Stanford Rains Threes on Arizona

So this is the story of the Stanford Women’s Basketball Team. During their loss to Washington they shot too many threes (and didn’t make many threes, going 9-41). Then against Arizona State, they didn’t shoot enough (or make enough, going 0-4). Then against Arizona, they shot (and made) just right…you get the idea.

Bonnie Samuelson Shoots Lights Out (Photo Courtesy Stanford Athletics )

First, on to the downtown party. Let’s set the stage. Stanford’s Lili Thompson hits a three with 15 minutes left in the first to tie the game at 11. Then Stanford three-point specialist Bonnie Samuelson came in, she hits all kinda threes (three of them). Stanford goes on a 28-2 run over 10 minutes and it’s now 36-13 with five minutes left. Stanford’s inside player Chiney Ogwumike scores 11 of her 15 points during this period.

Bonnie would also hit three more in the span of one minute and ten seconds towards the end of the half. Freshie Kailee Johnson heaved one with the clock ticking down just before the half and got in on the fun. Lili Thonpson, who scored nine points, and Taylor Greenfield, who scored six points, would each swish two three pointers, and guard Amber Orrrrange would add nine points, all from three pointers. She hit three of four from behind the arc and also passed out nine assists. Over all, Stanford hit making 13 threes on of 24 tries! Ten of them were in the first half! Just right indeed.

And how was Stanford’s defense this game? Also just right. They held Arizona without a basket for a ten-minute period in the first. The half ended with a 49-19 Stanford lead. Stanford would build up a 40-point lead. Not a typo folks, 40 points. How was Arizona’s three point shooting. They were 0-5.

Bonnie Samuelson hit five 3-pointers which is one shy of her career high. All of Bonnie’s 17 points were in the first half, and she scored 17 points in 16 minutes. She also was Stanford’s high scorer. Sister Karlie (KSam) who can also shoot a three was out this with a foot injury but is expected to return next game. ESPN reported it got stepped on Feb 7th.

When the lead got to 40 with 15 minutes left to play in the second, Coach Tara VanDerveer pulled her starters. Chiney Ogwumike, who usually averages in the high 20’s and gets a double-double at the drop of a hat, finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes. It was only the second time this season that Chiney Ogwumike wasn’t Stanford’s leading scorer. We know TVD doesn’t care about records and just wants to win, but we hate to see Chiney’s numbers suffer. Those east-coasters are easily swayed by numbers and we want them to vote her player of the year!

Stanford holds a three-game in Pac-12 play with four games left.

Follow C and R for more threes on Facebook and Twitter, too!

---

Stanford Stuffs Arizona

Coming off a rare Pac-12 loss, everyone, including C and R, was curious to see how the Stanford Women’s Basketball team would respond. Well, if it is a Tara VanDerveer coached team, you know it will be with intensity and focus. And Valentine’s Day was a great time for the fans to give their team some extra lovin’, not that they needed it.

So yes, Stanford came out extremely focused on defense against Arizona State University. I am sure the message TVD hounded into them that their defensive efforts the last two games (included a loss to Washington) needed much improvement. So how did Stanford respond? They held ASU without a bucket for the first 8 minutes. ASU scored just 12 points in the first half. Yes, 12 points, tying the Pac-12 record of the lowest point total for a half. The final score was 61-35 and those 35 points ASU scored was one away from tying another Pac012 record for fewest points scored in a game. Stanford also held ASU to 24% shooting for the whole contest. Stanford by contrast shot 53% for 40 minutes.

On the offensive end, Stanford was just as intense. Last game Stanford took 41 three-point shots. That is not necessarily a problem. But when you only make nine of them, really six for the game and three in a final fury in the last two minutes, it really is (a problem, I know long sentences). Couple that with NO one from Stanford driving to the basket and the other team collapsing on your best inside player of Chiney Ogwumike, well, it is no wonder Stanford lost that game. This game, however, the guards showed they received the message and drove and slashed inside to score. The first three-point attempt came many minutes into the game. And maybe they were too tight, as Stanford did not make a single three. They were 0-4 from the field. Interestingly, the San Fran Chron said ASU limited Stanford’s three point attempts, as the stats would bare out, but I honestly think Stanford limited themselves and was in a mode to score off of drives then from threes. Potato, potatoe.

