Cardinal cleans Galen glass

The Cardinal beat the Trojans in the paint — 82-62 points and 54-27 rebounds.

Kayla led the team with a 24-14 double-double. Nneka was next with a 21-12 double-double. Then Jayne with 11 points and nine rebounds.

It was a reassuring game for Cardinal fans, about 200 of whom were at the Galen Center. Stanford started strong, took an early lead and kept control of the game. When USC began to nibble away at the two-digit lead in the second half, Stanford went on a 19-6 run, sparked by a three-pointer from Jeanette and then another from JJ.

On the injury front, Jayne played 29 minutes and looked livelier and more assured than she has recently. Jeanette's ankle didn't seem to be bothering her; her shots weren't falling, but she played hard and fast for 36 minutes. JJ played for 20 minutes and looked comfortable; when she wasn't playing, she was on the exercise bike, apparently keeping her knee limber. Mel warmed up with the team, but didn't play; that may have been to rest her knee in preparation for UCLA, but I don't know that.

Joslyn played very well for 17 minutes. When she sank a three, some of her well-behaved fans cried, "Ding-dong, ding-dong!" but that wasn't nearly as satisfying as Tinkle Bells.

Here are the game reports:

• Stanford women use a simple equation for big win from Palo Alto Online
• Stanford Stymies USC, 82-62 from the Associated Press
• Stanford's early surge too much for USC women by Jake Curtis

The box score and play-by-play,

And more photos:

Ros guards Ashley Corral Nneka drives past Aarika Hughes Jeanette shoots over Heather Oliver Kayla lets one fly Jayne drives past Kari LaPlante JJ sinks a three Joslyn passes around Aarika Hughes Jayne & Nneka grab a rebound

Cardinal heads for Hollywood

Stanford women hope to grab hoops spotlight in Hollywood : Rick Eymer, Palo Alto Online, reports on the Cardinal's upcoming games against USC and UCLA.

Heading south: Nate Adams, The Stanford Daily, writes that the Cardinal will face one of the tougher tests of its still-young Pac-10 season this weekend , but is optimistic of the outcome.

Cardinal guards remain on sidelines: Michelle Smith, LeftCoastHoops, gives an updated injury report.

Caldwell carries UCLA to 2-0 conference start: Mechelle Voepel, ESPN, writes about UCLA's improvement under Nikki Caldwell's guidance.

Next up: L.A. road trip

The Cardinal head south to what may well be their toughest weekend of the conference season. UCLA and USC both performed well in non-conference play and began the Pac-10 season with wins against the Arizona teams – on the road.

USC Trojans

USC had a non-conference schedule that was ranked among the top 10 toughest in the nation. They did better than their 6-5 win-loss record indicates. Two of the losses were to ranked teams Xavier (in overtime) and Duke (by six points, on the road). They defeated two ranked teams (Texas and Mississippi State, on the road in the Paradise Jam).

The knee injuries and the woeful lack of fan support continue. Four players are out with ACLs – freshman guard Vicky Tagalicod, sophomore forward Michelle Jenkins, red-shirt sophomore guard Stefanie Gilbreath for the third straight season, and red-shirt junior guard Jackie Gemelos for the fourth straight season (but it is expected that she'll be cleared to play this month or the next).

The presence of new head coach Michael Cooper hasn't attracted fans to the Galen Center. The average attendance is 707. But Cooper has had a strong positive impact on the team. Michelle Smith reports in this article that, "He has fostered a championship mentality embraced by a team that was weary of the roller coaster of inconsistent performances over the past few years."

USC is not strong in the post, but they shoot the ball well – they make 38.5% of their 3-point attempts, the best in the Pac-10.

5'9" sophomore guard Ashley Corral has replaced Camille LeNoir's scoring and leadership at the point. She is USC's top scorer (15.7 points per game), top 3-point shooter (2.6 per game at a rate of 34.7%), top free throw shooter (85% ), top "assistant" (5.8 assists with 4.4 turnovers per game), top stealer (1.8 per game) and second-best rebounder (5.8 per game).

6'1" sophomore guard Briana Gilbreath, who was the 2009 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, continues to improve. She makes the most blocks (1.8 per game) and is the second-best scorer (12.9 ppg) and rebounder (5.8 rpg).

6'2" senior guard/forward Aarika Hughes is the best rebounder (6.6 per game) and averages 8.9 points per game.

6'5" junior center Kari LaPlante is USC's tallest player, but is not a strong presence in the post. She makes 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 points per game.

The fifth starter is 6'2" senior guard Hailey Dunham.

Coming off USC's short bench are:

• 5'10" senior guard Heather Oliver contributes 9.2 points per game, 5.8 of them from beyond the arc. She is USC's most accurate 3-point shooter at 50%.
• 5'7" senior guard Daniela Roark also makes 50% of her three point attempts, but doesn't try as many. She averages 3.5 points per game.
• 6'1" freshman forward Christina Marinacci.
• 5'10" junior forward Michelle Franco.

The Trojan's win-loss record (8-5 overall, 2-0 conference) places them 3rd in the Pac-10, their RPI (39) places them 3rd, and their strength of schedule (4) places them 2nd.

Here are their 2009-10 statistics and their roster.

UCLA Bruins

The Bruins are off to a good start under second-year head coach Nikki Caldwell. They had a fairly difficult non-conference schedule. They lost to two ranked teams on the road (Tennessee by 14 points and Kansas by five).

UCLA may be the most athletic and best defensive team in the Pac-10. Their pressure defense has held their opponents to no more than 61 points so far, which is second-best in the Pac-10 (to Oregon State, which has had a much weaker schedule).

6'1" freshman forward Markel Walker may be the best freshman in the Pac-10. She is UCLA's top scorer (12.9 points per game) and rebounder (8.5 per game). She has the most steals (2.2 per game).

5'11" sophomore guard Jasmine Dixon transferred from Rutgers and has been in the starting lineup since she became eligible to play in mid-December. She is just behind Markel in points (12.7) and rebounds (7.7) per game.

5'8" junior guard Darxia Morris opens up the floor with her dribble penetration.She has scored in double digits in all but three games this season. She averages 10.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.6 turnovers per game.

5'10" junior guard Doreena Campbell provides leadership and solid consistent play. Her statistics are almost the same as Morris' – 10.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 turnovers per game.

6'0" senior guard Erica Tukiainen is the main source of three-pointers for UCLA. She averages 2.0 per game at a rate of 50%. Morris and Campbell hit about one per game, and no other Bruin has a significant number of attempts.

UCLA has a long bench. These five reserves contribute almost 20 points a game and play an average of about 16 minutes:

• 6'6" senior center Moniquee Alexander
• 6'4" junior forward Christina Nzekwe
• 6'1" junior forward Nina Earl
• 6'0" sophomore guard Rebecca Gardner
• 5'3" freshman guard Mariah Williams

Completing the roster are:

• 5'11" sophomore guard/forward Atonye Nyingifa, who was on the Pac-10 All-Tournament team last season. She had a knee operation in May and has appeared only briefly in UCLA's last game against Arizona State.
• 5'8" senior guard Allison Taka
• 5'10" walk-on freshman guard Jackie Shephard

The Bruin's win-loss record (9-4 overall, 2-0 conference) places them 2nd in the Pac-10, their RPI (24) places them 2nd, and their strength of schedule (22) places them 3rd.

Here are their 2009-10 statistics and their roster.

Stanford is #1 for academically minded athletes

For the second consecutive year, STACK ranks Stanford as the #1 school for academically minded athletes. Here is the overview of the 2009 Elite 50.

Eight of Stanford's sports programs are ranked #1, headed by women's basketball. Here are the rankings for women's basketball, and here Lindy explains why Palo Alto continues to be the destination of choice for the country’s top female ballers.

Pac-10 predictions

The sportswriters who are most familiar with west coast women's basketball have recently published their predictions for this season's Pac-10 performance. The unsurprising consensus opinion is, "A good battle for second place."

Michelle Smith evaluated the Pac-10 teams just before conference play started:

• Teams 1 - 5
• Teams 6 - 10

Jake Curtis ranked the teams before conference play started and wonders if Stanford can go 18-0 in conference play.

After the first weekend of conference play, he writes, "USC, UCLA now look like Stanford's chief threats."

Graham Hays writes, "Rest of Pac chasing Stanford."

Tinkle tickled with Stanford

Joslyn's hometown newspaper, the Missoulian, published this nice story that recounts the many reasons why she is doing just fine in Palo Alto.

More photos from Cal game

Because of Stanford Athletic department budget cuts, Stanford Photo hasn't covered many of the women's basketball games this season. But David Gonzales was at Maples on Saturday and took these photos at the Cal game.

And, of course, Don Anderson was there. You'll find his photos, as always, in his FBC Photo Gallery.

Cold-shooting Cardinal take care of Cal

It wasn't the Cardinal's finest game of the season. They missed 21 of their first 25 shots, 14 in a row at one point. But fortunately the inexperienced Bears were even worse offensively. The final score was Stanford 79, Cal 58.

Nneka, aka Ms. Putback, played a great game. She scored the game-high 24 points and had a career-high 16 rebounds. She also had three assists, two blocks and a steal.

Kayla also had a double-double – 16 points and 10 rebounds.

In spite of a dismal field goal percentage, Jayne never gave up and ended with 13 points – and six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Mel, in her second game back from her knee injury, was red-hot. She tied her career-high eleven points, had one three-pointer, and played terrific defense on Natasha Vital. In a play that brought the Maples crowd to its feet, she grabbed a defensive rebound, tore down the court, and made a no-look pass to Nneka who layed it in the basket.

The Cardinal continued their careful free-throw shooting and hit 80% of them – 20 of 25. They lead the Pac-10 with 74.2%.

Here are the game reports:

• Stanford bad start has a good-enough finish by Michelle Smith, LeftCoastHoops
• Ogwumike rises to the occasion in win over Cal from Palo Alto Online
• Stanford's experience wears down young Cal women by Jake Curtis
• No. 2 Cardinal Take Care Of Cal, 79-58 from the Associated Press
• Still absorbing the gauntlet by Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle

The box score and play-by-play,

The press conference video with Tara, Kayla, Nneka and Mel,

And more photos:

Jayne drives to the basket Jayne & DeNesha Stallworth anticipate a rebound Jayne & Kayla enjoy the final minutes of the game Nneka & JJ enjoy the final minutes of the game

Battle of the Bay 2010

Boyle, Bears prepare for Stanford by Mechelle Voepel

Young Cal women's basketball team faces trial by fire in Pac-10 opener vs. powerful Stanford by Jeff Faraudo, Oakland Tribune

Cal-Stanford: Youth vs. experience by Jake Curtis

Stanford and Cal tangle to open Pac-10 by Michelle Smith, LeftCoastHoops (subscription req'd)

Center DeNesha Stallworth and guard Layshia Clarendon

Next up: Cal

Stanford's conference season begins with a Battle of the Bay, but this one may not be much of a battle.

Cal is a team in transition with three active seniors, a junior and six active freshmen who have not yet meshed into a consistently effective team.

Their early losses included three by respectable margins to ranked teams Baylor (#8/9 at the time), Ohio State (#3/3) and Texas A&M (#10/5). But then they lost at home to San Jose State – a loss that led head coach Joanne Boyle to say, "We need to find some leadership ... we need to find some mental and physical toughness."

Two of the So-Berkeley Trio (Ashley Walker and Devanei Hampton) graduated, leaving fifth-year senior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson as the go-to player, but she is struggling to do as much as the young team needs of her. She is Cal's top scorer, but with just 14.3 points per game. Her shooting percentages are down from last season; she makes just 66% of her free throws; and she has almost as many turnovers as assists (23-26).

The other veterans (seniors Natasha Vital and Lauren Greif and junior Rachelle Federico) are performing about the same as last season. Vital and Greif are getting about 10 minutes less playing time per game than last season and Federico about 10 more. Senior center Rama N'diaye has not yet played this season because of her knee injuries.

Cal's seven freshmen were ranked as the top recruiting class in the nation last season. Tierra Rogers' basketball career has been ended by a heart ailment. The performance of the other six has sometimes been disappointing, but they are improving as the season goes on.

6'3'" freshman forward/center DeNesha Stallworth has been in the starting five all season and is beginning to fill the gap left by Walker and Hampton. She is Cal's second-best scorer (13.6 ppg) and rebounder (6.9 rpg). She can shoot the three, but does so infrequently – so far, a bit less than one per game at a rate of 69%.

6'3" freshman center Talia Caldwell has started all but the first three games. She averages 8.1 points and 6.5 rebounds a game. She has had one double-double. She is Cal's most accurate shooter, making 65.6% of her attempted field goals.

6'3" freshman center Brenna Heater is playing on an ankle that was surgically repaired a year ago. She has played limited minutes in just four games this season – not enough yet to evaluate her performance.

6'2" freshman forward Gennifer Brandon missed two games in December with a stress reaction in her fibula. She returned to play in their last game, sooner than expected. She is Cal's top rebounder (7.1 a game) and averages 8.1 points a game. She had two double-doubles before her injury.

5'11" freshman guard Layshia Clarendon is a pretty good three-point shooter – Cal's second-best (to Alexis Gray-Lawson). She averages 1.3 a game at a rate of 37.8%. She averages 11 points and 4.5 rebounds a game. She was the Cal's top scorer with 20+ points in their last three games and had a double-double in one of them. She was in the starting five in the last two games, replacing senior Lauren Greif.

5'7" freshman guard Eliza Pierre started for the first time in Cal's last game, in place of senior Natasha Vital. She handles the ball quite well – 1.5 assists and 1.4 turnovers a game. She leads the team in steals with 2.2 a game.

Cal's overall win-loss record (6-5 ) places them in a tie with USC for 7th in the Pac-10, their RPI (83) places them 6th, and their strength of schedule (95) places them 5th. Their standings are expected to improve as the freshmen gain experience.

Here are their 2009-10 statistics and their roster.