Chiney is discovering herself

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Cardinal trumps the Trojans

It was a game of spurts. The Cardinal and the Trojans played even for the first ten minutes. Then Amber sank a three-pointer that sparked a Cardinal run to a 13-point lead at the end of the half.

The Cardinal stayed in control after the break and increased its lead to a comfortable 19 points with 13 minutes left to play. At that point, the Cardinal's tight defense had held the Trojans' top scorers, Cassie Harberts and Ariya Crook, to five and four points respectively.

Then the Trojans shifted to overdrive. They slowed the Cardinal way-y-y down with a three-to-four player full-court press. Harberts and Crook each scored about 15 more points, and the lead dwindled to five points with two minutes left to play.

Tara called a time out. The Cardinal came back with the last spurt and won 75-66.

The game ball has to go to Chiney, who tallied a huge double-double (29 points and 16 rebounds). 13 of those points and seven of the rebounds came in the last 13 minutes during which the Trojans almost took the game away.

This was Chiney's 13th and biggest double-double of the season. Only four other Division I players in the nation have more.

My second game ball goes to Sara, who started again. She didn't lead in any statistical category, but she played with the hustle and sense of urgency that the Cardinal needs so badly.

Sara scored on two of the most entertaining plays of the game. The first: Chiney stole the ball in the Trojan paint and took off on a breakaway, accompanied by Trojan defenders; nearing the basket, she flipped it to Sara, who was ahead and waiting. A minute later, Amber soared high above the taller players, snatched a rebound, and passed it to Sara, who took it the length of the court for a layup.

Sara took five shots from beyond the arc without hesitation (she releases the ball almost as quickly as Bonnie). Although she mode only one of them, three of the misses were rebounded by the Cardinal, so no loss. Six more points came from layups as she flew to or past the basket. In all, she tallied 13 points and four rebounds.

Jos had a great game too. She scored 15 points and added four assists, seven rebounds and a block.

She made all three of her 3-point attempts, which she spaced judiciously throughout the game.

Amber often brought the ball down the court, but she was again primarily a shooting guard today.

She scored 13 points, including one 3-pointer, on 67% shooting. She also tallied three assists and three rebounds.

In other Pac-12 action today, Cal defeated UCLA in a close, very competitive game and Colorado outscored Arizona by 43 points. So Stanford and Cal share the top rung of the Pac-12 ladder, with Colorado, UCLA, Washington and USC one game behind.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• No. 6 Cardinal Power Past USC, 75-66 by Rick Eymer (Associated Press)
• Sara James helps lift Cardinal over USC by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Stanford women hold off USC, stay in first-place tie with Cal by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
• WBB: Stanford 75 Under Stanford Control 66 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

The game highlights video,

A gallery of photos by Casey Valentine (Stanford Photo),

Inside the paint with Chiney

A light-hearted interview of Chiney from the Pac-12 Networks:

Cardinal bashes the Bruins

Tara called for people to step up, to be more aggressive. The Cardinal did just that tonight — big time! Stanford 75, UCLA 49.

The Cardinal's smothering defense held the Bruins (the top scoring team in the Pac-12) to 31% shooting and a season-low 49 points. They out-rebounded the Bruins (the top rebounding team in the Pac-21) 36-25, forced 19 turnovers and stole the ball nine times.

The Cardinal's offense combined lots of gutsy drives to the basket with a rejuvenated outside game. They made 53% of their field goal attempts, including six of seven three-pointers.

Sara begins the Cardinal scoring

Chiney led the way with 25 points and 13 rebounds (her twelfth double-double of the season), but she had lots of help from her teammates tonight.

Jos had some trouble getting up for jumpers in the paint, perhaps because she tweaked her ankle a few days ago, but she more than made up for that by finding her three-point shot — she hit four of four from beyond the arc. Three of them were in the last two minutes of the game, and the already ecstatic crowd went wild. She scored 16 points in all and had six rebounds.

Amber didn't spend much time dribbling the ball on the perimeter tonight. She drove to the basket instead and made 70% of her shots for a total of 15 points. She was an absolute pest on defense. She stole the ball five times.

Toni was on top of her game tonight — energetic and decisive. She was the "blew-by-you" Toni that we haven't often seen this season. She scored just six points, but also contributed six assists, four rebounds, a steal and relentless defense. She sank a three-pointer seven minutes into the game that gave the Cardinal a lead they never relinquished.

Sara started tonight, for just the second time in her career, and played with great energy and determination for most of the first half. She began the Cardinal scoring (after the Bruins had taken a four-point lead) with a drive to the basket and a layup that brought the crowd to its feet.

Mikaela made life tough for the Bruin Bigs tonight. She grabbed five rebounds, scrambled for loose balls, and blocked one shot. She contributed a field goal, a free throw and three crisp assists to the Cardinal offense.

And so the Cardinal begins another winning streak at Maples. At KZSU's postgame interview, Jos said, "We're not gonna let anyone else come in here and take what we want!"

Here are game reports and commentary:

• No. 6/6 Stanford Hands UCLA First Pac-12 Loss by Rick Eymer (Associated Press)
• Stanford women right the ship, rout UCLA by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• Stanford throttles UCLA 75-49 by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Cardinal women return to form with Pac-12 win over Bruins by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
• Stanford women tied for first after beating UCLA by Jake Curtis
• WBB: Stanford 75 UCLA 49 from the CARDboard
• Stanford trounces UCLA to end streak by Michelle Smith (espnW)

The box score and play-by-play,

A game highlights video from Stanford Athletics,

A game highlights video from Pac-12 Networks,

A post game interview of Chiney from Pac-12 Networks,

A gallery of photos by Richard C. Ersted (Stanford Photo),

And photos by Dave Cortesi:

Sara scores again

Jos attacks the Bruin defense

Sara grabs a rebound

Jos works through difficulties

Chiney scores

Toni shoots through the D

Amber elevates to score

Mikaela secures a rebound

Getting back to winning ways

Here are a couple of stories about Tara's plans for tonight's game against UCLA:

Stanford's VanDerveer tweaking lineup by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle): "While she mulls over changes in her lineup and wonders how to light a fire under some of her players ... "

Stanford women need to start some new positive streaks by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online):""We're trying to be more aggressive in practice and trying to emphasize things that will make us more successful ... "

And the video posted yesterday: 2 Minutes with Tara Vanderveer

Sara on a fast break against Utah

Cardinal looks to bounce back at home

By Janie McCauley (Associated Press):

Stanford has protected its home floor at Maples Pavilion with such pride and domination for decades that the Cardinal suddenly face a surprising task: avoiding a three-game losing streak. Read more...

Next up: Visitors from Los Angeles

The teams from Southern California are coming to Maples this week: UCLA on Friday evening at 8:00 and USC on Sunday afternoon at 4:00.

Both games will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks and broadcast by KZSU.

Note that what may be the most interesting Pac-12 game of the week (UCLA at Cal) is on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 and will be televised by ESPNU.

Jos anticipating a rebound last season

  UCLA Bruins

UCLA had a great non-conference season. They had a very tough schedule and lost just two games — a "good loss" to No. 5 Notre Dame and an inexplicable one to Cal State Northridge. Their successes included wins over two other ranked teams — No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 12 Texas.

They've continued their success in conference play with four wins, albeit over the fairly weak Oregon and Washington teams.

They've been among the Top 25 in the national polls since the third week of the season. They're currently ranked No.14/15.

The Bruins got a new coach last season (Cori Close), but they didn't get a new persona. They haven't become the "nice girls of Westwood". They're very strong inside and are excellent defenders. They lead the Pac-12 in rebounding, both in total rebounds (46.2 per game) and in offensive rebounds (16.2 per game). Their strong defense includes the most steals in the Pac-12 (12.2 per game).