Guards Lili Thompson and Amber Orrange were aggressive scorers inside (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP Photo)

No, they are not holding Chiney Ogwumike (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP Photo)

So how did Stanford score? The guards drove and slashed inside, which resulted in ASU leaving Chiney guarded one on one. And what folks, do we say when Chiney is left alone one on one in the Pac-12 or against most other teams? Chiney all day. She scored 20 (18 in the first half) and was only limited by coach TVD who sat her with 12 minutes left to play. And hats off or hearts out to Chiney who can score 20 and grab 13 rebounds for her 19th double-double of the season in just 27 minutes and with ASU clearly holding her, meaning physically holding her for much of the game. And when Chiney came up high to the foul line it opened the back door up for the guards, in particular Amber Orrrrange and Lili Thompson. Lili scored eight and Amber had 14.

And hats and hearts out to guard Amber Orrange (so much we will spell her name correctly. It is with two “R”s). She had one of her best hustle games in a long time. She definitely took the message to heart and amped up every level of her game. She had a career-tying five steals. She was leaping for steals, picking pockets for steals and hustling for steals and one steal and incredibly quick fast break to the basket, wow, hope to see that type of play every game.

Stanford is firmly in the drivers seat for the rest of Pac-12 play and to get that bye in the Pac-12 tournament  Game again on Sunday.

Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, too!

---

.

Stanford Can't Come Back Against Washington

Maybe it was the snow, maybe they were tired, but the Stanford Women’s Basketball team did not play their game and lost to Washington 82-87.

Washington's Kelsey Plum puts a shot up over Stanford's Mikaela Ruef (Elaine Thompson - AP Photo)

Hats off to Washington, as they played Stanford’s game. They shot uncontested threes (9-22 for the game, or 40 %) and when they were contested they drove the lane to get buckets or fouls. Help defense, which Stanford has been so good at it all year long, was again noticeably absent for Stanford for the second game in a row. Washington freshmen Kelsey Plum scored 23 in a variety of ways, including making three of five 3-pointers before fouling out in the final minutes. Washington also played a zone defense that limited what Stanford could do.

Stanford’s offense, meanwhile, was staying on the three point line, and the guards were not driving, not penetrating, not rebounding and not forcing Washington to come off of Chiney Ogwumike, who usually has a great game inside against one on one pressure. Chiney was held to eight first half points. She did come out and score nine straight in the second then Stanford forget about her. She did not make a basket in the final 7 and a half minutes (she made one of two free throws with 7 seconds left).

And those threes that Stanford shot! Stanford missed the first seven in a row, setting the tone that Washington didn’t have to guard them up top and could sag on Chiney. Stanford went 9-41 on three point attempts for the game (three of the nine made came in the last two minutes in a furious comeback attempt). And those long, crazy rebounds would bounce far away form Chiney waiting under the basket, but not back out to the three point line, so Stanford had no hope of getting an offensive rebound.

Hats off to Stanford, too, for those last two minutes. For all of Stanford’s mistakes and lack of effort, they almost turned it around. Gotta admire the “no quit” attitude. Stanford was down by 11 with 2 minutes left and started the “foul game.” Stanford got it to within three points, 85-82, with five seconds left. Bonnie Samuelson scoring 11 of those 14 points, connecting with three 3-pointers and two free throws. But with 5 seconds left and Washington inbounding under Stanford’s basket, Chiney had to grab the jersey of a streaking Washington player to stop a fast break. It was correctly ruled a flagrant foul, meaning Washington gets the shots and the ball to effectively end the game. The forcefulness of Chiney’s foul wasn’t like other games, such as the two Cal games, that were let go as regular fouls, but we don’t want to be cry babies. Washington would hang on to win by five, 87-82.

