Cardinal clinches conference championship

With their 62-43 victory over the Sun Devils tonight, the Cardinal clinched sole ownership of the Pac-10 championship.

This is the:
– 6th consecutive season that they've done that
– 10th consecutive season that they've had at least a share of the top spot
– 19th time in the 24-year history of the Pac-10 that they've been the champion or co-champion

It was about as ugly a win as I've ever seen, but it was a win!

The Cardinal took control with the tipoff and were ahead by 10 at the four-minute mark. Which was fortunate, because that's about where it stayed – give or take a point or two – until the last four minutes, when the Sun Devils finally wore out and the Cardinal was able to extend the lead.

Both teams were extremely aggressive and neither coped with that very well. Much to their credit, Jayne, Kayla and Jeanette refused to give up and scored in double digits.

Jayne led the scoring with 19 points. She also had eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals.

Kayla added 12 points, four assists, six rebounds and a steal.

Jeanette had 11 points, four assists and three steals.

Ros never gave up on defense, even after taking a blow to the head in a multi-player pileup near the end of the first half. (I think someone sat on her head.) She held Danielle Orsillo scoreless in the first half and allowed her just four field goals in the second.

Here are the game reports:

• Stanford Stymies Arizona State, 62-43 from the Associated Press
• ASU Sun Devils can't keep pace with Stanford Cardinal by Sarah McLellan, Arizona Republic
• Stanford women hit a 10 in Pac-10 hoops by Rick Eymer, Palo Alto Online
• Stanford 62 ASU 43 from The CARD Board

The box score and play-by-play,

And more photos:

Ros drives for a shot Jeanette steals the ball from Danielle Orsillo Kayla grabs a rebound Jayne blocks Janae Fulcher's shot Kayla forces a jump ball Nneka fights for a rebound Kayla pressures Becca Tobin

Away in the desert

Here comes another challenging weekend for the Cardinal. Although this hasn't been a great season for the Arizona schools, road games against them are never a gimme for the Cardinal. The Cardinal will need to play whole games, not just second halves like the first time around.

Kayla was a star performer in those first two Arizona games. It will be extra sweet if she repeats this weekend in front of her hometown fans.

Arizona State Sun Devils

The Cardinal were discombobulated by the Sun Devil's aggressive defense for about 14 minutes and were still a couple of points behind at halftime in our prior game. But the Sun Devils couldn't keep up the pressure for 40 minutes, and the Cardinal stepped up their game and won by 23 points. Kayla was the top scorer with 23 points.

The Sun Devils have had considerable success since then. They've won four games (against Cal, Washington, Oregon State and Arizona) and barely lost two (by four points to Washington State!, by one point to Oregon). I'm sure Charli will have them fired up and eager to avenge the loss at Maples.

I expect that this probable last matchup between their top scorer, fifth year senior Danielle Orsillo, and our top defender, Ros, will be especially intense.

One thing that hasn't changed for the Sun Devils this season is their fan support. They average almost 3000 fans at home games. Wells Fargo Arena should be rocking on Thursday.

Arizona State's win-loss record (16-9 overall, 8-6 conference) places them in a tie with USC for 4th in the Pac-10, their RPI (64) places them 6th, and their strength of schedule (57) places them 9th.

Here are their 2009-10 statistics and their roster.

Arizona Wildcats

The Cardinal's prior game against the Wildcats bore some similarities to the ASU game. We had a terrible first half and were behind by two at halftime. The major problem in this game was the Wildcats' offense. Led by their fabulous freshman Davellyn Whyte, they shot 57% in the first half to the Cardinal's 35%. The Cardinal tightened their defense and took control in the second half for a 21-point victory. Kayla was again the top scorer, with 27 points, but this time she shared that spot with Nneka.

The Wildcats have won three conference games since then (Washington State, Washington, Oregon State) and lost two (Oregon, Arizona State). Their top players are still among the best in the Pac-10:

• Ify Ibekwe is the leading rebounder and fifth-best in the nation with 16.5 rebounds per game. She has the third-most steals (2.28 per game) and is the #11 scorer (14.0 points per game).
• Davellyn Whyte makes the third-most three-pointers (2.32 per game) and is the #4 scorer (16.5 points per game).

Arizona's win-loss record (12-12 overall, 6-8 conference) and their RPI (124) place them 7th in the Pac-10, their strength of schedule (56) places them 8th.

Here are their 2009-10 statistics and their roster.

Honoring the Seniors

On Saturday night, after their last home game of the season, we honored the 2010 seniors — JJ, Mel, Ros, Jayne and Michelle.

Read Mechelle Voepel's thoughts on the event in Celebrating Senior Night at Stanford.

Judy Richter reports on the game and the postgame celebrations in Stanford’s seniors – More than a touch of class.

Dana Stewart shares her remembrances and feelings in Oh, How We Will Miss You!.

See photos of the game and the postgame festivities in Don Anderson's Photo Gallery.

Jayne is Pac-10 Player of the Week ... again!

Jayne continued her Fantastic February last week with a pair of double-doubles against Oregon and Oregon State. That makes six in a row and 13 this season.

She joined the exclusive 2000-point, 1000-rebound club.

She was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the second time in a row and the ninth time in her career.

Congratulations, Jayne!

Cardinal takes care of the Beavers

Jayne put her name in a special place in Stanford's record book tonight. She joined Val Whiting and Nicole Powell as the only women to score at least 2000 points and make 1000 rebounds in their careers. Jayne has 2005 points and 1202 rebounds — so far.

Tonight's game was unusual in that no Cardinal played for more than 28 minutes – the starting five, JJ, Mel, Michelle and Joslyn each played for at least ten. It was especially nice to see the five seniors playing together for several minutes in the second half.

The team took care of the Beavers, 82-48, without much trouble.

• Nneka was the top scorer with 17 points.
• Jayne had the only double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds).
• Jeanette was again shooting and handling the ball very well (13 points, five assists, one turnover, two steals).
• Kayla had nine points and five rebounds and held the Beaver's top scorer, Talisa Rhea, to one field goal.

Here are the game reports:

• Appel's picture perfect finish on Senior Night from Palo Alto Online
• No. 2 Stanford Downs Oregon State On Senior Night from The Associated Press
• Stanford women clinch tie for Pac-10 title by Jake Curtis

The box score and play-by-play,

The press conference video with Tara, Ros, Jayne and Nneka ,

The game highlights video,

A gallery of photos from US Presswire,

And more photos:

Nneka goes up for two Kayla knocks the ball away from Kirsten Tilleman Kayla grabs a loose ball Nneka goes up over El Sara Greer Kayla and Talisa Rhea struggle for the ball Jeanette, Kayla and Jayne celebrate

Nneka's sophomore year highlights

Someone has compiled a video of the highlights of Nneka's sophomore year.

"Stanford Sophomore, 6'2 Power Forward Nneka Ogwumike Nneka is on her way to becoming the Pac-10 Player of the Year as a Sophomore. "

It's all there – the incredibly athletic layups, the alley-oop! putbacks, the 18-foot jumpers, the rebounds, the blocks ...

Don't miss Mel's no-look assist at 1:57.

Stanford shines despite lack of spotlight

From Mechelle Voepel, ESPN.com:

What has Stanford been up to since its loss to UConn? Fifteen consecutive victories, Jayne Appel hitting her stride and a team playing as well as its past two Final Four teams Read more...

Stanford seniors share success, injury

From Michelle Smith, FanHouse:

Stanford will honor five seniors as part of its annual Senior Day ceremony following Saturday's game against Oregon State, a game that will likely clinch the Cardinal's 10th straight Pac-10 title. Read more...

Kayla's nifty inbound

If you weren't at the game on Saturday, or if you were and blinked at the wrong time, you missed Kayla's nifty inbound play.

Kayla had the ball to the left of our basket. She bounced it off Amanda Johnson's back, stepped in, fielded the richochet, turned to her left, put it up and in.

You can see it at 0:53 on the game highlights video. Don't blink!

More Stanford vs Oregon game reports

Here are reports of last night's game from the Oregon and Stanford student newspapers:

• Stanford serves Oregon a giant slice of humble pie by Robert Husseman, Daily Emerald
• Pure Domination by Nate Adams and Tom Taylor, The Stanford Daily