Cardinal holds on to beat the Wildcats

Updated March 6, 11:15 am

Added game reports and video press conference

The Cardinal had to work harder than expected to defeat the Arizona Wildcats by just three points: 70-67.

The victory clinched a share of the Pac-10 title for Stanford. They win it outright if they defeat Arizona State on Saturday, and share it if they don't.

The Wildcats double- and triple-teamed Jayne throughout the game and held her to nine points. They didn't keep her from making eleven rebounds and the block (of Ify Ibekwe's jumper early in the second half — remember that for Family Feud) that set a new Stanford career record for blocked shots.

The Cardinal made good use of the opened-up perimeter They sank eight triples — 5-8 by Jeanette, 2-4 by Kayla and 1-3 by Lindy.

Jeanette led all scorers with a career-high 21 points and also had six rebounds, five assists (with just three turnovers) and two steals.

Kayla was close behind with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.

Here are:

• Game reports:
  • Stanford holds on to beat Arizona 70-67 from the Associated Press.
  • Cardinal clinch tie for title by Nancy Gay, San Francisco Chronicle.
  • Stanford women pull it out against Arizona by Elliott Almond, Mercury News
  • Women’s basketball: Title taken by Daniel Bohm, The Stanford Daily
  • W-hoops falls short of upset bid vs. No. 2 Cardinal by Tim Kosch, Daily Wildcat.
• The postgame press conference
• The box score and play-by-play
• A few more photos (Click to enlarge):

Consider the possibilities

The top three teams in the Pac-10 play head-to-head the last weekend of the regular season. Who ends up as #1? Could be any of them.

Until last weekend, Stanford and Cal had lost conference games only to each other and were tied for first place. Then Cal was defeated by UCLA and dropped to a second-place tie with Arizona State.

Arizona State lost to Stanford and Cal the first weekend of the conference season, then won the next 14 games and reclaimed a spot in the national rankings. But are the Sun Devils really national contenders, or just great pretenders? Charli Turner Thorne said, “There’s no doubt in our minds that we can beat these teams, and now we’ve got to do it. Obviously, we’re the underdog, and that’s good. I think we’ve been that for most of the season, so we’re OK with it.”

What was already a short bench for Cal may have become even shorter for these critical last two games. Joanne Boyle said, "We've gone through it before. The whole team has to step up and take on a bigger piece of that puzzle. It's just a battle that comes down to the wire. It makes for an exciting finish."

Tara is confident that the Cardinal will not be distracted on the court by the prospect of a conference title. Rather, she thinks it will only improve their play, giving them extra focus. “I think it’s definitely motivating,” she said. “It doesn’t get better than having a chance to win a championship in your own gym. Everything that we do is focused towards winning a championship, whether it’s giving a screen, taking a charge, getting out and playing defense. So as a player or a coach, we’ll do whatever we need to get it done.”

It's tempting to remove #8 Arizona from the equation. Although the Wildcats have improved greatly this season under their new coach, Niya Butts, it's not likely that they can defeat either Stanford or Cal on the road. Especially since their leading player Ify Ibekwe injured her knee in practice two weeks ago and is questionable for those games.

But Arizona could be the spoiler. Remember last season when #6 Washington defeated tied-for-#1 Cal in the last regular season game?

So, these are the possibilities:

• Stanford is #1 if they win both games.
• Stanford is #1 if they win either game and Cal loses at least one.
• Cal is #1 if they win both games and Stanford loses both.
• ASU is #1 if they win both games and Stanford loses both.
• Stanford and Cal are tied for #1 if Cal wins both games and Stanford loses either.
• Stanford and ASU are tied for #1 if ASU wins both games and Stanford defeats Arizona.
• It's a three-way tie if Stanford loses both games and Cal defeats ASU and loses to Arizona.

You can find more predictions and opinions about the upcoming games in the Chron and the four student newspapers:

• Sun Devils looking for some payback, San Francisco Chronicle
• Stanford women welcome Arizona, ASU to Maples, The Stanford Daily
• Gray-Lawson's Status Cloudy for Sun Devil Showdown , The Daily Californian
• ASU eyes Pac-10 title on crucial trip, ASU Web Devil
• W-hoops to face No. 2 Stanford during team's final-road trip of regular season, Daily Wildcat

Thank you Morgan!

Thank you Morgan for all that you've given us in your four years as a Cardinal. Your contributions have been an important part of the team's success and of Cardinal fans' enjoyment.

When your feet allowed you to be on the court, we enjoyed your:

Shot-Blocking
(Click on photo to enlarge)

Tenacious Defense

Three-point Shots

And always, whether on the court or not, your leadership and your enthusiastic support of your teammates — the intangibles that are vital to a team's success.

Injury report — Jeanette & Lexi

Michelle Smith (SF Chronicle) reports the status of the two players injured on Sunday.

Jeanette, who was elbowed in the eye, has been evaluated and is expected to play on Thursday against the University of Arizona.

Alexis Gray-Lawson, who twisted her knee and left the game in great pain, was not injured as seriously as feared. The injury has been diagnosed as a left knee sprain. She is undergoing treatment and beginning rehab. She may return to play on Thursday against ASU — that could be a game-time decision.

Kayla is Pac-10 Player of the Week

Kayla led Stanford to two victories in Los Angeles last weekend and was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the first time in her career.

She scored 40 points on 65.2% shooting in the games against USC and UCLA. She was especially effective beyond the arc, hitting seven triples at a rate of 58.3%. And she continued her usual strong defense with 17 rebounds and three blocks in the two games.

After the UCLA game, Kayla said, “I’ve been working really hard, and I think shots just finally started to fall. I felt really good.” Tara agreed and added, “Kayla had a fabulous weekend. She was making shots, doing what we needed her to do defensively, and she stayed in the game for nearly 40 minutes.”

Kayla started her Stanford career primarily in the 4 spot as a power forward. This season she's played increasingly at the 3 as a small forward. In an interview a couple of weeks ago, Kayla said, "I love it [on the wing], and I'm getting comfortable in the new role. We'll see where it takes us."

It took the Cardinal to two victories in Los Angeles and sole possession of first place in the Pac-10.

This is the offical Pac-10 announcement of the award.

We're number one!!

The Cardinal took sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 for the first time this season with an 85-74 win over USC and UCLA's 71-56 win over Cal. Sadly, the latter was partly due to Alexis Grey-Lawson's knee sprain late in the first half.

The former was a great team effort.

Kayla had another fabulous game. She shot 67% today, sank her career-high four triples (out of seven attempts) and got her seventh double-double of the season (20 points, 10 rebounds).

Jayne sat out half of the first half with two fouls, but came back strong in the second. She ended with 20 points, eight rebounds and three steals. She made the 20 points by making 100% of seven field goal attempts and 67% of her free throws! She thoughtfully blocked just one shot, so saving her breaking of Val Whiting's career record for the enjoyment of all her fans at Maples next weekend.

Nneka was a valuable member of the paint crew with 17 points, four assists, eight rebounds and a block.

Point guard duty was shared by Jeanette (who sat out the second half after being hit in the eye), Ros, Mel and Lindy. Jeanette and Mel each had four assists. Lindy, who played 19 minutes, had three assists and sank three triples.

Here are game reports from Palo Alto Online and the Associated Press, the box score and play-by-play and more photos (As always, click photos to enlarge.)

Jill the Thrill

Congratulations on joining the 1000-point club, Jillian!!

You say, "... individual stuff doesn't matter much right now." But let us take just one moment in this season to celebrate your accomplishments.



I never tire of seeing Jillian sink a layup. Her grace and apparent ease as she lifts the ball up to the basket are unmistakably Jillian.

Many of Jill's contributions to the team do not show up on the scoreboard. She plays hard and she plays smart. She disrupts the opponents as she motors up court, gets in their faces, steals the ball, drives for the rebound — does what needs to be done.

These are some of the things that coach Tara has said of Jill:

Jill has been our most consistent player.
She's scrappy, she hustles
She's really steady — plays hard the whole game
She's got a different level of intensity, a different level of confidence, she's on a mission.
She willed us to win. She didn't come out for one minute, didn't get in foul trouble, hit big shots for us, got rebounds.

UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell:

She is the glue to their team. She's quick to anticipate, acts like a magnet to every loose ball and has a keen sense of when to attack the basketball.

Her teammates:

She's just such a scrappy player. She makes plays and gets on the floor and is willing to do anything for us.

I looked up and Jill was right there so I was like, "Oh great!'" Jill was like a little angel right there and I just passed it over.

Jill the Thrill — put that in there! That's what we call her. We call her "Jill the Thrill".

Beautiful Layups
(Click on photo to enlarge)

Scrappy Defense

The Harmon Express

The 1000-Point Club

Jill is the 29th member of the Stanford 1000-point club. These are the others.

Pedersen and Pohlen from the perimeter

The UCLA Bruins played a tough aggressive game, as they always do.

Kayla stepped up to the challenge. Better yet, she stepped out — beyond the three-point line, from where she hit three of five shots, adding to her game-high 20 points. Overall she shot 64% and also had seven rebounds, three blocks and a steal.

Jeanette was apparently moving too fast for the AP photographer as she shot 86% for her season-high 19 points — most of them on four of five three-pointers. She also had three assists, five rebounds and a steal.

Jillian added 12 points to her career total, which is now 1004. And she had three assists, two rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

The Bruins tried to shut down Jayne, but they only slowed her down. She was the fourth Cardinal in double digits with ten points. She was, as usual, also productive in other ways: five assists, seven rebounds and three blocks.

The final score: Stanford 69, UCLA 58
Across town, Cal squeaked past USC 66-64.

Here are:

• The game recap from the Associated Press
• The box score and play-by-play
• And a few more photos: