December 30, 2007

Jeanette shines

Jeanette was the one to step up her game this time. She scored a game-high and career-high 20 points, including three of five three-pointers and five of six free throws. She also had four blocks and four assists. "I was really pleased with how Jeanette came in and gave us a spark," said Tara.

Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle) reports that the easy win against Washington (77-42) was a tune-up for Stanford, a chance to vary lineups in search of potent combinations and give starters a chance to rest.

Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online) focuses on Candice's ascent of the Stanford career scoring record. She played 32 minutes (well, that's 8 minutes of rest) and scored 12 points, enough for her to jump ahead of Nicole Powell into third place. She needs nine points to ease past Val Whiting for second place before setting her sights on Kate Starbird's record 2,215.

David Bush (Seattle Times) reports that the Washington women's basketball team did almost everything it set out to do against second-ranked Stanford on Sunday afternoon. But against the Cardinal you have to do everything and then some.

Here are the AP game recap, photo gallery and the box score from Stanford Athletics.

A recent history of the Tennessee series

In the wake of the now #2-ranked Cardinal's 73-69 overtime victory over the previously undefeated and top-ranked Lady Vols of Tennessee last week, TheBootleg.com’s Women’s Hoops Columnist Tom Knecht (Jr.) looks back at the multiple agonies and the long-awaited ecstasy in the recent history of the storied Stanford-Tennessee women's basketball rivalry. (More ...)

December 28, 2007

No doubt about #700

As you surely know by now, Tara is the seventh Division I women's basketball coach to reach the 700-win mark. The members of the 700-club (five of whom are still active) and their records are: Here are some accounts of the 700th win, a rout of Washington State:

December 27, 2007

Mighty Stanford

It's time to look ahead to the Pac-10 season. Michelle Smith's (SF Chronicle) preview is, "Mighty Stanford, rising Cal, then all the rest".

Darren Sabreda (Mercury News) is more restrained with "Stanford women prepared for Pac-10 play", in which Candice is quoted, ""We are so tough, the toughest Stanford team I have ever played on by far."

And the Washington HeraldNet has an unemotional preview of each of the Pac-10 teams.



The Cardinal's first conference game is on Friday, against Washington State. It's almost certain to be Tara's 700th career win. Be there to share in the celebration of her great achievement!

December 26, 2007

A present for Boxing Day

When The Bootleg published Sue Bair's insightful and humorous review of the Stanford/Tennessee game, I thought it was a premium feature (available only to subscribers), but have since noticed that it's available to all. So here it is, a present for Boxing Day, one more review of The Game. (Can there ever be too many?)

The Bootleg’s Women’s Hoops Columnist Sue Bair reviews the Cardinal's hard-fought 73-69 overtime victory over the previously undefeated and top-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols on Saturday night at a delirious Maples. Tennessee gave Stanford a tight battle, but Candice (with an "i"!), Jayne, Ros, Kayla and rest of the Cardinal women "willed" a huge home win over the defending national champs. Wow! (More ...)

December 25, 2007

Team Victory: Contribution From Two Less Sung

Contributing Bootleg Columnist Warren Grimes refects on the Stanford Women's Basketball team's cherished victory Saturday night over the top-ranked Lady Vols of Tennessee, giving credit not only to the usual superstars Wiggins, Appel, and Pederson, but taking note of big-time clutch performances by several of the more surprising heroes including Ros Gold-Onwude

and rock-solid freshman Jeanette Pohlen.

(More ...)

December 23, 2007

More presents

Here are more presents for our Merry Christmas!

An audio slide show from the Mercury News.

A slide show from Stanford Photo.

Several more game reports: and lots of photos:

December 22, 2007

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

So all we Cardinal fans got the best present of all:

STANFORD 73, TENNESSEE 69


Enjoy these reports of the game:

Cardinal end 11 years of frustration against UT

Damion Esper, Knoxville News Sentinel

Tennessee's Alexis Hornbuckle's 3-point attempt was way off. It settled into the hands of Stanford's Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, who then put her fist in the air as the buzzer sounded. Gold-Onwude then raced to her teammates, shrieking with excitement, as a sell-out crowd at Roscoe Maples Pavilion erupted.

With that, 11 years of frustration for one of the top women's basketball programs in the country came to an end.

(More ...)

Cardinal greet, beat a celebrated icon

Gwenn Knapp, San Francisco Chronicle

Then some passion surfaced, a poised intensity, and the words going through everyone's mind - "This is Tennessee" - resonated with new meaning. No more intimidation. No more reverence. Just the thrill of knowing that years on the edge of greatness, never quite penetrating the inner circle inhabited by Tennessee and Connecticut, were about to end.

At the final buzzer, Candice Wiggins was hopping ecstatically and hurling [victory balls] into the audience at a furious speed.

(More ...)

Stanford women shock No. 1 Tennessee

Rick Eymer, Palo Alto Online

A full house, a pair of top five teams, waving towels and noise and excitement filling Maples Pavilion to near bursting point. It was a night to remember.

Ros Gold-Onwude made sure it was memorable by scoring nine of her 13 points in overtime, lifting the fifth-ranked Cardinal past top-ranked and previously undefeated Tennessee, 73-69, in a nonconference women's basketball contest that was worth its weight in gold.

(More ...)
Here are the AP game recap, photo gallery and the box score from Stanford Athletics.

Parker's farewell tour comes to Stanford

All the media buzz for today's game is, quite rightly, on Candace Parker.

As Michelle Smith (SF Chronicle) reports, she is changing the nature of conversations about women's basketball. She will likely become the first women's player to end her college career early and begin what is sure to be a well-hyped and lucrative professional career.

So this will probably be Candace's last visit to Maples Pavilion.

Our Candice says, "I'm excited to play. I'm tired of talking about it."

December 20, 2007

Holiday Hoops

Charlie Creme (ESPN) discusses a dozen upcoming nonconference games that may distinguish Team A from Team B come selection time, including:
Tennessee at Stanford: Two heavyweights who will definitely be in the NCAA Tournament meet with the game meaning much more to the Cardinal than the Lady Vols. When it's all said and done, Tennessee is going to be a No. 1 seed, but Stanford would be in the running as well with an upset here. Another big loss like the one to UConn at the Paradise Jam, however, and it will be all too clear that the Cardinal aren't ready to compete with the absolute elite. That could relegate Stanford to a region with one of the two aforementioned powers and a huge barrier to the Final Four.
Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online) reports that Candice is very excited about the game and that folks in Albuquerque were very impressed by the Cardinal.

Why do we keep playing them?

is what Tara suggested as the angle for Michelle Smith's annual story of the Stanford/Tennessee game.

The answer: Because that's what the best women's basketball teams do. They play the best teams. And it is what VanDerveer has chosen to do, particularly this fall, preparing her team in November and December for the rigors of March, and maybe April.

December 19, 2007

Stanford buries New Mexico

The Cardinal women wore their black travel uniforms in The Pit and dominated the Lobos.



Here are the AP game recap and the box score from Stanford Athletics.
Here are a couple more game reports:


Stanford rolls Lobos 73-54

by Richard Stevens, Albuquerque Tribune.

It fell apart quickly for the Lobos.

All it took was Stanford All-American candidate Candice Wiggins to warm up and the Cardinal followed suit to cruise to a 73-54 nonconference win over the University of New Mexico Tuesday night in The Pit. (More ... )

Wiggins to the rescue again for Stanford

by Rick Eymer, Palo Alto Online

The Stanford women's basketball team was in a bit of trouble midway through the first half, playing in New Mexico's "The Pit" in Albuquerque for the first time ever on Tuesday night.

It's a tough place to play for any visitor and the Lobos were doing a number on nationally No. 5-ranked Stanford.

Something needed to happen and senior All-American Candice Wiggins was the right person at the right time. She led a furious comeback and Stanford took charge en route to a 73-54 victory over New Mexico in a nonconference game seen by 8,711 fans. (More ... )

I liked best the headline in the Albuquerque Herald

Stanford buries New Mexico

but unfortunately that article isn't online.

December 17, 2007

Up Next - New Mexico

Dennis Latta (Albuquerque Tribune) wonders "Will hot Stanford paint Lobos' faces a deeper red?

After the Lobos' loss to Arizona, coach Don Flanagan is determined not, "Our players seemed scared of Arizona," he said. "It won't be like that when we play Tuesday night. They'll be scared of me."

Latta points out that one advantage for UNM will be the crowd. Lobo women's basketball crowds at The Pit have ranked in the NCAA Top Five in average attendance for the past seven years. The Lobos are averaging 7,934 fans over the first eight home games of the season. There were 8,813 at The Pit for the Arizona game. It's likely there'll be more than 10,000 for the Stanford game. But then, the people in the stands don't score any baskets.

It should be interesting. Be sure to listen at 6:00.

The Wiggins Show

Candice was simply brilliant on both ends of the court. She scored 35 points and had four steals, three assists, two blocks,four rebounds and zero turnovers. She didn't quite match her career high (37 points against Oregon in 2006). But she brought her career total to 2000, the fifth Cardinal to achieve that (the others: Kate Starbird, Val Whiting, Nicole Powell, Jeanne Ruark Hoff).

Here are four reports of the Stanford/Baylor game:

Stanford pounds BU, 87-63 Waco Tribune-Herald staff report, "Whatever shooting woes that Candice Wiggins was having before Sunday, they’re gone." The report quotes Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, “She could do whatever she wanted today. She did what she wanted on the defensive end. She created a lot of havoc, and we didn’t have anyone who could keep up with her. The bottom line is we got whipped in every facet of the game today."

The star comes out when Wiggins hits court for Stanford by Ann Killion, Mercury News. "Here's one simple but impossible answer for gaining more exposure [for media coverage of women's sports]: more athletes like Wiggins!"

The Difference Jeff Lippman, CSTV."Sunday night in Palo Alto will go down as the game that Candice Wiggins showed just how scary she can be on a basketball court."

Credit Wiggins for this Cardinal win by Michelle Smith, San Francisco Chronicle. "The senior All-American set the standard on both ends of the floor for the Cardinal, scoring 35 points, playing stellar defense and absorbing a good deal of Baylor's physical game plan."

A fan asked Candice if they were beating up on her as much as it looked, and she replied, "Yeah, but that's basketball!"

And here are the AP game recap, photo gallery and the box score from Stanford Athletics.

December 16, 2007

Stiffest test of the year for Lady Bears

Waco Tribune sports editor Jerry Hill reports that Stanford has more talent than any team Baylor will see this year. Today's game will be the Lady Bears' stiffest test of the year.

"It's a real challenge, but it's also a great opportunity," coach Kim Mulkey said. "[Tara Vanderveer] is one of the best coaches to ever coach this sport. For me, it's a challenge ... to take a team to their facility and play on national television."

December 14, 2007

New basketball tests ahead

The Cardinal players face a tough test against No. 10 Baylor on Sunday.

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey says, "Every win is big. Just because they have a number by their name makes it big, I guess, but every game is big. We need to get all the wins we can to try to help us make it into the NCAA Tournament."

Tara might well say the same. The next 10 days or so will give her a good idea about the team and how the players might react after two weeks without competition.

Keith Peters (Palo Alto Online) analyzes the performance-to-date and the strengths of the two teams.

December 13, 2007

Closing in on 700 career wins!

Tara needs just 4 more wins to notch her 700th career victory.

Will that happen:
  • On Dec 28th vs WSU,
  • On Dec 30th vs Washington,
  • On Jan 4th @ UCLA,
  • Or on Jan 6th @ USC?
She will be the fifth active Division I women's coach to reach that milestone. The others and their current number of victories are:

December 11, 2007

The first bracket of the season

ESPN columnist Charlie Creme says it's never too early to take aim at March. Here is his first look (through games played as of Dec. 10) at how the women's 2008 NCAA bracket might look come Selection Monday.

He has this to say about the three Pac-10 teams in his December bracket:
  • Stanford (2): The next three games (Baylor, at New Mexico, Tennessee) before the start of Pac-10 play will go a long way in demonstrating whether the Cardinal are worthy of a No. 1 seed .
  • California (3): Devanei Hampton is back from knee surgery as the Bears' great start gets its biggest test Monday at Rutgers.
  • Arizona State (5): The losses have only been to good competition, but if the Sun Devils are going to take that next step nationally, beating a North Carolina or Oklahoma has to happen.

The First Game

Here is some basketball history to entertain you during the doldrums of Finals Week while we wait for the Baylor game.

About a year ago, James Naismith's (the "father of basketball") grand-daughter, discovered five boxes of personal documents, photographs and mementos in her basement. One of the items was an eight-page manuscript, hand-written by Naismith, describing the events of the first game in Springfield, Massachusetts 116 years ago.

The letter sold at auction for $71,700.00. Here is the complete transcript:

The First Game

When Mr. Stubbins brot [sic] up the peach baskets to the gym I secured them on the inside of the railing of the gallery. This was about 10 feet from the floor, one at each end of the gymnasium. I then put the 13 rules on the bulletin board just behind the instructor's platform, secured a soccer ball and awaited the arrival of the class. I busied myself arranging the apparatus, all the time watching the boys as they arrived to observe their attitude that day. I felt that this was a crucial moment in my life as it meant success or failure of my attempt to hold the interest of the class and devise a new game.

I had neither the advantage of age nor the benefit of experience to help me put this across. But I did then what I have found universally successful since. I gathered the class around the platform and frankly stated the difficulties confronting me-telling them how I tried my best to give them the kind of work I thought suitable for secretarial students, frankly stating that I had made a failure of my attempts to modify games but told them that I had an absolutely new one and asked them to give it a trial assuring them that I thought it would be good.

The class did not show much enthusiasm but followed my lead. I lined them up, called the roll and asked T.D. Patton & E.S. Libby to step out and divide the class into two teams. I then explained what they had to do to make goals, tossed the ball up between the two center men & tried to keep them somewhat near the rules. Most of the fouls were called for running with the ball, though tackling the man with the ball was not uncommon.

If we had rules there must of necessity be some one to interpret and enforce the penalty. Two officials were appointed, one to watch the play with the ball, the other to watch the actions of the players & call the fouls.

We were ready to try out the game but as yet had no goal. I went to Mr. Stubbins, the supt. Of the building, and asked him if he had a couple of boxes about 18 inches square, as I had concluded that the goal must be small enough so that a goal could not be made at every attempt. He replied, "No," and after a moment's hesitation he said, "I'll tell you what, I have a couple of peach baskets about that size if they will do you any good." I asked him to bring them up to the gym floor-I nailed them to the gallery one at each end and the equipment was ready.

We now had a team game with equipment and an objective. The next question that arose was how are we going to start the game? I reviewed the games and found that the intent of the start was to give each side an equal chance of obtaining the ball. In water polo the teams were at each end of the pool and the ball was thrown into the center. I felt that this would not do as two teams rushing at each other would at least make for roughness. The plan of soccer was dismissed as it gave too much opportunity to keep the ball in the hands of the thrower's team, thus giving them a decided advantage.

I then recalled the method of putting the ball in play in Eng. Rugby when the ball had gone over the side lines. The forward lined up in a row perpendicular to the side line, the teams opposite each other. The umpire with his back to the field threw the ball in between these lines with no chance for determining who would receive it.

I then thought of lining the teams up across the center of the floor and tossing it in between these lines. At this point I had a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach caused by the recollection of events that occurred in such a play. When one of our opponents saw that the opposite side secured the ball he would arrange things in such a way that as the player descended with the ball in his hands over his head his shoulder, elbow or knee was in the spot where his stomach was landing. This again made for roughness.

I then thought that if two men were selected to jump for the ball that it would eliminate roughness and give each side an equal chance.

Again a problem presented itself and no solution appeared. By what line of association it occurred I do not know but I was back in Bennie's Corners, playing duck on the rock. The whole scene came before me--across the road that led to Walter Gardner's home was a large rock higher than our knees & larger than a washtub. On this rock one or more would place their ducks-a rock twice as large as our fists. The rest of us stood behind a line about ten feet away from the rock. The object of the game was for "it" to tag one of the boys who was retrieving his duck. He could do this only when his duck was on the rock. It was the object of the men behind the line to knock "its" duck off the rock when he would need to replace it before he could tag anyone.

In throwing at the duck on the rock, I recalled that at times we would throw our duck as hard as we could & thus knock his away some distance. If, however, we were all back of the line and "it" was ready to tag us we would throw our duck in a curve so as to knock his off & ours would fall on the near side & thus be easily retrieved. In this other case the duck was thrown in a curve and accuracy took the place of force. The idea occurred to me that if the goal was horizontal instead of vertical the player would be compelled to throw in a curve and force which made for roughness would be of no value. I then concluded that the goal into which the ball should be thrown would be horizontal. I then thought of a box, somewhat resembling our old rock, into which the ball should be tossed. It then occurred to me that the team would form a nine man defense around the goal & it would be impossible to make a goal. The shot would need to be highly arched to win any chance of entering the goal.

It then occurred to me that if the ball did not need to reach the ground the defense would be useless in that condition. I then thought of putting the goal above the heads of the defense & their only chance to prevent a goal was to go out & get the ball or prevent his opponent from throwing to the goal.

December 09, 2007

A formidable opponent

There's no Cardinal news during finals week, so let's take a look at our rival across the bay. Cal is shaping up to be a formidable opponent, which is great for women's basketball! Bob Kinder, in his Pac-10 Preview a month ago, concluded that they should be an outstanding team.

Mechelle Voepel has written an interesting story about Alexis Gray-Lawson's recovery from her ACL. (It includes a nice comment about Charmin Smith.)

Devanei Hampton has returned to the court sooner than expected after her arthroscopic knee surgery a month ago. She played 12 minutes against Princeton yesterday, and had 9 points and 2 rebounds.

Ashley Walker, the third member of the SoBerkeley trio, is averaging 21 points and 11.9 rebounds this season.

And Rama N'diaye, their 6-5 center, is averaging 10 points and 9.3 rebounds.

Yes, the Cardinal/Bear games should be really challenging this season. Look forward to them!