Washington’s 87 points were the most scored against the Stanford this season. The loss snapped a 62-game road conference winning streak for Stanford as well.

Kudos to fifth year senior Mikaela Ruef. She set personal bests with 16 points and 22 rebounds, her 4th double-double of the season. Chiney scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, for her 18th double-double and 21st game of at least 20 points this season. Freshie guard Lili Thonpson added 13 points, and made three 3-pointers. Bonnie chipped in 14, as we mentioned, and 11 in the final two minutes.

Back to Maples for Valentines Day. I think they are going to need some lovin’ from their fans.

Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, too!

---

.

Stanford Survives Washington State

So Washington State obviously didn’t follow the Pac-12 script. The Stanford Women’s Basketball team had a slight lead at the half (28-24) and then Chiney Ogwumike came out like gangbusters in the second, yet WSU refuses to fold. Don’t they watch film?

WSU started out in a zone to limit Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike’s inside game. Usually that is not a problem. Stanford has some three-point specialists they use to open up the outside game and to pad the score until they force the other team to come out on them. Then they throw it inside to Chiney, where Chiney has a field day. This time Stanford seemed to forget their script, too. They only made two 3-pointers out of eight attempts in the first. And they forced it inside to Chiney, to the point of many turnovers (I think 11 in the first). The good news for Stanford is that WSU couldn’t hit the broad side of the barn it the first half and could not capitalize on Stanford’s mistakes.

As we all know, Chiney has been working on her outside shot, and while her three ball isn’t pretty or even there, she did settle from some nice long jumpers in the paint. She proved that when her path to the basket is blocked, or her favorite angle off the blocks isn’t there, she can hit those little floaters and find other ways to score away from the basket.

Chiney Ogwumike goes for a lay-up against WSU (Dean Hare / AP Photo)

The second half opened with Chiney on fire, but Stanford forgot to play defense. For WSU, it became the Tia and Lia show, that being Lia Galdeira and Tia Presley. The two speedy guards drove the lane and no one stopped them. Galdeira led WSU with 21 points while Presley scored 20, making the pair the first teammates to each score 20 points in a single game against Stanford since December 2010. That shows some good Stanford D.

There was no help defense when Tia and Lia drove past the Stanford guards, and that responsibility usually belongs to Chiney. Stanford has stopped that all season long, not sure why it did not happen in this game.

And when Stanford defense broke down, no one not named Ogwumike scored much in the second. This game was a remnant from last year, where Chiney scores and everyone else watched. C and R aren’t math majors, but Chiney has over half of Stanford’s points. While two other Stanford players got to 11 points, it was at the end, mostly on free throws from intention fouls. Not a good scoring night for Stanford

Curious, Stanford did not get a free throw in the first half, yet went 13-16 in the second, mostly off of WSU fouling at the end. Also Stanford had only 12 assists, the lowest since November of last year. Perhaps Stanford wasn’t driving or being as aggressive on offense in the first. WSU on the other hand was 10-20 for free throws and those missed points were sorely needed. The final score was 77-69 but the game was much closer then it that, and was even tied with five minutes left to play.

Highlights:
Chiney Ogwumike matched her career high with 36 points while grabbing 17 rebounds. She posted her 11th 30-point game and her 17th double-double of the season.

Taylor Greenfield had 11 points while posting career highs of nine rebounds and five assists. Amber Orrange scored 11 points with six rebounds and three assists. Freshman Karlie (KSam) Samuelson scored nine points as both she and Greenfield went 3-for-4 from behind the arc. They accounted for all six of Stanford’s made three pointers.

Next up is Washington. Maybe the snow is throwing Stanford. Let’s hop they are more acclimated by now.

Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, too!

---

.

Battle of the Bay Part II

Second time is a charm, too. So the Stanford Women’s Basketball team figured out a better way to beat Cal. Forget building up a 30-point lead only to have it slip away and barely win in the final seconds, as it went just four days ago at Stanford. This time, Stanford, on Cal’s floor, knew to instead keep a nice 10-point cushion all game long. Well, first go on a 24-7 run late in the first half to go ahead 33-19 to build that nice lead, mostly with All-Everything Chiney Ogwumike, then, play they score a basket, we score a basket.

Well, it wasn’t that simple. At first Chiney, who plays center and has made a living of scoring off the low blocks, in particular with a wicked one-handed bank shot off the glass was settling from long jumpers and even a three point attempt. There was an air ball in there somewhere. Then she said, oh forget this, and went back inside and scored at will (Can’t remember if that was before she lost a contact or after).

If any team were to look at film of when Stanford lost in the last two years and Chiney had a bad game, they would see it was because she was pushed off the low block and had a bad angle to the glass and couldn’t bank a shot in (in particular the UConn games). Teams have tried to replicate that but C and R have noticed that in the last few games Chieny has now adjusted and when pushed outside the paint or has a bad angle to the basket, she hits a floater from the side of the basket, eliminating the glass. Guess what, it goes in. And she did that a lot during Cal Part II.

The ESPN 2 announcers said Cal’s plan was to double team Chieny with a guard coming over to help. But the guard would come late (basket for Chiney) or arrive on time and Chiney would pass out of the double team to set up her teammates. That opened up driving and scoring opportunities for players like freshie forward Karlie Samuelson, who finished with 16 points and guards Amber Orrange, who added 13 points.

Chiney Ogwumike looks for an open teammate as California double-teams her with defenders (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group)

Chiney scored a game-high 29 points to go with eight rebounds. Mikaela Ruef scored nine and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds with five assists and once again played shut-down defense on California’s leading scorer Reshanda Gray. Gray got her first basket with about a minute left in the first and finished with had just seven points with five rebounds after being held scoreless three days ago. Gray also fouled out with 5:09 left.

This being Superbowl weekend, they say defense wins championships. The defense of Ruef and Ogwumike limited California’s top three post players (Reshanda Gray, Gennifer Brandon, Justine Hartman) to a combined 11 points on 4-for-16 shooting.

Last game, a hard foul by Cal’s Brittnay Boyd sparked Cal and lead their comeback from the 30-point deficit. Early in this game, Cal's Gray took her arm off the basketball to swing at Chiney and hit her in the face. The announcers said that should be flagrant...yet the refs just kept it as a regular foul. This time, though, it did not spark a rally. These teams don’t like each other.

The refs made a point to call contact in this game, though, a contrast from last game. Cal had seven personal fouls before Stanford got whistled for one with about eight and a half minutes left in the first.  Everyone’s favorite ref, Melissa Barlow, gave the Cal PA announcer a sharp warning after announcing Stanford’s first foul with a little too much emphasis. Don't think she appreciated the sarcasm, said Twitter.

Still, Cal has swagger at home, and in the second half, their best play was guard Brittany Boyd driving down the lane and drawing contact. And again, Stanford did not stop it. Except for the final minutes, both Ruef and Chiney blocked her. Boyd would finish the game with 20 points.

Cal had to play the foul game the last few minutes and Stanford went 12-of-14 from the free throw line over the final four minutes to take a 79-64 win. Karlie Samuelson made all six of her attempts from the line over the final 1:40. Stanford was 24-30 from the line.

Stanford is undefeated in Pac-12 play and now plays everyone again. The announcers pointed out that Stanford will have a hard time not because the teams they play are ranked in the top 25, but because everyone will bring their “A” game when they do play them. We will see if the unblemished record stands.

Follow C and R for more Pac-12 Action on Facebook and Twitter, too!

---

.

Battle of the Bay Part 1

So, R prefers to see a close game and C likes the blow-outs, especially when Stanford wins. This time, we both got what we wanted. The Stanford Women’s Basketball Team jumped out to a 30-point lead with 13 minutes left in the game against the Cal Bears (C high-fiving other fans). Cal cut it to five with 18 seconds left (R visibly sweating). Can you say schizophrenic? (Good, cause we can barely spell it).

This game marked the midway point in the Pac-12, and for the first 23 minutes, it was going like all of Stanford’s Pac-12 games so far this year. They were enjoying a wide lead getting bigger as the minutes went by in the second half. Except, Cal went off script in the final seven minutes.

Stanford built up a big lead at the end of the first, 43-25, thanks to Karlie (KSam) Samuelson’s three at the buzzer, and unstoppable inside play by Chiney Ogwumike. Freshie Erica MCCall even got in on the act, doing her best Chiney impression inside, scoring in almost identical fashion off the low blocks. Stanford out rebounded Cal and Cal didn’t even attempt a free throw in the first.

Chiney Ogwumike goes for a lay-up against Cal's Brittany Boyd (Photo: Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Reps from the WNBA were here to watch Stanford’s All-everything Chiney Ogwumike to see if the stats don’t lie. Chiney is the only player in the country to rank in the top ten in field-goal percentage, scoring, rebounding, and double-doubles. What they learned is she can play defense. Well, so can the rest of the team, for a while. After all, this is a Tara VanDerveer production.

Stanford held Cal’s leading scorer Reshanda Gray scoreless. No, not for the half, for the whole game! Stanford’s Mikaela Ruef guarded her for most of the game and limited her to just five rebounds. And Chiney is the best “help defense” player we have seen, so it is usually not just one player guarding the other team’s best, think of it more like one and a half, with Chiney ready to step in.

Granted, Gray was in foul trouble and sat a lot the first half. Funny, we just looked up the box score and Gray only played 14 minutes, yet had two fouls. Why did Cal coach Lindsey Gottlieb keep her on the bench? She is your leading scorer, let her foul out. But we digress.

So Stanford is enjoying a huge lead. Taylor Greenfield hits two consecutive 3-pointers, to put them ahead by 30, 59-29 with 13 minutes left in the game, and all is right with the world, when “it” happened. That one play that changes everything, swings momentum, changes fortunes. Of course, the play we are talking about is the hard foul Cal's Brittany Boyd gave Stanford's Erica McCall. Our friends watching at home said the replay didn’t look that bad, and that Stanford was holding Brittany first. Heck, there was a lot of holding; Chiney got held on every rebound (see photo). The Twittersphere had the understated quote of the night saying, “refs are staying out of this one.”

But in real time, on Boyd’s foul, she gave a hard forearm to Erica, and when the whistle blew, she kept going after Erica until she angrily tackled her to the ground, and that is what C and R have a problem with. It was an out of control outburst, especially after the whistle. The refs huddled but did not make it flagrant.

Maybe it was the stoppage of play that threw off Stanford’s rhythm. Maybe it was coach Tara VanDerveer taking out Chiney with a comfortable 23-point lead after the foul. (Remember what we said about Chiney’s help defense?). We think others are a little used to having her around that they can let their players go by to avoid fouling because Chiney has their back. Well, she can’t while on the bench.

Chiney subbed out when the Stanford lead was 23. She subbed in a minute later and it was a 17-point lead.

Or it could be what one of the Cal blogs called, “playground mode.” Brittany Boyd would grab a rebound and put her head down and charge to the basket until she made it or was fouled, rarely passing. And Stanford let her. No one stopped ball. Brittany would end up with 25 points, 16 of them coming after the hard foul. C and R hate that kind of basketball, but it can be streaky and can get you points as Boyd proved. Stanford, whether with Chiney on the floor or not, cannot let a player take over the game like that.

But Stanford got some key stops in the final two minutes and Chiney scored Stanford’s final two baskets to hang on 70-64.

Box Score:
Chiney scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season.
Ruefie scored eight points and grabbed 12 rebounds and had excellent defense, as we mentioned.
KSam the Freshie came off the bench to score 14 points, going 2-3 from the 3-point line, including that one at the buzzer to end the first. But she looked nervous in stretches and only scored 2 points in the second.
Taylor Greenfield added 10 points, to mkae three players in double figures.
Freshie Erica (Baby Chiney) McCall had eight points with four rebounds.
Freshie guard Lili Thompson limped off a few minutes before halftime after appearing to bang her right knee on another player but she came back in the second with a bandaged appendage. She finished with eight assists and a 3-pointer.

Well, we won't have to debate this game for long, as with this quirky Pac-12 scheduling, Stanford travels to Cal to play them Sunday. Of course it is Superbowl Sunday and Twittersphere again said, “why do the powers that be hate women’s sports so much to schedule a great match up like this on Superbowl Sunday where it will be lost amidst the football roar (or something like that, it’s hard to get on a soap box in in 140 characters or less).

Which team will respond differently and how? Stay tuned for part 2.

Follow C and R for Part 2 on Facebook and Twitter, too!

---

.

Stanford Beats USC, Remains Undefeated in Pac-12 Play

So the Stanford Women’s Basketball Team was involved in ESPN’s “Big Monday” to showcase women’s college basketball. They played Pac-12 foe USC in the second half of a double header.  Finally some national coverage for Stanford and for their Player of the Year Candidate, Chiney Ogwumike.

Um, C and R are not really sure what happened in the first half. A Stanford PR person came around to our section to ask for volunteers to shoot the half court shot for prizes. Now, C will knock people down just to catch a hurled T-Shirt of victory ball. So who do you think instantly volunteered? C of course.

After a brief discussion with R on how I should shoot it (throw it baseball style, turn around backwards and fling it over my head?), I made my way down to the sidelines as instructed at the 12-minute mark with Stanford holding a brief lead 19-16 lead, and met the other guy who was shooting with me. The only problem was we weren’t shooting until the eight-minute mark. I couldn’t really see want was going on the court, plus I was concentrating on making sure my pants didn’t fall down. I lost four whole minutes where Stanford was slowly expanding their lead. Or something.

Then at the eight minute timeout, they called my name and I threw the basketball baseball style and was a little over zealous and hit the backboard and the ball actually went in the basket then scooped out to fall to the side, which was a good thing because I forgot to call bank. R told me they showed my incredulous reaction on the miss three times on the Jumbotron.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, Stanford used a 14-0 run to get to 37-20 lead with 4 and a half minutes left and to end up with a 46-28 lead at halftime. What happened, I don’t know, I was emotionally spent. After checking my texts and messages from all my friends who saw me act like a fool, I watched Chiney go to work in the second.

Chiney Ogwumike shoots against USC (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Well, that is easy to explain, it was all Chiney, all day. Heck, it looked like she kept scoring on the same play. Throw it to Chiney on the right hand side of the basket and let her bank it in (and she doesn’t call it, either). USC could not stop her and she scored 30 and grabbed 12 boards before Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer was happy that the East Coast got to see Chiney and took her out. Final score 86-59, Stanford.

This time, though, five Stanford players scored in double figures to help her. Stanford Mikaela Ruef gave some perspective after the game.

"I think what happened last year was that we depended on Chiney too much," said Ruef, one of five Cardinal players to score in double figures. "If other people are scoring, they can't double off me or the guards and that means we can find Chiney even more." And more they did.

With Chiney’s 30 points and 12 rebounds, she got her 15th double-double for the season. She has scored at least 30 points for the 10th time this season, adding to her Stanford record.

Ruef added her own double-double, third of the season for her, with 11 points and 10 rebounds with a side of an unexpected 3-pointer. Guards Amber Orrrrange and Lili Thompson scored 12 points apiece, with Lili making two 3-pointers. Karlie Samuelson (KSam) had 10 points and shot 2-4 from three-point land, and got an assist from BSam, her sister Bonnie. Although Stanford as a team was 7-20 from behind the arc, a little off for them.

Shout out to Twitter Buddy Hoopfeed, and not just because we hope she will mention us on twitter, but because she writes about women’s basketball out of love and came all the way from Dallas to see Chiney in person, although we are concerned that she was staying with people from Cal.

Speaking of which, next game is Cal at home on Thursday, then Cal away on Superbowl Sunday.

Follow C and R for more half-court shots on Facebook and Twitter, too!

---

.