The Bruins are also excellent on offense, although in somewhat unusual ways:

• They shoot from beyond the arc far less than any other Pac-12 team. On average, they try only ten long shots per game and make three of them.
• Their shooting percentage is good, although not outstanding (42.7%), but they grab a lot of their missed shots and put them back in.
• Their free throw percentage is poor (68.1%), but they draw a lot of fouls and make the most free throws in the Pac-12 (14.8 per game).
• They don't have a stand-out scorer. Most of their scoring comes from five players who average from 9.9–12.9 points per game.

It all adds up to 73.3 points per game — the best in the Pac-12.

The Bruins run an 8–9 player rotation. These are the most productive players:

• #23, 6'1" senior guard/forward Markel Walker leads the Bruins in scoring (12.9 ppg), steals (3.5 spg, best in the Pac-12) and assists (5.6 apg, best in the Pac-12) and is one of their two best rebounders (8.3 rpg). She's always been a strong, skilled player for the Bruins and has improved her ball-handling greatly this season. Her assist/turnover ratio is a good 1.4, up from 0.8 last season.


• #11, 5'11" redshirt junior forward Atonye Nyingifa is a dependable contributor to the Bruins' strong inside game. She's their second-best scorer (10.9 ppg) and third-best rebounder (7.6 rpg) and has started every game this season.


• #32, 6'3" redshirt senior forward Alyssia Brewer sat out last season after transferring from Tennessee and is off to a hot start as a Bruin. She comes off the bench and is their other best rebounder (8.4 rpg) and third-best scorer (10.8 ppg).


• #1, 5'7" junior guard Thea Lemberger has started every game this season and is the Bruins' best shooter. She takes about 40% of her shots from beyond the arc and makes 40% of them. She averages 10.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.


• #21, 5'9" freshman guard Nirra Fields brought a lot of basketball experience to college — she played for Canada's national 17U and 19U teams. She comes off the bench for a bit more than 20 minutes per game and averages 9.9 points and 3.6 rebounds.

These players complete the Bruins' usual rotation:

• #33, 6'0" redshirt senior forward Jasmine Dixon missed all of last season after tearing her Achilles tendon and is slowly returning to the All-American form she showed in 2011-2012. She's averaging 8.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game for the season. She has started the last four games and tallied a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) in last week's game against Washington.


• #14, 5'4" senior guard Mariah Williams has started in the Bruins' last five games. She averages 4.1 points and 2.4 assists per game.


• #2, 5'9" freshman guard Kari Korver has started in the Bruins' last four games. She was a great 3-point shooter in high school and is doing pretty well in college. 80% of her shots have been from beyond the arc, and she's made a third of them. She averages 4.0 points per game.


• #10, 6'3" sophomore forward Kacy Swain averages 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

The Bruin bench has been shortened by several injuries. Junior center Corinne Costa has missed the last seven games since suffering a head injury in mid-December. Freshman guard Lauren Holiday has suffered head injuries twice this season and is not expected to return. Junior forward Rhema Gardner had knee surgery in October and is redshirting this season.

UCLA's win-loss record (13-2 overall, 4-0 conference) places them first in the Pac-12, their RPI (14) places them third, and their strength of schedule rank (44) places them fourth.

Here are UCLA's 2012-13 statistics and roster.

  USC Trojans

USC has recovered well from a six-game losing streak in non-conference play with four conference wins, but it's not likely that they'll stay in the top tier of the Pac-12.

The Trojans have two players (Harberts and Crook) who have scored exactly half of the team's points. No other player averages more than six points a game and the team's field goal percentage is just 37.2 (ninth in the Pac-12). They're tenth in the Pac-12 in points scored and eleventh in points scored by their opponents.

According to USC's game notes, the starters for the Bay Area games will be:

• #11, 6'2" junior forward Cassie Harberts leads the Trojans in scoring (17.9 ppg, third-best in the Pac-12) and rebounds (7.9 rpg, #8 in the Pac-12). She's scored in double digits in every game and has six double-doubles.


• #10, 6'4" junior forward Kate Oliver averages 6.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. She sat out last season after transferring from Marist.


• #23, 5'7" freshman guard Brianna Barrett runs the point for the Trojans. She averages just over three assists per game with a good assist/turnover ratio (1.4). She scores 5.3 points per game.


• #21, 6'1" sophomore forward Alexyz Vaioletama averages 4.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.


• #32, 6'1" sophomore guard Kiki Alofaituli averages 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

The Trojans have four other players who play more than a few minutes per game.

• #14, 5'7" sophomore guard Ariya Crook comes off the bench and is the Trojan's second-most productive player with an average of 13.2 points per game. She takes a lot of shots, a bit more than half of them from beyond the arc, but makes only 35% of them. (Watch out, though! She made six of ten 3-pointers in the game against Washington last week.) She also averages 3.3 rebounds per game.


• #0, 6'1" senior forward Christina Marinacci, the Trojans' only senior, was in the starting lineup for their first eleven games, but hasn't played at all in the last two. It's been reported that she is injured, but not how badly. She's been the Trojans' second-best rebounder with 6.1 per game and has scored 5.7 points per game.


• #3, 6'1" junior guard Desireé Bradley averages 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. She takes almost 80% of her shots from beyond the arc, but makes only 30% of them.


• #22, 5'11" freshman guard Destinie Gibbs averages 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.

The Trojans have lost a valuable reserve, freshman guard Jordan Adams, to injury. She's out for the season after having surgery for a series of shoulder injuries.

USC's win-loss record (7-8 overall, 4-0 conference) places them second in the Pac-12, their RPI (132) places them tenth, and their strength of schedule rank (90) places them ninth.

Here are USC's 2012-13 statistics and roster.

The Bears crush the Cardinal

After Cal's loss to Stanford on Tuesday, Cal coach Lindsey Gottlieb said she had, "no doubt that the players in our locker room will use this to get better." The Bears did just that and thoroughly thumped the Cardinal today, 67-55.

Cal's outstanding defense held Stanford to 35% shooting and forced 16 turnovers off which they scored 13 points. In trying to cope, the Cardinal were called for 24 fouls — the Bears focussed on their free throw shooting today and made 75% of their attempts for 23 more points.

Stanford's defense did hold Cal to just under 30% shooting, but the Bears took ten more shots than the Cardinal, and they made six of 16 from beyond the arc — four of them by reserve guard Mikayla Lyles, who matched her career high with 14 points.

Chiney led the Cardinal scoring today, as she usually does, with 18 points. Toni added 12 and Amber nine.

Amy Tucker was asked at the postgame meeting what Cal did today that was so effective. She said that, in many ways, the Cardinal are their own worst enemy right now. They have to be more aggressive and more physical, box out and get rebounds. They have to do a better job of screening to get shooters open — if you don't do that, it puts a lot of pressure on post play, and Chiney can't do it alone.

When asked her opinion of the officiating, Amy said, "You know I can't answer that," then added, "That's not what decided the game."

She concluded, "We have a lot to work on — and we will."

Here are game reports and commentary:

• No. 5 Stanford Falls To No. 7 California, 67-55 by Janie McCauley (Associated Press)
• Cal Bears upset Stanford Cardinal women 67-55 by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• Cal women end Stanford’s 81-game Pac-12 win streak by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Stanford women see long winning streak end by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
• Cal stifles Stanford's strengths in win by Michelle Smith (espnW)
• WBB: Bea.rs 67 Stanford 55 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

A gallery of photos by Don Feria (Stanford Photo),

Stanford women on record defensive pace

Tom Fitzpatrick (San Francisco Chronicle) notes that Cardinal opponents are having a harder time scoring than they did last season.

The Cardinal are currently allowing their opponents the fewest field goals and the lowest shooting percentage in school history.

Read more...

Stanford And California - Over A Century's Worth Of Intensity

Stanford Athletics reviews the long rivalry between Stanford and California Women's Basketball that began on April 4, 1896 and continues on Sunday with their 68th meeting. Click here for the article.

The article mentions a memorable play at Maples four years ago. Click here to watch it.