December 07, 2007

Women's basketball by the numbers

Scott Bland of the Stanford Daily discusses some numbers to keep in mind when evaluating the first stage of the Cardinal's season:
  • 3: The number of double-digit scorers
  • .238: The three-point shooting percentage
  • 5: The number of on-the-road wins
  • 120/112: The assist-to-turnover ratio
  • 2: The season-ending knee injuries
  • 544: The number of Tara's wins at Stanford*
* Tara does not need a 31-win season to pick up her 700th career win, as Scott reports. The UC-Davis game was her 696th.

December 05, 2007

Card Shoot Down Davis

Story by Sue Bair
Photos by Don Anderson

On Sunday afternoon at Maples Pavilion, the Stanford Cardinal took a dare from UC-Davis and turned it into a 62-41 victory. The margin was borderline blowout, but the scanty point total accumulated by the victors suggests that subduing UC-Davis was not accomplished in a breeze. The Cardinal were up early and maintained a comfortable lead throughout, but even if Stanford did bury the Aggies, they still had to keep a wary eye out lest a dirt-encrusted Aggie hand claw its way free from the coffin. UC-Davis kept the score low by making the Cardinal use up lots of clock trying to solve the Aggie zone defense, while on the other half of the court, Davis struggled to find open looks, often just skirting shot clock violations. The result was a sluggishly paced game that the Card controlled, but without hitting the accelerator on offense as well as they might have wished. Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer praised the Aggie effort, “They have a really well-coached team. We might have overwhelmed them a bit today, but we’re going to improve because we played them. Their zone was very effective. We turned the ball over too many times.” The anticipated Donaghe sibling slugfest did materialize but not until the late stages of the game, when Stanford’s Hannah frequently guarded Aggie Haylee, who claimed with a laugh, “I had to take it at her hard a couple of times.” Haylee Donaghe scored 9 points, thus winning the battle of siblings. Big sisters can be like that.

This was a bit of a “dare you” game from Davis. The Aggies took a gander at Stanford’s shooting percentages from long range, including All-American senior guard Candice Wiggins’ uncharacteristically low numbers, and decided to dare and even double dare Wiggins and the Cardinal to shoot. Though one could not fault the strategy, for the Cardinal, it may have been just what the doctor ordered. Relaxed at home after gallivanting across the continent, and letting fly at the familiar Maples rims, Wiggins uncorked her first Wigginsian power three-ball barrage of the season. She was 3-6 in the first half from beyond the arc and 5-10 for the game. Cissy Pierce turned on the faucet by draining a three less than three minutes into the game, and junior guard Ros Gold-Onwude chipped in 2-6 three-point shots. Explained UC-Davis head coach Sandy Simpson, “It’s a pick your poison thing with Stanford. If you look at them statistically, maybe one area where they have struggled up until tonight was their three-point shooting, so we made a choice to try to pack it in a little bit and make Jayne (Appel) work a little harder for her points, and make them prove it outside. And they did. They went 5-11 from three-point range in the first half. We gave it to them, they took advantage and made us pay.”

Aside from their 21 turnovers, Stanford played a better game than it might appear when one evaluates their low-scoring effort. They had not faced a zone all season, and the Aggies were aggressive and swarming in their version. Solving it was a challenge that ought to help the Cardinal later, when they will surely see similar strategies. “It was actually our first look at a zone, so we practiced against it for a couple of days, but they did a good job of trapping and putting pressure on our guards,” said junior forward Jillian Harmon, who had 6 points and 7 rebounds off the bench as part of the post rotation once again. Passing the ball inside proved to be particularly challenging. Offered VanDerveer, “They were really trying to limit the ball going inside, but when Jayne (Appel) got it she was extremely effective. Overall we had a good team effort. We did some things that we will be working on for the next two weeks – taking care of the ball probably number one.” Sophomore center Appel was 7-8, finishing with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Her eight attempts were approximately half her normal output. Appel thought it was the Davis pressure on the Cardinal guards that created the difficulty in finding her inside. Explained Appel, “What was hard was when the guards were really feeling a lot of pressure up top. At one point, Candice (Wiggins) said ‘As long as I find the right spot, it’s an easy pass.’” Wiggins found the right spots often enough to feed Appel some lovely over-the-top passes past the shorter Aggie defenders, and when Appel found a crowd inside she was able to pop the ball to Wiggins or Gold-Onwude for wide open shots. UC-Davis coach Simpson thought the Card fought his zone effectively, and praised Appel’s passing, “They worked the ball really well. It goes inside out from Jayne. She’s a really good passer from the low post. She’s seen enough double and triple teams in her short career so far that she knows how to get the ball out to shooters.”

Having vanquished their first zone, the Cardinal get a two-week break for exams. They go into the break feeling like their early schedule has them ahead of the curve. Commented Appel, “I definitely think the early games got us through a lot of tight situations that maybe other teams won’t experience as early in the season. We’re fortunate it was against very good teams. It gives us confidence.” How will the team approach their “vacation”? “Two weeks of work ahead of us,” said Harmon with a smile and a nod.

Harmon and her teammates have reason to smile. After navigating big travel miles and a difficult schedule, they sit at 7-1, safely ensconced in the top 10 of the polls. The Cardinal have also played more games so far (8) than many teams. They deserve a break. They might need their rest too, for it gets no easier when they return to action in two weeks. First up on Dec 16th is undefeated Baylor, now ranked in the top 10 in the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls. Next the Card fly to visit New Mexico, 5-2 and, as usual, undefeated at home, where they are having a promotion to pack the 10,000-plus house for Stanford. After that Tennessee pays a visit to Maples Pavilion on Dec 22nd. The Cardinal have their work cut out for them, and will almost certainly need to hit their outside shots to triumph. If Wiggins and the Cardinal are able to use the UC-Davis game as the springboard to consistently better outside shooting, they should remember to give thanks to the Aggies and their tenacious zone for forcing the Card to prove they could shoot it down.

December 03, 2007

Stanford and UC Davis both win

Keith Peters observes in Palo Alto online that Stanford won on the scoreboard, but the Aggies' Haylee won in the showdown between the Donaghe sisters.

Michelle Smith reports in the San Francisco Chronicle that the game was a healthy dose of hard work for the Cardinal. They fought through UC Davis' well-executed zone defense, which was very different from what the Cardinal have seen this year and difficult to play against.
Here are the AP game recap, photo gallery and the box score from Stanford Athletics.

December 02, 2007

Donaghe family showdown



The Donaghe sisters' rivalry began as hard-hitting games of one-on-one, continued through the 2003-04 season both spent starring together on the Atascadero Greyhounds, and culminates today when they play against each other for the first time in the game between Hannah's Stanford team and older sister Haylee’s undefeated UC Davis Aggies.



It will be a fun experience for the sisters and provides an interesting cheering problem for parents Dale and Karen Donaghe. “A while back I thought about stitching two shirts together and sticking a seam down the middle,” Karen said. “What we decided to do is wear hats and shirts from each school. One will do a shirt from Davis and a hat from Stanford. The other will wear a Stanford shirt and a Davis hat.

Here's the complete story from the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

November 30, 2007

Card speed past USF

The Bootleg’s Women’s Hoops Columnist Sue Bair reports in on the Cardinal women's impressive 96-61 home victory over USF on Wednesday night. Superstars Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel had a rare opportunity to play light minutes as the rest of the squad made light work of the height-disadvantaged Dons. Stanford can now prepare for Sunday's anticipated matchup vs. a fairly dangerous UC Davis team. (More ... )
Here are the AP game recap, photo gallery and the box score from Stanford Athletics.

Cardinal set to take on Aggies

Wyndam Makowsky, Stanford Daily, gives us a preview of the Cardinal vs UC Davis game to be played on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Aggies are off to a 5-0 start in their first year as a Division I team, but the Cardinal may be the toughest opponent they will face all year.

The Cardinal is coming off a convincing 96-61 win over San Francisco on Wednesday, in which it was able to overpower the Dons with a combination of tenacious defense, offensive firepower and superior strength and speed.

UC-Davis has a formidable core group of players to compete with. Senior forward and starter Heather Bates, along with sophomore guard Anna Harp, was all-tournament in the Waikiki Classic. Bates led the Aggies in both scoring and rebounding last year.

Junior forward Haylee Donaghe — the older sister of Cardinal freshman guard Hannah Donaghe — and senior forward Jessica Campbell, who tallied the 1,000th point of her career against Portland State, are both scoring in double figures. Haylee Donaghe is also a defensive force: she and junior guard Kirsten Commins — both starters — lead the team with 13 steals each.

(More ...)

Here is the Aggies' roster

November 29, 2007

Big game for the freshmen

Our freshmen had a great game against USF:
  • Kayla had another of the strong performances we've come to expect. She was the top scorer with 18 points and had 4 rebounds, an assist, 2 blocks and a steal.
  • Jeanette played the most minutes (25) and came the closest to a double-double. she scored 13 points and had 6 rebounds, 5 assists, a block and 2 steals.
  • Hannah, in her college debut, scored 11 points and had 2 rebounds, an assist, and a block.
Stanford Daily writer Wyndam Makowsky reported:
But the star of the night — and certainly the fan favorite — was freshman guard Hannah Donaghe, who, in her first action of her Cardinal career, scored 11 points off the bench.

“It’s exciting to see,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “She’s a very good athlete, and she knocks her shot down.”

