December Report: Courtney Ogden, Consistency, and a Coalescing Team

 

Warren Grimes

December began with a tough loss to Tennessee but ended on a high note for this young Stanford team.  Stanford won three games against serious opponents, all former Pac 12 rivals (California, Washington, and Oregon).   It ended with an 82-50 win over a good but overmatched Cornell team.

More than anything else, the last four games showed the emergence of Courtney “Smooth-Operator” Ogden.  Her game has long shown promise.  Ogden was a Pac-12 honorable mention all-freshman her first year.  She saw more time including a late season start in her sophomore year.  But Ogden really emerged from the shadows against Cal when she had her 25-point career day.  In the last four games, Ogden has averaged 18 points, more than any other Stanford player. 

Coach Paye says that Ogden is in basketball heaven because she has permission to launch any open shot.  Ogden has moved from 5^th to 4^th in season scoring totals and, if she can continue at this level, will move still higher.  More than just the point totals, the real promise of this player is her ability to score in a variety of creative ways, play defense, and generate turnovers.   Watching Ogden maneuver with confidence to create shots brings back memories of another high-scoring Stanford forward – Haley Jones.  Ogden’s emergence as a junior is well timed to give Stanford a more diversified offense entering the conference season.

In each of the three games against former Pac-12 opponents, Stanford needed inspiration going into the fourth quarter.  To find this, the coaches chose to call not Ghost Busters, but the “Disruptor,” a.k.a. Shay Ijiwoye.  Shortest member of the team, yes, but no player is taller in spirit.  Ijiwoye is strong, quick, and highly motivated.  She defends, steals, and scores breakaway layups, and does this in a manner that inspires teammates.  Ijiwoye has 11 steals this season, well behind Chloe Clardy’s 25.  But on a per minute basis, Ijiwoye has .09 steals per minute to Clardy’s .06.   Ijiwoye also manages to generate opponent turnovers even when she is not credited with a steal.  On defense, she can alternate between in-your-face guarding and backing off an opponent to unexpectedly leap to deflect an attempted pass.

Ijiwoye has been a regular in the rotation but unexpectedly did not play in three consecutive games (against CSU, Tennessee, and California).  Whatever the reason, she came back with a purpose to be a difference-maker against Washington, Oregon, and Cornell.  One perhaps unexpected strength of Ijiwoye’s game is her ability as a rebounding guard.  Her 10 boards give her .084 boards per minute, above Talana Lepolo’s .044 pace and on a par with the taller Hailey Swain’s .088 boards per minute.

One feature of this season’s team is the consistency in the starting lineup.  Perhaps a slight difference from her predecessor, Coach Paye has started the same players in every game but one.  Against Washington, Nunu Agara did not start or play because of an injury.  

The two freshmen in the starting lineup, Lara Somfai and Hailee Swain, have had to deal with turnovers, but have shown marked improvement since the Tennessee game.  Meanwhile, Somfai is the leading rebounder, specializing in defensive boards.  When foul trouble has not limited her minutes, Stanford has consistently out-boarded opponents.  Somfai is also the team’s leading shot blocker and third leading scorer, averaging 11.1 points per game.  She again received the ACC freshman of the week designation this week, the third time she has won it by herself or with another freshman.

Hailee Swain is not far behind.  She’s close to a double-digit scoring average (9.6 per game).  Her three-point shooting has been a disappointment so far but Swain’s ability to defend, steal and create show great promise.  Swain is likely to be a major player in Stanford’s fast break offense and a creator when the shot clock is winding down.

Indeed, the entire team shows signs of coalescing.  Fourth quarter performance against each of the three Pac-12 rivals was impressive.  Stanford will be the underdog in its upcoming road games against North Carolina State and North Carolina.  Regardless of rankings, no opponent can afford to take Stanford for granted.

 

 

Courtney Ogden Electrifies Maples: A Career Day Against a Very Good Cal Team

 

Warren Grimes

The Cal Bears are a blossoming women’s basketball team.  That’s somewhat surprising, given that their starting lineup consists of four players not on last year’s team.  Two are freshmen. Tayor Barnes played for 38 plus minutes scoring 16 points and Aliyahna Morris played for 37 minutes contributing 12 points.  Both freshmen are three-point shooters.  Two more starters are transfers.  Sakima Morris is a 6’5” big who transferred from South Carolina. Morris was a defensive presence who, once she got position, was almost impossible to stop on offense.  And Miracle Sheppard came to Cal from LSU, playing for 30 minutes and scoring 9 points. 

How good is Cal?  Well, they scored 69 points against a stingy Stanford defense.  That’s the largest amount Stanford has allowed against any opponent this season.  Tennessee bested Stanford but could only put up 65.   Cudos to Charmin Smith for recruiting this team and getting them to play together.   Smith must deal with the NIL world of transfers but seems to do it well.  Like Stanford, Cal is a young team with great growth potential.  They are going to make life difficult for ACC opponents.

Stanford prevailed over Cal despite a five-point deficit early in the fourth quarter.   Courtney Ogden was a standout in this Stanford victory.  Her career-high 25 points, supplemented by 7 boards, 2 assists, and 0 turnovers, came with 36 minutes on the floor, the most of any Stanford player.   Ogden may have benefited because the Cal defense was focused on others (Agara, Clardy, and Somfai are Stanford’s top scorers this season) but give Courtney credit for exploiting whatever the defense gave her.  Ogden scored from everywhere, including an early-game three-pointer.  She followed up with lots of creative drives to the basket converting both uncontested layups and contested shots that resulted in an “and-one.”  My two favorite shots were a runner, launched with touch in the last seconds of the first half, and a falling back jumper that commentator Mary Murphy called a WNBA shot.  Another strength of Ogden’s game was her efficiency.  She converted on 10 of 12 shots from the field and made 4 of 5 free throws.  This came during a game when her mates were missing a lot of close in shots (Stanford shot just 44% for the game).

So why is Ogden’s performance important?  Diversity is essential for a great team.  When the defense focuses on interior mainstays like Agara and Somfai, the team needs options.  Both Agara and Somfai can shoot threes, so they can clear out to allow a player like Ogden to move and create.  Ogden’s game could also be a model for a player like Hailey Swain, who has speed, quickness, and the ability to create.  Finally, Ogden may be finding her voice as a team leader.  That too should contribute to making Stanford a top ten team.

Both Ogden (POW) and Lara Somfai (FOW) received conference awards for their performances last Sunday.  Somfai had another double-double (12 points and 13 boards).  She also converted 2 of 3 three-point shots.  Somfai’s outside shooting will be critical if a defense collapses in the middle.  Meanwhile, Somfai has now caught and surpassed Agara in total rebounds.  She also had 3 blocks and 2 block assists against Cal.

Stanford seems to have settled into an eight-player rotation in hotly contested games.  Chloe Clardy comes off the bench but typically gets more minutes than some of the starters.  She had 13 points against Cal, including 3 of 4 three-point shots.  The other two off the bench have been Alex Eschmeyer and Mary Ashley Stevenson. 

With all the young talent on this team, nothing is chiseled in stone.  Enjoy the run and expect the unexpected.  A tough game against another very good team, Washington, is next.

The Season Gets Serious -- Where Is This Team?

 

Warren Grimes

Last season, Stanford started out well, winning against weaker opponents and coming close to upsetting LSU on their home court.  Then things got tough.  Stanford had a losing record in the ACC and failed to make the Big Dance.

This season, Stanford has had another strong start, losing only in competitive games against FGCU and Tennessee.  The ACC season begins later this week against Cal, a team that bested Stanford twice last year.  Uncertainty and tough games ahead, but I’m betting on Stanford bettering last season’s conference season by a significant margin. 

One reason for optimism: Stanford has two freshmen in the starting lineup that should have a rapid learning curve.  Coach Paye has shown confidence in Hailee Swain and Lara Somfai, keeping them in the starting lineup through mistakes and learning issues. 

Somfai has already impressed with her interior toughness.  She’s the team’s second leading rebounder (averaging 8.6 per game) and third leading scorer (10.7 per game).  Somfai had foul trouble against FGCU and Tennessee.  When able to stay on the floor, she is a beast on the boards, gathering 16 against CSU.  Staying near the basket on defense, Somfai has specialized in defensive boards, leading Agara 69 to 54 in this category. 

Both Somfai and her fellow starting freshmen Swain are shooting below 20% from the three-point line, something likely to improve with experience.  Swain is the real deal, showing that she can play big when it matters.  Against Tennessee, Swain converted her only three-point attempt and contributed 14 points (tied for team high) while adding 7 boards and 3 assists.

Juniors Nunu Agara, Chloe Clardy, and Courtney Ogden are the 1^st, 2^nd, and 5^th leading scorers on the team.  All three of them are converting 3-point shots at 30% or higher.  Agara is the leading offensive rebounder while Clardy, coming off the bench, is a leader in assists and steals.  Clardy scored the winning basket in a last second drive to the hoop against CSU. 

There are a lot of other moving parts to the puzzle that will carry Stanford against ACC opposition.  Tennessee won against Stanford because they forced 30 turnovers that generated 25 points.  Cut down those numbers by a third and Stanford could easily have bested Tennessee.  Talana Lepolo had 3 assists, and 2 steals against only 2 turnovers against the Volunteers.  I’m excited to see whether and how three other talented freshmen can contribute, including Alex Eschmeyer who is shooting threes at 40% and is a leader in blocks, Carly Amborn, who is shooting 100% on threes (6 for 6), and Nora Ezike, who got limited minutes because of an injury but has ample talent to be a major contributor.

Bring it on!