and missedThen the next time she touched the ball she drove in, pump faked and got the basket over 6’7, like old times. Then back to the outside jump shot and a miss. Ugh. She was 3-13 from the field after 23 minutes. Settling for jumpers instead of attacking the rim.

Then the announcers decided to interview Jody Conradt, the long time University of Texas coach who has 900 wins. They let her talk while the action was going on. In fact, the more she talked, the better Stanford seemed to do.  Stanford got the lead for the first time in 10 minutes with a wild back and forth fast breaking and stealing and stealing back and Amber finishes for the 41-40 lead. Then Chiney gets a steal and a lay up. Then she hit one from outside, and she could do no wrong.

In fact, Stanford went on a 15-0 run to go up 47-40 as Jody is talking. Chiney scored 10, had 2 steals and a block in the seven and a half minute stretch. Amber Orrange provided five of the 15 during that run. Amber would have 13 points and eight rebounds for the game, including five in the final 60 seconds of the contest.

Stanford held Texas without a field goal for the opening 9:20 of the second half, and to just five field goals and 17 points in the final 20 minutes. The five field goals were a season-low for any half this season by a Cardinal opponent.

Chills when Chiney fouls out with 2 minutes to play and Stanford leading 56-47. Hang on Stanford! (Their Nneka fouls out with 33 seconds to play.). Chiney would leave the game with 18 points, 14 in the second half.

Stanford guard Amber Orrange to the rescue (AP Photo/Michael Thomas)

But Amber Orrange to the rescue with Chiney on the bench,. Amber had a big steal, two big rebounds and shoot six big (everything’s bigger in Texas) free throws, making five in those final two minutes. Stanford would hang on to win 63-54. 

Other notables: Mikaela Ruef played a team-high 36 minutes, posting her first double-double of the season with a season-high 11 points and 10 rebounds. Curious, as good as Chiney was in the second half, Ruefie scored all of her points in the first. Need those two to score in tandem.

Sara James played a season-high 18 minutes Saturday, scoring six points (She is coming off double compartment syndrome surgery to her  lower legs).  Stanford matched its season high with six three-pointers, led by two apiece from Sara and Lili Thompson.

Coach Tara VanDerveer earned career victory No. 898, moving her closer to being just the fifth women's coach to reach 900, like Jody Conradt. Unfortunately, TVD will probably get it at the tournament in Mexico that will not be televised or seen by local fans. What a shame.

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Stanford Women’s Basketball Team Tours Italy

The Stanford Women’s Basketball Team started their season early with a trip to Italy for sight seeing and some basketball. The nice thing for the program was the ability to start practice earlier in the season. The nice thing for the students is they get to tour Italy and soak up some different culture and taste some wonderful food.

All this is evidenced in a great video edited by Stanford player Sara James. She has a future in video any time she wants it.


Her description:
Stanford women's basketball took a trip to Italy before their 2013-14 season. They visited four cities, including Rome, Siena, Florence, and Venice. They played three games against European teams. The trip began on August 27th 2013 and ended on September 5th 2013. Go card!

Stanford has taken advantage of these NCAA sanctioned trips in the past, as it always them to get in some extra practice before the fall season. Others teams did as well, as Cal went to China this year (photos from the Great Wall were cute!). This year the early play might not be as impactful due to a new NCAA rule that a coach can workout with their players eight hours a week, two on the court, if the athletes are enrolled in summer school or have met certain academic benchmarks. Either way, glad to see Stanford back at it.

Looking forward to the upcoming season!

More Stanford Video at the original C and R's Stanford Women's Basketball Blog

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Stanford Mashes Michigan, Advances to Sweet 16

When The Stanford Women’s Basketball Team played Tulsa in the first round of the NCAA tournament, it was a tale of two halves. In that game, Stanford was tied at 24 at the half against a number 16 seed, and then Chiney Ogwumike and Amber Orrrrange poured it on to win by 16. Tonight in round two against number eight seed Michigan, Stanford was a whole different team.

No one does scouting reports like Stanford Head Coach Tara VanDerveer, and this one said Michigan likes to hit threes. And little known to any one else, Stanford likes to take your game plan and hand it right back to you. Time and time again C and R will read a team likes to fast break and push the tempo, and then Stanford is the one that is fast breaking Laker’s style. So what does Stanford do tonight? You guessed it, they hit the threes. And shut down Michigan’s three point shooters in the process. Maybe because the team has to replicate the other teams game plan so much in practice, they subconsciously end up playing it?

Whatever, the reason, it worked. Stanford looked like a team that plays together instead of going through one person. Granted, that one person is All-Everything Chiney Ogwumike, and she has carried this team so far all season, and carried them well. Tonight, she made a conscious effort to pass up her drives to the basket to find others. And it worked, mostly The game tone was set early when Chiney took a rebound out of the air and volleyball spiked it to a wide open Joslyn Tinkle under the basket for the easy lay up.

Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike, right, and Joslyn Tinkle embrace as coach Tara VanDerveer looks on (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Speaking of Tinkle, the Stanford senior was playing her last home game on Maples and she too made a conscious effort to get after it. She noticeably hustled, and shot early and often. She had eight points in the first five minutes. She made five out of five three-point attempts, a career high, and scored 21 points for the night. She has not looked so good in about half a season. Mostly due to Tinkle, Stanford was up 21-7 with twelve minutes left to play in the first and leading 41-16 at the half. It was total domination.

Stanford made a season best 12 three pointers. Guard Amber Orrrrange , who is really mastering the pull up jumper, hit a three when left open. She would have 11 points for the night. Starter Sara James made three of five from three-point land and bench player Bonnie Samuelson also made three from behind the line. Stanford would beat Michigan 73-40. Now that is some good ball.

Speaking of Sara James, she contributed nine points while limiting Michigan’s best three point shooter Kate Thompson, who air balled her first three and went 1-11 from the field for seven total points. Usually you get great defense from Sara, or maybe a double-digit game, but tonight she gave Stanford both. Well, nine total points is close enough. If Stanford can get everyone’s best defensive efforts and get four players in or near double figures, like tonight, then they have a legitimate shot at making a record sixth final four.

And speaking of Stanford’s defense, they shut down Michigan, threes or not. Michigan shot just 29% from the field and 18% from the three point line (so much for that three point shooting prowess). And Stanford played man-to-man defense all night, no zone or double-teaming, not even on Michigan’s Thompson. Sara James was left alone all night to shut her down, and she sure did. Sara’s coach and team trusted her and she delivered. Compare that to Michigan, and other teams that have to double and even triple team Chiney Ogwumike and she still scores.

Speaking of Chiney, she got a double-double, 12 points and 15 boards, and it is cool she got more boards than points. As we mentioned somewhere in this story, Chiney was consciously looking for her teammates. But at times it was detrimental to the flow of the game. The passes were telegraphed and picked off, and the player was not that open. Chiney usually takes one or two defends on near the basket and scores. She needs to find a better balance of passing to open players when doubled, and players need to move into position and be open when she is doubled. Why is Stanford figuring this out now in the tourney instead of throughout the year?

Nice moment after the game when Senior Tinkle was grabbed for the post-game interview. The Stanford team always huddles at midcourt then waves to their fans and heads to the locker room. As Tinkle was talking (and we think shedding a tear or two over her last game here), the team ran off the court. When the interview concluded, the team ran back on to the court and right at Jos. Chiney, her self-proclaimed twin, was the first to meet her and gave her a big ol’ embrace. Then the team, now complete, took a final lap around Maples, with Jos in the center, as it fittingly should be.
Next round is against Georgia, and Stanford has a couple of days to prepare. And no one prepares like a Tara VanDerveer. Best of luck in Spokane.

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Stanford Plucks Ducks

Things we learned from the 86-62 Oregon Blowout:

Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike is Still Better Than You on One Ankle:
Chiney scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds (her 16th double-double of the season). She also only played 28 minutes due to hurting her ankle last Sunday and limited practice this week. Compare that with Oregon freshmen Jillian Alleyne going 13 and 13. Much was made of the match-up, as Alleyne leads the league in rebounding, the first freshmen to do so since 2002. They tied on boards, but Chiney got the points. And boy, she does work hard for the money. None of those baskets came easy. Well, maybe she had one or two easy baskets when Oregon forgot to guard her, but when she gets the ball down low, she fights. Also, kudos to Chiney for that great steal of the inbounds pass after a Stanford basket. Oregon fouled her trying to put it back up. And shame on Oregon for letting that happen.

“T” stands for Tinkle:
Or Two Technicals. Oregon Coach Paul Westhead got one for arguing the calls (Or maybe he was mad his team could not hit a three, going 5-21). Then two minutes later, Tinkle got one for…we’re not sure. Pac-12, providing TV coverage, cut away after Tinkle got tangled with an Oregon player and it was called a jump ball. We think she argued with the ref after, but we don’t know for sure.

Tara Van Derveer (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

400 Is a Big Number:
Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer got her 400th Pac-12 win, the first coach in Pac-12 history to do so.  Ever so self-effacing, she joked, “I think it means I have been here a long time.”

Stanford continues their Jekyll and Hyde routine:
Going up by 19 points, than going cold and letting Oregon get within 10. Whaaaa? Although C and R did like the new and improved offense of “Passing.” Tara VanDerveer shows why she has won 400 times in the Pac-12. She does her homework. She knew Oregon plays a lot of Zone, and the best way to beat the zone is pass, pass, pass. Stanford did, quickly, crisply, and when they found open spots and took their shots.

Live by the three...:
Oregon likes to run and gun, get quick lay-ups and hit quick threes. Stanford, those show-offs, likes to say, we’ll duplicate your game plan and beat you over the head with it. They made 10-27 threes to only 5 for Oregon. Plus, Stanford got baskets in transition when Oregon did not get back. There’s your game plan, Paul

When Others Step Up:
Chiney, Joslyn Tinkle and Sara James all scored in double digits. Guard Amber Orrrrange had 9 and Taylor Greenfield had 8. When others not-named-Ogwumike contribute, Stanford usually wins.

Watching Stanford on TV is Not the Same as Live and in Person:
That said…

And now, let’s here from our Guest Blogger, TH, who was at the game live and in person:

            Let’s be honest, an 86-62 win over Oregon’s struggling program does not take a 4th ranked team to new heights.  But in the Cardinal’s case, it was a good opportunity to involve the bench (check), get some non-Chiney points on the board (check), and log an impressive 400th conference win for Coach VanDerveer (check).

            I attended the game with a soccer player, uninitiated to the ways of the Cardinal.  Soon after tip off, she asked of Joslyn Tinkle, “Is she their top scorer?” It wasn’t a silly question-- in less than four minutes of play, Tinkle had a lay up, a three-pointer and a soft-touch jump shot.  She would finish the game with 16 points and turned in a nice all-around performance that included a decisive stuff under Oregon’s basket (one of two blocked shots overall).

            Sara James is still writing her own version of a rags-to-riches story.  It’s great to see her earn a starting spot and continue to make it count.  Ever since James started to play more minutes, it seems like the Cardinal have added a cylinder to the engine.  Along with Tinkle and Chiney, James was the third Cardinal to finish the game with double-digit points, including three 3-pointers.  She also facilitated a nice assist to Tinkle by pushing the pace and leading Tinkle in for a lay up on a long pass.

            You never know what will jump out at you when you watch a game live, instead of on TV.  Here are a few had-to-be-there highlights.  First, six foot, five inch Tess Picknell was a top Cardinal recruit last year from southern Oregon.  She led her high school team to a perfect season and a first-ever state championship.  Now she is like the young karate kid who must dutifully wax all of the cars before she can enter the competitive arena.  When she jumped off the bench in the last five minutes or so of the game (to the loud cheering of an obvious contingent of Picknells), she worked her butt off to follow the offensive plan, snag her two rebounds, and score four points, all in front of the beaming family.  Let’s all hope for continued progress for the kid from southern Oregon.  Wouldn’t it be nice for Chiney to have a big, strong and gutsy kid down low to help absorb and distract some swarming defenders?

            Another had-to-be-there highlight, sadly, was Oregon coach Paul Westhead throwing gratuitous temper tantrums.  Coach, if you are going to call a time-out, don’t leave your players standing there, looking at your shoulder blades, while you cuss out the ref.  Also, Coach Westhead, your team out-rebounded Stanford 48 to 40 on the game and your spirited point guard—all of 5’6”—scored 17 points against Stanford.  This was not an occasion that warranted losing your &*^%$#  on your team, in my humble opinion.  Please take that frustration and channel it into a sustained effort to get recruits on your roster and fans in the seats.

            Oregon sends its continued well wishes to Chiney Ogwumike who led the Cardinal with an “I got this” attitude, 22 points and 13 rebounds.  Wow.
-TH

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Stanford Survives USC

The Stanford Women’s Basketball team has been a Jekyll and Hyde team all season long. First they beat Baylor (Baylor!) and a ranked Tennessee team on their home court. Then lose (And lose big time) to UConn on their home court. They bounce back to beat Cal at their place to keep them from throwing victory balls to their home crowd, then lose to Cal less then a week later at Maples, depriving C and R a chance to catch a Stanford victory ball.

Then they beat UCLA and look like the Stanford of Old, and then they do a Jekyll and Hyde in ONE GAME. Stanford goes up by 19 points in the second against USC even though they were shooting poorly in the first half, then let USC come back to within 5…all in the same game. Oh, wait, we said that.

To start, it was good to see Stanford guard Amber Orrrrange step up where she left off against UCLA. She drove to the basket and most of the time she made it all the way for some great layups against a taller USC team. She would score 13 points for the game.

In fact, USC was playing Stanford pretty much straight up one on one and when you do that to All-America Chiney Ogwumike, what did we say last time? She makes you pay. Chiney’s Hyde (bad) was shooting only six shoots and only making two, plus two free throws in the first half. Her Dr Jekyll (good) was scoring 26 points in the second half for a combined 29 points and 16 rebounds for the game, and a second straight double-double.

Stanford's Sara James drives to the basket. George Nikitin - AP Photo

Sara James also took over where she left off. She got her second straight start and hustled hard. She had a great stretch in the first half where she ran ahead on two fast breaks and scored. The first was a thing of beauty, though. It started when Chiney blocked a pass, grabbed it and ran to the basket. Her way was impeded by a USC player but she spied Sara streaking by on her right she threw down a long bounce pass, leading Sara to the basket. Sara caught it in stride and finished at the basket. A great play by all. Sara would end up with 13 points as well, and made a three. 

Although Sara went to the bench a few times, but she definitely got more minutes than against UCLA. This time we noticed she was matched up with a taller player on defense, and since Stanford was playing man to man all night, she had to come out of the game. C and R realize that happened against UCLA and even though she provided a spark, she came out because of that mismatch. She played many minutes in the second half and she played defender on a similar-sized player.

When Stanford got up by 19 with 12 minutes left in the second half  (they were up 33-20 at the half, thanks to Joslyn Tinkle’s three in the final seconds), it was due to great ball movement to free up players for some key threes. And thanks to Tinkle for her two three pointers in a row in the second. Tinkle scored 15, and was 3-3 from the three-point line. It was good to see her points come earlier than last time when they were needed more. She also was 3-3 from three-point land last game, so she is technically 6-6 between the two games. Wonder what the record is for consecutive threes in multiple games? When USC got within five points with 2:42 left, it was because Stanford went into that slow rotation offense and USC pressed started to work again.

It was weird, and again, Jekyll and Hyde with this press. USC rolls out the press, Chiney the post player is dribbling the ball up court for Stanford (bad), and they are breaking it and getting baskets fairly regularly off of it (Good). But USC kept with it and then they started to get some turnovers (Stanford had 14 for the game-bad). And then Stanford’s vaulted man-to man defense broke down and they let USC’s #14 drive right to the hoop...four times. Number 14 is Ariya Crook and she single handedly willed USC back into this game, and ended up with 18 points. And after watching her drive to the basket two or three times, why didn’t anyone wearing a Stanford jersey stop ball? Chiney got some key baskets when things got close (good), and Stanford prevailed 75-66 (double good).

So for those of you keeping score at home, that was four, count ‘em four Stanford players in double figures. And all four are starters (good). However no bench players scored any points (bad). Stanford is now in a two-way tie with Cal for the PAC-12 lead (good) (but they should not have lost to Cal (bad))!!

Next up, Utah and Colorado come to town this weekend. Lets hope for some good wins.

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Unbeaten UCLA Beaten by Stanford

Just a quick note on the Stanford Women’s Basketball Team beating UCLA, and avoiding a third loss at home, something that hasn’t happen in, like, forever.

Stanford came out of the gates in a different offensive set, much to everyone’s relief. Although the old slow radiation reared it’s ugly head a few times, complete with the post player gesturing to somebody, anybody to move.

What was different was the guards driving in and attacking the basket. Stanford guard Amber Orrrrange drove and when she couldn’t get to the basket, she hit some pull up jumpers, to the tune of 15 points. Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike scored 25 points and got 13 rebounds, getting her double-double groove back on track. For most of the game, UCLA played straight up man-to-man, 1V1 defense, with no help. And if you let Chiney have the ball in the low post and dribble towards the basket with no help, she will make you pay every time. And she did. Didn’t UCLA watch the tapes of the UConn and Cal games?

Another difference was Stanford was more aggressive and played smart double teams when needed. Sara James got the start and her energy was definitely, definitely inspiring, diving for loose balls and trying to box out a much bigger player she was assigned to guard. She would contribute seven points. C and R thought she did well, so it was puzzling when Stanford head coach took Sara out for long stretches.

Stanford guard Sara James (21) controls a loose ball in the first half of the UCLA game. Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

Stanford’s Toni Kokenis, who has missed games with “an illness” also started and played well. It was a little disconcerting to see her emerge from the locker room with a knee brace on, though. She already has a taped up thumb. Then she knocked not one, but two people down on one play en route to the basket. She selflessly dished off to someone else for the score, but she should have kept going, maybe she would have taken out a third!

The lead kept see-sawing back and forth in the first half, and then halfway through, Stanford opened up a Stanford-like 10-0 run, and they never looked back. The half time score was 36-24. UCLA went to a full court press in the last 5 minutes of the second half, so maybe they DID see the UConn tapes. Stanford had guard Amber Orrrrange on the bench with four fouls, so they relied on Chiney to take the ball up. Isn’t Chiney a tall post player? You mean there is no one else Stanford trusts bringing up the ball when breaking a press? At least when she passed over the half court line, Stanford attacked the basket to get easy buckets in transition (unlike the UConn game).

The final score was 75-49. Chiney scored 26, Amber had 15, but no one else was stepping up big time. Senior Joslyn Tinkle had 7 points and in garbage time popped a three to get in double digits, ulp, then got another three... and another (Hello, UCLA). She would end up with 16 points for the game, making 4-4 three-point tries, but if not for her last second barrage, only two Stanford players would be in double figures and they need a few more, including Tinkle to step up early and often with points and boards (No one else got in double figures rebounds except Chiney). Side note, Stanford did go 6-7 on threes for the night.

UCLA’s red-shirt senior Jasmine Dixon, who has been a Stanford killer in past years, had a heavy brace on her knee and was not her usual self. She ruptured her Achilles tendon last season. Always sad to see a player suffer a devastating injury.

All in all, a very satisfying win against a very tall, big and physical UCLA team (with some bad officiating). Technically, there should be a four-way tie for the Pac-12 lead, with Stanny, Cal, UCLA, and USC, but Stanford has one more regular season than everyone else, so they are atop of the leader board. Sunday’s game between those four mentioned teams will clarify things greatly.

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Battle of the Bay Part II

So for the first five minutes of the Cal vs. Stanford Women’s Basketball game, Stanford played with intensity and purpose. They were getting the rebounds, especially on defense and keeping Cal from getting second chance points. Cal tried to press and they broke it easily. Then the refs turned against us.

So, this was actually a very interesting game to view. Usually when Pac-12 foes meet, some time has passed between the games. A team at the beginning of a season is definitely different then they are at mid point, or at the end of a season. But in this case, the teams played with just six days between games. So both coaches have a chance to look at relevant game film. C and R were looking forward to seeing how both teams would respond or adjust (or not, in Stanford’s case, more on that later).
So Cal came out in their full court press right off the bat (And C and R like to be delusional and think Cal coach Lindsey Gottlieb listened to us saying that Cal had abandoned it too quickly when they last met --smiley face emoticon-). And Stanford easily broke it. They broke it two or three times, getting easy baskets in transition. And out the door went the press and Maples never saw it again. Kudos for Gottlieb to know something is not working and have the guts to call it off.

So those first five minutes, Cal’s press is not working, Stanford is controlling the boards, and not letting Cal get second chances on their misses, Stanford is boxing out and being physical, and Stanford’s Amber Orrrrange starting the scoring with a three, so Stanford was not going to go 0-for from the arc in this game. Even the refs are calling things Stanford’s way, punishing Cal for being so physical. Cal actually got on the board first with one free throw. At the first timeout at 15:47 in the first half, Stanford led 8-1. To paraphrase the Stanford Band, well all right now…

Then, right at the 15-minute point, as I mentioned, the refs turned on Stanford and punished them for being too physical. Stanford was whistled for two quick fouls within a minute of each other. Intense Erica Payne for Stanford comes in and is whistled for a foul. Three-point specialist Bonnie Samuelson comes in, commits a foul. The last one was really puzzling, because Cal had just made a basket and the ball was out of bounds waiting to be inbounded by Stanford and boom, Cal is standing under their basket again with the ball. We never did figure out what the foul call was all about. Bonnie gets instantly subbed out for Intense Erica again and she fouls again10 seconds later. Get the picture. Two minutes later and it is a small 12-10 Stanford lead at the 11:52 mark. That stretch seemed to take the fight out of Stanford on the boards, their scoring dried up and here comes Cal and their rebounding post players.

Chiney Ogwumike gets tripled-teamed (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Hats off to Cal, the post players were more athletic, and, we hate to say this, more hungry and just seemed to want the ball more. That and they did double team Stanford’s lead rebounder Chiney Ogwumike and no one else seemed to step up on the offensive glass. Surprisingly, looking at the rebound totals for the game, Cal won with a slight margin of 43-39. It just seemed like the got more rebounds.

So back to what did each coach learn, change, adjust, and leave in place. Cal tried the press early, didn’t work, they adjusted during the game and took it out. Stanford kept up their tough defense and held Cal to 29.7% shooting. Stanford also kept up their game plan of letting certain players hold the ball on the three point line and back way off to pack the paint. It was especially embarrassing for Cal’s Eliza Pierre, to stand there all alone and still unable to do anything, shoot or pass to an open player because it’s now five Stanford players on the other four Cal players. Pierre scored two points for the game on a drive and pull up jumper, so that battle went to Stanford. However, that strategy backfired on a little used Cal player Mikayla Lyles. She had one of two Cal three-pointers last game. She averages around eight points a game this year. This time, unguarded she hit her first three at the 9 and a half-minute mark. Okay, Stanford can live with that, that one. Then she hit another at the 6, a two-point jumper at the 5, then two three-pointers at the 3, and 2-minute marks. She scored 11 points in the final six minutes to put Cal up 39-31 at the half and they never looked back.

(Side not, Lyles had the flop of the game when Chiney Ogwumike stole a pass and barreled to the basket for a lay up. Lyles, who gives up about 12 inches of height to Chiney, was back on D, decided her best course of action was to fall before Chiney got anywhere near her, trying to draw a charge. For once, the refs were on Stanford’s side and gave the correct non-call).

Which brings us to…Stanford’s offense. It is the same one they played in the first game at Cal. And for the full 40 minutes at home against Cal. Now, you know Cal was studying the heck out of the game, which Gottlieb admitted post game, why not try something different? Especially since it did not work very well the first time and obviously was failing in this game. The ball mostly goes in the middle to the post at the top of the circle. She has her back to the basket and waits, slowly waits, for the guard to come around. Sometimes they have to gesture for someone to come around. Only one player appears to be moving at a time. It is so slow and Cal knew it was coming. Cal forced four, count ‘em, four shot clock violations, and when have you ever seen that in a Stanford game? Couple that with Cal driving in and pulling up and hitting their jump shots, like Cal’s Layshia Clarendon and Brittany Boyd did, and Cal had the upper hand on offense.

The times Stanford did try to swing the ball to the outside, Cal was ready, perhaps knowing the play, and did not let Stanford get too many good looks for a three. Stanford was 2-12 from the three line. Specialist Bonnie was never able to even get a shot off and scored zero points. Cal also pushed Stanford scoring machine Chiney off the blocks and outside the paint and made it hard for her to score inside, although she wound up with 18 points for the game, she missed a lot. Perhaps Cal also watched and learned from some of the UConn tape as well. And once again, like the UConn game, no one seemed to step up and get open when Chiney was double teamed.

Besides Stanford guards Toni Kokenis and Amber Orrrrange driving in and pulling up for jumpers (12 and nine points respectively), nobody else from Stanford scored much. Jos Tinkle had four points and six boards, and when Chiney is double teamed or double boxed out, she disappears and that has hurt Stanford, too.

Plus, when Stanford was down in the second half, they still dribbled the ball up, and started that slow rotation offense. They played with no sense of urgency, especially as the clock was winding down, seven minutes, three minutes… in double figures debt. Stanford only scored eight points in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Stanford resorted to intentionally fouling Cal with three minutes left in the game, but when the deficit is double figures, shouldn’t they try to hustle, and aggressively go for the ball and hope they get the steal and hope don’t get called for the foul, maybe do a little press of their own? Or bring the ball up and attack the basket instead of go back to the slow rotation offense? (Cal would shoot 31 free throws to Stanford's 19).

The final score was 55-67, and Cal snaps Stanford 81 straight conference wins and hands them their second straight home loss. The last time Stanford lost back-to-back home games was in 2001. Stanford has not lost three in a row at Maples since Tara VanDerveer’s second year on the Farm, way back in 1986-87. Oh, UCLA is coming in to town next, and they always give us a good game.

R joked with me that I know oh so much more than Hall of Fame Coach Tara VanDerveer, but even I would have tried a different offense. At one point, Chiney herself waited for the one person to swing around to come get the ball and said the heck with this, and drive it in herself. I know others need to step up and help her score, but maybe a different offense would help them do that.

Injury note, Stanford's Sara James was having a good game until she went out around the 13-minute mark in the first with a sprained ankle. She came back in a little later only to go back out. It would be nice to see her get more playing time if her ankle can withstand it.

UCLA is 13-2, and 4-0 in Pac-12 play. They are now number one in the Pac-12, due to Stanford and Cal trading home losses.

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Stanford Out-Battles Utah

One streak was lost and another extended, and all-and-all, it’s the W that counts. Stanford Women’s Basketball extended their 80 game streak of consecutive Pac-10 slash 12 conference wins by beating Utah 70-56. Oh, the streak that ended? Chiney Ogwumike’s double-double streak stopped at 10.

So, the game was much closer than the score indicated. The fact Chiney only got six rebounds for the game (just one in the first half) should tell you something. Utah won the rebounding battle 35-33, something that has not happened since the season's first game vs. Fresno State. Stanford Head Coach Tara VanDerveer said Utah did “a great job being fundamentally sound ” and “boxing out”, something Stanford is usually praised for.

Curiously, there was no foul call on Utah in the first half, and when's the last time you ever saw that in a game? Apparently, Stanford’s reffing buddy Melissa Barlow was the one who swallowed her whistle, although she did “T” up Utah’s coach near the end of the game.

Sara James Saves the Day vs Utah (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

However, the bigger story line is, who stepped up for Stanford besides All-American Chiney and her 20 points? Bench player Sara James. Sara’s career high 18 points included three 3-pointers. And more importantly, whenever Utah had a big basket to cut into the lead, Sara answered with one of her own. Starting Stanford guard Toni Kokenis was held out of this game because of an illness, and although Taylor Greenfield started in her place (and C and R are glad to see the re-emergence of Taylor in the lineup), Sara came off the bench in her spot and made the most of it. 

So Sara had 18 points and Chiney had 20. You can couple that with Sara’s four assists and Chiney’s five, and it is good to see players, especially Chiney get others involved in the offense. This assisting was totally lacking against UConn. Amber Orrrrange poured in 16 points, with a lot of drives to the basket and Joslyn Tinkle contributes again with 12. Four Stanford players, three of them starters, in double figures?! That is music to Tara VanDerveer’s ears.

Next game, and the next game after that? Cal. Yes, as in Battle of the Bay squared. The quirk of the Pac-12 schedule has them playing away and home (or home and away, if your from Cal, and we hope you are not), starting Tuesday and ending Sunday. C and R hope you make it to at least one of them!

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Stanford Vanquishes Vanguard

So the Stanford Women’s Basketball team played their second exhibition game of the new season, and they had a better opponent than last game (See last blog). Vanguard University, the little insurance company that could…sorry, little inside joke as C and R can’t help but think of mutual finds and financial plans whenever we hear of Vanguard. Looking them up on the web, they also are NAIA, which the web tells us is lower than DIII. Sigh, C and R know that was exhibition, but the next two regular season games are Fresno and Santa Clara, both NOT in the top 25. Why does that matter? Because the THIRD game is BAYLOR, in Hawaii, who is the top 25, number one since last year, to be exact.

So how did Stanford do today? C and R were impressed with Joslyn Tinkle and Sara James in their all-around play. Amber Orrrrange had some good drives to the basket. Tinkle was an especially strong rebounder. Stanford also showed great man-to-man defense and certainly know how to neutralize screens and the pick and roll.

Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer told the media she wants her team to work on their three point shooting this year. And when Tara wants you to concentrate on something, boy does the team concentrate. They bombed the air with threes in the first half. Bonnie Samuelson would make four in the first half, the last one with one second left. Yet there was a stretch of about four or five minutes near the end of the first half where the ball would not fall. Bonnie did make five, but took 12 three-point shots. Overall, the team was 13-35 from three-point land, and if you are going to depend on the three….

C and R wonder if Tara told the tam to work on blocks, too, because Chiney Ogwumike had three in three minutes, one sent to the third row of the stands. She would end up with five for the game. Tinkle also got in the act and had two blocks for the game, but it seemed like more. The team ended up with 12 blocks, and you have to wonder what the record is?

The second half was a different story. Tara told everyone to work it inside offensively, and they did come hell or bad passes. It’s one thing to work it inside and another to force it, to the detriment of threes. Poor Bonnie passes up several open looks to get it inside to a covered player. And they were mostly forcing it to Chiney Ogwumike, who is not a natural center. Stanford is thin at the center, to put it mildly. Freshmen Tess Picknell, at 6’5 is still a work in progress. It was hard to get a feel for Chiney’s play as she only saw 21 minutes. She did score 11 points and had 8 rebounds.

The funny thing is we’re not as strong inside as we should be. At times the Stanford line up would have four players over six feet tall, yet they could not score down low. And with the generous subbing, it was hard to tell who was playing point. Taylor Greenfield ended up with point guard duties for a stretch. Perhaps when the regular season starts there won’t be as many subs and less confusion.

Overall a C plus / B minus but Stanford has to have an “A” game if they are going to beat Baylor. Next game Friday Nov. 9 at home and then Sat Nov. 10 at Santa Clara, also in the Bay Area and about one mile from R’s house. Y’all should be able to make that road trip!

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Stanford Destroys Corban University in Exhibition Play

So Stanford Women’s Basketball opened their season with an exhibition match against Corban University. C and R were not able to make the game as we had basketball practice for the girls we coach. When I got in the car and turn on the radio to KSZU, I was shocked to discover it was 63 to 10 at half time (Yes, Stanford was winning). I think Bonnie Samuelson had something like 4 three's in the frist half alone. She would end up making 9 threes for 27 points in the game. Sara James had 24 points and six Stanford players scored in double figures. The final score would be 117-33! The only suspense was to see if Corban could out-score Bonnie.

The KSZU boys were trying to put a happy face on this at half time, saying that hopefully the bench players will get to play a lot the second half. He got his wish as all Stanford players played and only one player did not get a point. Chiney Ogwumike scored 12 points in just 15 minutes of play. One of the Corban players tweeted to her, “Thank you for not playing the entire game.” Chiney later praised the Corban team on twitter and even posed for photos with them, Corban looking as if they were star-struck freshmen, which they probably are.


Photo courtesy of Chiney Ogwumike's Twitter Account.

C looked up Corban, thinking they must be Division III. Nope, they are NAIA, which the web informed her is lower than DIII. Well, you always want to play someone better than yourself if you want to improve.

Next game is Saturday vs. Vanguard at 2PM Stanford time. Check the schedule closely, C was told there were some changes.

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Stanford Women's Basketball Team vs. Rutgers

Oh joy, oh joy, the first (real) game of the Stanford Women’s Basketball season is here and R finally gets to leave her house (Shut-in from shoulder surgery). And it was a glorious day on the Stanford campus, the weather was perfect, high 70’s, the campus was hummin’, and NCAA women’s soccer was being held, right down the block from Maples. We stopped to see Stanford taking on Santa Clara, which is bittersweet for us as C always took the soccer teams she coached down the road to Santa Clara and cheered for them. Stanford was attacking from the opening kick-off, and it was no wonder they would win 2-1 and advance in the tournament. Sorry Santa Clara.

Maples was its usual sauna, which felt good, and no one bumped into R’s arm, so that was doubly good. Warm ups were fun to watch, and it was evident to C that sisters Nneka and Chiney truly like each other and enjoy playing together. And Chiney is ALL business. She wants it. She wants the ball, the basket, the rebound, to be the head of the line, she wants it. You can’t teach that, it is just there from the get-go and Stanford Head Coach Tara VanDerveer took advantage of that.

From the opening tip off, which Nneka won, Chiney was a beast. She grabbed the offensive rebound and muscled it back in. For someone who doesn’t weigh very much, she sure can fight to the basket, to Rutgers chagrin. And yes, the freshmen Chiney started. It was Nneka and Chiney, Joslyn Tinkle, Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen. Fear the Trees indeed! Our smallest player was 6 feet. In fact, Chiney owned the offensive paint when she was in, getting 12 boards, 5 of them on offense.

Stanford took a lead but Rutgers, to their credit, hung around. Speed was a big weapon for them and they were very fast in the transition game, pushing the ball and it was 32-29 Stanford at the half.

And hey, Stanford, where were the free shirts for the threes Stanford made? Gotta throw those out to the fans, especially in our section!

C and R were a little disappointed at how Tara kept the offense so disciplined and regimented to the point were it stifled some of our creativity. The point guard stopped at the top of the circle and passed around the perimeter. Tinkle connected with a couple of threes, but with our height, it seemed we should be working it inside more. It wasn’t until the second half we had the guards drive and create something, or kick it out to a now-open players. Freshmen Toni Kokenis did this a few times. It certainly opened the game up for Stanford and we were able to pull away from Rutgers.

And we saw something we haven’t seen in a long time. Tara played a 1-3-1 trap defense, with Chiney at the point. Chiney has that desire to be around the ball, chasing it on defense. When we saw her play in the summer league and her team played man to man, she would often leave her man to try and steal the ball and we thought Tara would hate to see that. Instead, the mastermind coach saw it and used it to her advantage. She played Chiney at the point and let her chase, trap the ball and otherwise hound the ball carrier. Chiney loved it and put out tremendous energy. She is going to be great on offense and defense.

But it was sister Nneka to the rescue for the Cardinal on offense. Early in the second half, when Stanford opened up their offense a little more, she drove in and would pull up for a jumper, and she out-jumped the defense for easy scores. C and R loved seeing that instead of the set passing. And did you see her rebound? On her defensive rebounds she skied so high and tore them away from everyone. Hecka Nneka indeed! She would end up with 20 of Stanford’s 63 points. Rutgers would end up with 50.

Oh, it was cute when Stanford was on defense and playing man to man, Chiney kept yelling “Nneka, Nnecka!” every few seconds, if the ball went anywhere near her sister. And we saw the sister–ESP when Nneka was open down low and the pass instead went to Chiney up high, she immediately gave a no-look pass to Nneka down low.  It is going to be fun to see these two play together, and we hope Tara will play Chiney more, as she only played her 21 minutes.

We did get to see a lot of Toni Kokenis, who played point, which is a bold move for Tara to trust a freshmen so early in the season. Well, Toni is fast, as when Rutgers pressed us with about 2 minutes left, Toni outran two of the Rutgers players. We got a little peek at another freshmen, Sara James, but she wasn’t in long enough to make a splash.

All in all a fun game and we have no where to go but up! Too bad the next two games are away!

A special shout out to all our Stanford friends that said hi to us at half time (you know who you are!).

The Tickets are Here!

R got her tickets to Stanford (and did the Stanford ticket dance) a week or so ago, I am not sure anymore, as I started a new teaching job and feel like I can’t keep my head above water. Anyhoo, guess who is on the Dec 30th ticket vs UConn? Give up? None other then Nneka Ogwumike. Nneka is now my favorite player, as Nneka grew up before our eyes last year transforming herself from an inexperienced freshman into a leaping, rebounding, sophomore scoring machine. R does not share my passion for Nneka and instead likes incoming freshmen Sara James, based on the small performance we saw in a summer league in San Francisco, not that I am disparaging R or anything.

R defends her choice by saying Sara can do just about anything, she can rebound, play the point, defend and be a leader, (based on those two games we witnessed), not to mention she is a great three point shooter.

But getting back to those tickets, C and R were both excited to hold the UConn tickets in our hot little hands. We had written previously that the Stanford - UConn game here is in Palo Alto would be a perfect storm of a game, what with the game being the exact number UConn would need to win to break the UCLA men’s streak for consecutive wins ever and Stanford was the last team to beat them almost three years ago. Then it wasn’t. It was two games after the streak would be broken.

So imagine C’s surprise when she opened up her SF Chronicle and found a picture of Nneka in it! And the article was full of useful facts and stuff. Facts like, Joslyn Tinkle has a left ankle sprain and is wearing a boot, will be out a few more weeks and Mel Murphy will be back in January if rehab goes well and Lindy La Rocque has a bone problem in her foot and might be out for the season. Kayla Pedersen is playing every position on the court, including point. Nneka is working on a three point shot…say what? You want your leading rebounder, who set a PAC-10 record for rebounding last year to be out on the perimeter shooting? Why not give that job to sister Chiney, who liked to throw the ball up based on those same two games in SF we witnessed.

Oh, btw, we also learned that UConn wanted the game with Stanford to be the potential record breaking game, but the Big East where UConn plays, scheduled two conference games in December to ruin that. Good to know UConn didn’t chicken out… And double btw, head coach Geno Arawhat's-his-name thinks his team will go down in defeat this year, anyway, so they could come into Stanford nursing a loss or two.

Next up, our N1F (number one fan-note the new logo this year) reports on the first day of practice, since C and R could not be there.

Stanford BBall (Sorta)

So R and I decide to head up to cool San Francisco to see some championship basketball. We are still waiting¦ no, no, no, that wasn’t nice, was it? This is C here, one half of C and R, and let’s start over shall we?

Out of the goodness of our hearts, R and I decided to head up to see the best two out of three games in a championship series in the SF Summer Pro-Am league. Well okay, it was not really out of the goodness of our heart, it was for purely selfish reasons, we wanted to see the baby Stanford incoming freshmen play and maybe catch a glimpse of the seasoned Stanford veterans who show up to cheer them on. We are talking about watching the play of future Stanford players Sara James, Toni Kokenis, and already our fave, Chiney Ogwumike, plus, yes dear readers (reader) plus current Stanford players Mikaela Ruef and Sarah Boothe. (Try saying those last two names really fast, it’s fun! Roof and Booth.)

So anyhow, we find ourselves in R’s car heading in the general direction of San Francisco guided by my fancy GPS thingie. Now I love my GPS but it usually gets in a fight with R. Well, that’s not true, it guided us through the lakes of Kirkwood and South Lake Tahoe just fine, but for some reason, we have messed up twice now on our way to see the Stanford women. Well, part of it might be operator error on C’s, meaning me, or my part. Or whatever. The first time we missed our exit, so R reminded me NOT to do what we did last time and wouldn’t you know it I guided us right to the wrong exit again. After negotiating the CRAZY drivers of SF, we arrive at our destination. Which is a big track stadium. Oops, I have successfully guided us to Kezar Stadium. The Stanford women play basketball in Kezar Pavilion! After a joy ride around the park including going the wrong way on a one-way street and just a little sidewalk driving, we find Kezar Pavilion and park.

(R is rolling her eyes and waving her hands to get on with it, so I shall)

So we walk into Kezar PAVILION and C spots a cute-cute little dog like the one on the TV show “Frasier” and bends down and R stays upright and whispers under her breathe, “That’s Sara James right in front of us.” So C, uh, meaning me, geez I hate this third person thing, so I stand up and sure ’nuf I was petting Sara James’s dog, who was on a leash with what we can only assume was her dad. (She’s a local product, so we think both her dad and mom were there at the game. Hi Mrs. and Mr. James, we are excited about your daughter coming to Stanford!). Because we are staring, I take the plunge and say, “You’re Sara James, hello, nice to meet you,” and shake her hand. R, wearing all her Stanford gear, sounds more intelligence and says, “Hello, nice to meet you we are Stanford season ticket holders for almost 20 years, and good luck today.” I want to say, well, technically R has been the season ticket holder and I just ride her coattails and really only jumped on board the Stanford band wagon about 5 years ago and… but Sara has already run down the ramp and jumped and touched the support bar holding the basket, so R shoves me out of my stupid self indulgent reverie and we take our seats.

We sit on the “Stanford Side”, which is really the whole other side of the gym opposite the team benches. There are probably about 100 people, mostly the Stanford faithful. The Stanford players are on the Golden State team and they are playing the Mission Rec team. Mission Rec has 2 subs and we have 4500. Seriously, I think we have 10 players to choose from. We notice Sarah Boothe, Sara James and Chiney Ogwumike are starters. Will this be a foretelling of the Stanford year to come? We can only hope.

Finally the game starts (and finally R can stop poking me to get to the basketball part). We also notice Sarah Boothe has 6 inches over the tallest member of the other team. This should be a cake walk…And yet…

The first time we watched the Stanford players, the game plan was to get it into Boothe and she scored. A lot. This time that game plan flies out the window. Well, the other team, full of small, fast, quick, aggressive guards, pressure our guards and we cannot get it into Boothe. Plus the other team is taking advantage of the fact the refs are not very good and let a lot of contact and slapping go uncalled. A lot of slapping. So we cannot get it in to Boothe and when we do shoot, we take rushed shots.

Then the coach of the other team starts yelling at the refs for his version of non-calls. He gets T’d up. Then the refs feel so bad for giving him a technical foul that they give him back two quick fouls that are hardly fouls, especially compared to what was allowed moments ago. Sarah Boothe goes to the bench with 2 fouls and stays for a long time. We can’t buy a basket.

Ever eagle-eyed, R spots Stanford veterans Kayla Pedersen and Nneka Ogumike coming in the gym and taking position up high opposite the Stanford faithful. We make a mental note to switch seats at half time. Shortly, we see more Stanford veterans enter. First, Lindy La Roque and then Jeanette Pohlen, IN A DRESS! Not often you see such fancy duds at a basketball game.

Chiney looks more aggressive on the boards and even Toni Kokenis is looking much improved. In fact, around the 7:22 mark, all five Stanford players go in. Cool. And boy does the guard Sara James have a nose for rebounds.

But the Stanford team is so rattled by the slapping, missed shots, non-calls and shouting of the other coach, plus the pressure on their guards, that by half time it is only 15-22. Our Stanford team has only scored 15 points? This is not good. Will this be a foretelling of the year to come? We can only hope not.

It was neat to see Mikaela Ruef so animated talking with the rest of the players at the half. Chiney and Sarah Boothe also chimed in and everyone listened raptly. Plus big sis Nneka came over to add in her two coaching cents. Jeanette Pohlen went out to her car and brought back a water bottle for Tony. So nice to see the Stanford players taking care of each other.

The second half starts and it is more of the same, intense defensive pressure, but this time the other team is bombing threes. Sarah Boothe fouls again and the coach takes her out. We hear someone in the gym yell, “Keep her in!” And turn to see it was Lindy. You go, girl! A few minutes alter she yelled, “Put in your high scorer!” as Sarah was still on the bench and obviously had the most points for their team. Chiney starts to get aggressive and made an athletic steal but cannot corral the ball from going out of bounds. Then she fiercely grabbed a rebound, dribbled down court and went coast to coast for the rare basket. All the way Chiney.! (T-Shirt rights patented and copyrighted by C and R, thank you very much). The other team counters by raining more threes.

Sarah Boothe finally goes in and she is posting up strong but the other coach is now yelling “Three seconds in the key!” so loudly that Sarah hears him and instinctively leaves the key, as a good player will do when listening to coach. Problem was, it was not her coach, he was for the other team and he intimidated her to stay out of the key. Then the other team’s speedy little guards start faking the three and driving in. They usually lose their guard defense and make it to the second line of bigger players, where they are fouled while leaping in the air. Sarah Boothe goes back to the bench, then Chiney joins her with her foul trouble and then the other team is so confident they launch threes or drive at will. It is now a 20-point game.

In the closing minutes, everyone on the Golden State team looks tired and there is no sense of urgency. Yes, they are down by 20 with a few minutes left and probably can’t catch up, but they aren’t even trying. That was disheartening to see. This is a championship game, for cryin’ out loud. The final score is 61-77. We go to Chevy’s to drown our sorrows in salty chips and the cute waiter gets points for listening to our sob story and being interested in our blog about women’s sports (unless he was just pretending to be interested and fishing for a big tip, which in case it worked because we gave him one, we are such softies sometimes).

The Stanford women play again tomorrow, but with a performance like that, getting beat by a smaller team was hard to watch. We should have wailed on them. Oh well, basketball Sunday, same time, same place (can C and R find the gym on the third try? Tune in tomorrow and find out).

Saturday in the Park with Stanford Players

Well, by miracles of miracles, both C and R were available and able to get away from our shabby lives and puny responsibilities and make the pilgrimage to San Francisco to see the baby Stanford players and… Chiney Ogwumnike.

Yes, yes C and R were excited to see ALL the incoming Stanford women’s basketball players who are here taking summer school and playing in the San Francisco Pro-Am league, and the second year players as well, but really, we wanted to get a look at the National Player of the Year up close and personal. (BTW, she won so many awards and Gatorade kept giving her something every month so C and R are not exactly sure what her official title is, but we hear she can play).

So after getting a little lost and having several battles with either each other or C’s GPS, we finally make it to Kezar Pavilion. (So small, we were expecting bigger.) We get there half an hour before the game and no one is warming up. See lots of familiar faces in the stands. Finally with about 20 minutes left the players start to trickle in. Can you say “casual?” We see the Stanford players and elbow each other several times for each player. “There’s Chiney,” we announce to each other as if neither of us has eyes. And she just looks like a baller, too. Figured out who Sara James and Toni Kokenis were (quick someone, email us and tell us how to pronounce her last name) to mark the three incoming freshmen. Then spy second year players Mikaela Ruef and Sarah Boothe. The other team is non-existent. Courtney Paris is listed on the other team’s roster, but she was not “In Town”. Too bad, C and R have never seen Courtney play live so we were bummed.

Not much warming up, which is a little bit of a shock to C and R as we are used to seeing the Stanford players go through elaborate warm up and stretching and drills before every Stanford game. Only Sarah Boothe takes the time to do elaborate stretching moves while most just shoot around. Finally the other team has at least five and we can begin.

When the game starts, C and R are very impressed with Sarah Boothe. She red-shirted last year and lost a lot of freshmen weight and re-sculpted her body. She was aggressive and hungry, calling for the ball, and running on fast breaks. Her teammates trusted her and got her the ball whenever they could. Opposite her was DeNasha Stallworth, Cal’s center, and although she had more meat on her and tried to push Sarah around, Sarah fought back and showed her a thing or two. Sarah was all business. Which made a thought pop into C and R’s head (yes, we do have them every once in a while). Sarah could be the X factor for us next year. Everyone knows we will be missing Jayne Appel and everyone knows who the established stars are and what they can do. Everyone will also look to Chiney to have an immediate impact. This preseason, none of the experts mentions Sarah Boothe and we think she is going to contribute greatly, and half way through the year everyone outside of Stanford will be scratching their heads saying, “Where did she come from?”

Sara James also impressed us. Played the guard spot, good court vision, had a nose for the ball and knifed in for offensive rebounds. She shot threes and when she missed, got her own rebound. Toni and Mikeala still look like they need more practice, especially at court vision and knowing where everyone was and when to shoot or pass. There were a few times Mikeala launched some threes but rebounders weren’t in place and to C and R, we thought she should have shown more patience.

And then there was Chiney. Okay, let’s just put it on the table and sum it up. The first half she played uninspired. And her defense was still in a high school mind set. Her team was playing man-to man, yet she would often leave her man and play the ball, counting on her athletic ability to either steal the pass to her man or get back in time if she can’t get to the ball. That ain’t going to happen in college and besides, Tara will beat that out of her when official Stanford practice starts.

And then sister Nneka came in. She arrived with Stanford buddies, Kayla Pedersen and Lindy LaRoque. They showed up close to the end of the first half (and yes, C and R fans, we went and sat behind them after half time to, um, you know, sit by them, shh.... don’t tell them.) So anyway, at the start of the second half Chiney was a different player! She had more intensity and you should have seen her go up and grab, and we mean snatch, a rebound out of the air. (And to the coach of the Golden State team, why was Chiney playing point guard in the second half?)

At one point, Nneka in the first row called out some coaching advice and Chiney stopped and made sure she got whatever it was Nneka pointed out. Maybe she needs that sisterly rivalry/admiration to get her going? Because before Sis Nneka came in, the rest of the Ogwumike family came in, Mom, Dad, all the other Ogwumike sisters who are going to go to Stanford for basketball and build an Ogwumike dynasty over the next 10 years. That wasn’t enough to get her going, it was Nneka. Wow, this should be an interesting year.

Other notes:
We were impressed with Eliza Peirre, who played on the opposite team and goes to Cal. She will be one to watch out for next year. We thought the PAC-10 refs were bad, but these refs were really bad. We think everyone one of the Stanford players attempted a three, the two guards of course, and Ruef, Chiney. Maybe not Sarah Boothe, although she brought out this great hook shot in the second half reminiscent of Brooke “The Hook” Smith from a few years ago. At least once the coach had all 5 Stanford players in, so that was cool. The Stanford team won, although we weren’t so interested in the score as checking out how everyone played. We were so excited we wanted to come back for play-offs next week but according to the schedule the Stanford team won the league and plays again August 7th. We hope to be there. Stay tuned.