Cardinal freshmen contributed 32 points in total on the night.

“Not bad,” according to VanDerveer.

(More ...)
San Francisco Chronicle writer Michelle Smith reported:
It was a big night for the Cardinal freshman class, the trio of Kayla Pedersen, Jeanette Pohlen and Hannah Donaghe - making her season debut - combining for 42 points. Pedersen led the Cardinal with 18 points.

VanDerveer simply smiled when the topic of the freshmen arose.

"That's not bad," the coach said.

(More ...)
Here is the box score

November 28, 2007

Next up: USF

By: Haley Murphy, Stanford Daily

The No. 5 women’s basketball team looks for its third straight win tonight when it takes on the University of San Francisco tonight at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.

Home from the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Cardinal hopes to extend its win streak to three in tonight’s game against San Francisco at Maples Pavilion.

After falling to No. 2 Connecticut last week, the Cardinal bounced back with wins against Old Dominion and Temple. However, coach Tara VanDerveer thinks that last week’s loss to the Huskies might be beneficial to the team tonight.

“The best thing honestly might be our loss to Connecticut,” VanDerveer said. “That might be the game that we learned the most from.”

However, the Dons (3-3) are coming off a learning experience of their own. Villanova defeated USF 73-70 in overtime on Nov. 24, and VanDerveer expects the San Francisco squad to arrive fired up as a result.

“Every game you play, whether you win or lose, impacts your next game in some way,” she said. “[USF’s loss] will be positive for them because of confidence, [since] they were so close against Villanova. But I also think...we’re a big team on their schedule, and we’re a good rival for them, so they’ll come in very excited and I think they’ll do very well.”

(More ... )

November 26, 2007

Candice wills a win over Temple

Here's the AP report of the Stanford/Temple game:
With a 17-point halftime lead over No. 4 Stanford, Temple coach Dawn Staley warned her team about Cardinal guard Candice Wiggins leading a big rally.

Then it happened.

Wiggins scored 22 points to lead Stanford (5-1) to a 63-54 victory at the Paradise Jam on Sunday night.

"I told them exactly what was going to happen in the second half, exactly," Staley said. "I told them what Candice Wiggins was going to do in the second half. She's built for these types of games. She came out and willed her team to win." (More ...)
Here's the box score.

November 25, 2007

Kayla leads Stanford to win over ODU

Here's the AP report of the Stanford/ODU game:

In a game of jump shots, Old Dominion held an edge against No. 4 Stanford. Then Kayla Pedersen started taking it directly to the hoop.

Pedersen had 21 points and 11 rebounds to help Stanford (4-1) hold off the Lady Monarchs 69-61 on Saturday night at the Paradise Jam.

"In the first half I was settling for jumpers. In the second half I just took it to them and got fouled," said Pedersen, who scored 15 of her points in the second half and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

(More ...)

Here's the box score.

November 23, 2007

UConn passes the test

The story of the game from GoStanford:
Stanford gambled against Connecticut, and the second-ranked Huskies made them pay.

Kalana Greene, left wide open on many plays, scored 18 points to help the Huskies defeat No. 4 Stanford 66-54 on Thursday night at the Paradise Jam. Freshman standout Maya Moore led Connecticut with 19 points.

"We basically gambled off of some of their players, hoping some of their players would not make shots and they made them," said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer. "They ran on us and got too many easy baskets." (More ...)
The story from the Connecticut Post
The UConn women's basketball team had waited more than a week to receive its first test of the season. The wait left it yearning to discover exactly where it stood and to prove to the nation that it is every bit as talented as its national ranking indicates.

What the second-ranked Huskies proved Thursday against No. 4 Stanford at the Paradise Jam is that they are worthy of being considered a national championship contender. Led by game-highs of 19 points and 12 rebounds from freshman Maya Moore and 18 points and seven rebounds from junior Kalana Greene, UConn seized a 66-54 victory before a partisan UConn crowd of 2,192 at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center. (More ...)
The box score

November 22, 2007

Stanford is first real test for UConn

From the Hartford Courant:
Playing Stony Brook and Holy Cross certainly did wonders for the cardiovascular systems of the UConn women's basketball players.

But now things start to get interesting.

After three days enjoying the pleasures of Thanksgiving week in the Caribbean, the Huskies get their season started in earnest tonight against No. 4 Stanford at the Paradise Jam Tournament.(More ...)
And from the Connecticut Post:
The winds of change have been gusting about the Stanford women's basketball program since last season's bitter conclusion. Senior All-American Candice Wiggins knew changes needed to be made if the fourth-ranked Cardinal were going to assemble the championship-caliber season they have been seeking for more than a decade.(More ...)

November 19, 2007

Watching the Paradise Jam



Here is information you'll need to see the Paradise Jam games next weekend.

Time Zones

The Virgin Islands are on Atlantic Standard Time, which is Eastern Standard Time plus one hour, so Pacific Standard Time plus four hours.

Brackets and Schedule

The teams playing in the St. Thomas Division are:
  • Reef Division
    • Duke
    • Purdue
    • Temple
  • Island Division
    • Connecticut
    • Old Dominion
    • Stanford
The three teams in each subdivision play each other on Thanksgiving and the following Friday and Saturday. There are three championship games on Sunday. Here is the schedule.

Now that you know who and when, here is where to watch. Some of the games can be seen on:

Television

The goStanford.com schedule shows that the Stanford/UConn game on the 22nd will be televised by FSN. My Tivo confirms that broadcast on Fox Sports Bay Area (FSBA). It hasn't found the Stanford/ODU game on the 24th, nor any of the championship games on the 25th. (But they may show up later -- check on those days.)

Several, but not all, of the Paradise Jam games will be shown on Fox College Sports (FCS) Pacific. Here is their schedule. (If that link doesn't work for you, try a different browser. It doesn't work with Firefox on either a Mac or a PC.)

How can you see FCS Pacific? It depends on your provider:
  • Comcast offers FCS as part of its premium “Digital Sports Package,” for customers already subscribing to Comcast digital (not analog) service.
    The Digital Sports Package can be ordered by telephone (1-800-266-2278). The promotional rate is $3.00 a month, which increases to $4.95 a month after 6 months. So it would be possible to order the package for the Paradise Jam games and then cancel it, for a total cost of $3.00.
    FCS Pacific is Comcast channel 415 throughout the Bay Area.
  • DirecTV is currently (11/19) offering FCS Pacific automatically (no special package) on "overflow channel" 669. The program is a mens' Paradise Jam game. I haven't been able to determine if this service will be available for the womens' games -- check on those days.
  • Dish Network: I haven't found anything about FCS Pacific here, but if this is your provider, check your online guide.
You can get information about the availability of the FCS channels elsewhere by entering your zip code in the dark blue left-hand sidebar on the FCS website.

It's not clear what FCS Pacific will broadcast on the 25th. The schedule seems to indicate that just one of the championship games will be telecast. But Comcast channel 415 shows three WBB broadcasts on Sunday at 12:30, 3:00 and 5:30 PST -- I'm not sure what the first two are. The times correspond to the first two championship games, but the descriptions are "First Round" and "Second Round Coverage", so they may be prior game highlights. The third broadcast is live, so it will be the third championship game (the one between the #1 teams).

All of the games can be seen on:

Streaming Video

Basketball Travellers Inc. (BTI) will offer live video streaming of all the Paradise Jam games. Here is their schedule, and here is where you subscribe to the service. Be sure that you can view the sample video before you subscribe.

The package you want is: (Wmn) PARADISE JAM - ST THOMAS DIVISION ALL ACCESS PASS!, which costs $17.95.

Note: BTI assures me that the package includes the championship games on the 25th, even though the package description says, "Nov 22nd - Nov 24th".

And the Stanford games will be broadcast on:

KZSU

If you're not in range of the station (90.1 FM), you can listen to its audio stream.

November 18, 2007

Melanie saves the day!

16 seconds to play...Stanford down by 4... Mel steals the ball and shoots a foot-on-the-line jumper!

10 seconds to play ... Stanford down by 3 ... Mel sinks a 3-pointer ... the first of her college career!!

... then there were Kayla's 5 free throws, which kept us going though the first overtime.

... and all the way through, Jayne's monster game ... 20 rebounds ... 30 points ... 6 blocks ... 44 minutes, the last 15 with 4 fouls. Amazing!!!

The game report from the Deseret Morning News begins:
Before Stanford even got off the bus in Salt Lake City, Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer told center Jayne Appel that facing Utah's defense would be tough and that she needed to remain patient.

"I kept that in my mind the whole game, and it helped," said the 6-4 sophomore who led Stanford to an 81-77 double-overtime win against the Utes with 30 points, 20 rebounds and six blocked shots. Appel played the last six minutes of regulation and both overtimes with four fouls.

"I knew I had to stay in the game, especially after Candice (Wiggins) fouled out," she said. "I just thought it's better to give up two points than foul, as crazy as that sounds." (More ... )
Here are the AP game recap and the box score from Stanford Athletics.

November 16, 2007

Cardinal does its civic duty

Tara said, "I guess we definitely don't want to be the last one on USA's schedule and help them with their focus. We were doing our civic duty, I guess."

Here are: