Sixth weekly honor for Chiney

Another week, another honor for Chiney as she was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the sixth time this season on Monday. Read more...

Cardinal withstands Buffalo stampede

The Cardinal overwhelmed the Buffs with excellent defense and a barrage of 3-pointers in the first half. The Buffs made adjustments during the break and came back with a much greater defensive effort. They outscored the Cardinal in the second half and made things exciting in the last minute as they cut the margin to a single digit. The final score was Stanford 87, Colorado 77.

As expected, the game featured strong defense by both teams. It was an intense game, and many fouls were called on both sides, but it wasn't overly aggressive. (Karlie and Arielle Roberson did draw offsetting technical fouls, but it was for mouthing off, not for anything physical.)

The high scoring by the Buffs, who are known primarily for their defense, was a surprise. 77 is the most points scored against the Cardinal this season. (UConn got only 76.)

Karlie was the solo performer in the Cardinal orchestra today. She put on a great show beyond the arc. She sank five treys in the first half on eight attempts. She was perfect at the free throw line in her four attempts and finished with a career-high 19 points. She also had two rebounds, two steals and an assist.

The Cardinal sank a total of ten 3-pointers — by six different players, which may also be a record. There were Karlie's five and one each by Chiney, Lili, Sara, Amber and Taylor.

Chiney was, as always, the conductor. She got her 11th double-double and her eighth 30-point game of the season with 34 points and 16 rebounds. The scoring included the third trey of her career and a perfect nine at the free throw line. She now needs only nine points to pass Kate Starbird for third place on the Stanford career scoring list.

A highlight of today's performance came at the free throw line. The Cardinal made their first 17 free throws! and ended with 21 of 24 (87.5%)!! Chiney (with 9), Karlie (with 4) and Lili (with 4) were perfect.

It was a very even game except for the 3-pointers and the score. The Cardinal made one more field goal (28-27), two more free throws (21-19), five more rebounds (40-35) and one more assist (19-18). The Buffs had one less foul (24-25), three fewer turnovers (15-18), two more blocks (3-1) and three more steals (10-7).

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Ogwumike's big game leads No. 4 Stanford to 87-77 win over No. 17 Colorado, the Associated Press game recap
• Lappe's Buffs staying positive after two straight losses by Kyle Ringo (Boulder Daily Camera)
• Card secures victories over Pac-12 foes (Utah and No. 17 Colorado by Ashley Westhem (The Stanford Daily)
• Buffs Battle, But Cardinal Prevails In Pac-12 Win , the game recap from Colorado Athletics
• Stanford Checks Colorado Rally, the game recap from Stanford Athletics
• WBB: Stanford 87 Colorado 77 from the CARDboard
• In one day by Wally Mersereau, FBC traveller

The box score and play-by-play,

Stanford-Colorado postgame notes from Stanford Athletics

Game recap video from Pac-12 Networks,

Postgame interview video of Karlie from Pac-12 Networks,

A gallery of photos by Cliff Grassmick (Boulder Daily Camera), including this one of Mikaela ripping the ball away from the Buffs:

And a couple of photos by Brennan Linsley (Associated Press):

Amber on the move

Go Card!!

Lappe's Buffs have another tough test

By Kyle Ringo (Boulder Daily Camera):

The Colorado women's basketball team is heading in the wrong direction and won't get a better opportunity the rest of the season to turn the tide than today against No. 4 Stanford. Read more...

Cardinal ices it in Salt Lake City

The nice girls of Stanford didn't bully the Utes, but they did use their strength to defeat them soundly 87-61.

The Ute defense wasn't able to slow down the Cardinal scoring tonight, as it has in past contests. The Cardinal made 57.4% of its shots — better than its season average of 47.9%.

Chiney began the scoring with a mid-range jumper on the first possession. She tried four more of those tonight and made all of them, including her first 3-pointer of the season.

She scored a total of 30 points (her seventh 30-point game of the season) at a rate of 76%. She needs just 43 more points to pass Kate Starbird for third place on the Stanford career scoring list.

She was one rebound short of a double-double, but also had two assists, two blocks and a steal.

Amber scored from all over — beyond the arc (twice), on drives to the basket, on pull-up jumpers ‐ for a total of 14 points. She added six assists (with zero turnovers), three rebounds and a steal for a really great game.

Mikaela was a beast on defense with 14 rebounds. She also took her shots tonight and made three mid-range jumpers and a layup.

The Cardinal's success from beyond the arc continues. In addition to Chiney and Amber's 3-pointers, Sara sank two and Bonnie, Karlie and Lili each sank one.

Lili's playing time was limited tonight when she crashed to the floor as she tried to stop Michelle Plouffe's drive to the basket. She retired to the bench, where she held an ice bag against her jaw, but came back into the game later. During her 17 minutes, she tallied six points and three assists (no turnovers), two steals and a rebound

Kailee is still wearing that face mask, but played for 16 minutes. She tallied six points, two rebounds and a block. E Payne played for five minutes and made two baskets for her season-high four points. Bri made her first collegiate basket (her previous points this season were from free throws).

Taylor was reported to be suffering from a troubled stomach (altitude sickness?) and played for only a few minutes in the second half. Bird did not play — I don't know why.

In other Pac-12 action tonight, Cal came back in the last few minutes of a fiercely defensive game (37 fouls, 32 turnovers) and beat Colorado 57-55; ASU beat USC in overtime 94-86; UCLA beat Arizona 67-61.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Ogwumike leads No. 4 Stanford women past Utah by John Coon (Associated Press)
• Stanford beats Utah, 87-61 by Lya Wodraska (Salt Lake Tribune)
• Utes walloped at home by No. 4 Stanford by Sarah Thompson (Deseret News)
• Ogwumike pens another best seller in win over Utah from Palo Alto Online
• WBB: Stanford 87 Utah 61 from the CARDboard
• No Salt In Cardinal's Game, the game recap from Stanford Athletics
• Utah Women's Basketball Falls to No. 4 Stanford, 87-61, the game recap from Utah Athletics

The box score and play-by-play,

Stanford-Utah postgame notes from Stanford Athletics

A video postgame interview of Mikaela by Ros from Pac-12 Networks,

And photos by Kim Raff (Associated Press) — click through for great flying hair detail:

Amber drives past Malia Nawahine

Lili shoots over Danielle Rodriguez

Chiney looks past Emily Potter for a receiver

Kailee shoots over Michelle Plouffe

Mikaela gets a loose ball away from Emily Potter

Chiney drives past Ariel Roberts

Go Card!!

Fearless freshman Lili

Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle) tells us all about Lili in Fearless freshman Thompson makes impact for Stanford

Click here for a video of Lili announcing her "candidacy for president" in 2009 that Fitzgerald comments on in his story.

Utes won’t let Stanford push them around

Lya Wodraska (Salt Lake Tribune) reports that the Utes are optimistic about playing Stanford on Friday. Click here for her story.

The Utes' tough defense has troubled the Cardinal in past games.

If you like to reminisce, here are game reports of their prior Pac-12 games:

Jan 26, 2013, home: Cardinal out-hustles the Utes
Jan 6, 2013, away : Cardinal contains the Utes
Feb 25, 2012, home: Cardinal takes care of Utah on Senior Day
Jan 12, 2012, away: Cardinal Up-ends the Utes

And my favorite Utah/Stanford game:

Nov 18, 2007: Melanie saves the day

Next: A trip to the Rockies

The Cardinal travels to the Rocky Mountains this week to play:

• Utah in Salt Lake City on Friday evening at 5:00 PT
• Colorado in Boulder on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PT

Both games will be televised by Pac-12 Networks (with Ros as the analyst), streamed online by Pac-12 Networks, and broadcast by KZSU. Utah live stats here and Colorado live stats here.

Utah and Colorado do not travel to Stanford this season, so this is the only time these teams will play during the regular season.

  Utah Utes

The Utes, under the guidance of four-year head coach Anthony Levrets, had reasonable expectations of another good season (they finished at #6 in the Pac-12 last season and advanced to the WNIT title game).

They suffered a serious setback when All-Pac-12 senior forward Taryn Wicijowski tore her ACL in August. She and senior forward Michelle Plouffe were one of the best frontcourt duos in college basketball.

The Utes, who have nine underclassmen on the roster, have re-grouped and gotten good contributions from their four freshmen, but they've stuggled so far this season.

They ended non-conference play on a high note, with a five-game winning streak, then began conference play with losses to UCLA and USC.

The probable starters for the Utes are:

• #15, 6'4" senior forward Michelle Plouffe leads the Utes in scoring (17.9 points per game) and rebounding (10.7 per game). She shoots from the outside as well as the inside, making an average of 1.4 3-pointers per game. She leads the Pac-12 in defensive boards (5.9 per game) and ranks fourth in total rebounds. She's had six double-doubles this season.


• #12, 6'5" freshman forward Emily Potter played on the Canadian U17 and U19 teams. She's done a terrific job of helping to fill the void left by Wicijowski's injury. She's second only to Plouffe in scoring (12.5 points per game) and rebounding (6.4 per game) and blocks the most shots (1.3 per game, which ranks #4 in the Pac-12).


• #22, 5'10" sophomore guard Danielle Rodriguez is the Utes' starting point guard for the second season and plays for 36 minutes per game. She dishes out 5.2 assists per game (which ranks #4 in the Pac-12) with a good assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.94. She also tallies 9.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.


• #31, 5'10" redshirt junior guard Ciera Dunbar contributes 6.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.


• #3, 5'10" freshman forward Malia Nawahine was the Gatorade Utah Girls Basketball Player of the Year last season and is another valuable addition to the team. She averages 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.

Utah's has six reserves who account for about 1/3 of the playing time and 1/4 of the points and rebounds.

Utah's win-loss record (7-6 overall, 0-2 conference) places it 11th in the Pac-12, its RPI (159) places it 11th, and its strength of schedule rank (183) places it 12th.

Here are Utah's statistics and roster.

  Colorado Buffaloes

When head coach Linda Lappe, now in her fourth season at Colorado, brought the Buffs into the Pac-12 (from the Big 12) two years ago, she was optimistic about their prospects. She said, "We feel like we can do very well in the Pac-12; we feel like we can make an impact."

The first year didn't end well for the Buffs. They had a perfect non-conference season (against very weak opponents), then faltered in conference play and ended at #10 in the standings.

They improved considerably last year. They again aced a middling non-conference schedule, went 13-5 in conference play (#4 in the standings) and earned a bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost to Kansas in the opening round.

The Pac-12 coaches picked the Buffs to place third in the conference this season and they've begun very well. Their non-conference schedule was much tougher (ranked 96 of 343 at the beginning of conference play), and they lost only to #7 Louisville. They lost their first conference game to USC 55-45, then defeated UCLA 61-59.

The Buffs have been ranked in the Top 25 all season — as high as #11, but they dropped to #17/18 after the loss to USC.

The Buffs are a very good defensive team, and the game in Boulder on Sunday may well be the Cardinal's most challenging conference game of the season. The Buffs lead the Pac-12 in scoring defense (allowing their opponents just 59.2 points per game) and in 3-point percentage defense (allowing 22.4%, which ranks fourth best in the nation). They rank second to Stanford in overall field goal percentage defense with 34.7% to Stanford's 33.4%.

I remember the Buffs from prior seasons as being very aggressive and physical. I've been wondering how the more stringent officiating this season (refs have been instructed not to tolerate physical play in the post, on shooters and on ball handlers) would affect them. It hasn't changed their attitude. Coach Lappe said recently that the Buffs need to, "... make sure we're not getting pushed around, we're holding our ground and being physical when we can be physical." But they're managing their aggression well. They average a not-excessive 21.6 fouls per game. That's the most in the Pac-12, but the conference average is 18.7 and the low is Stanford's 16.1.

This year, the Buff's star player Chucky Jefferey is gone, but the other nine players who averaged more than 14 minutes of playing time per game remain. Linda Lappe has developed a balanced lineup with four players averaging double figures in scoring and seven players averaging more than 4.0 rebounds. Their five most productive players are:

• #32, 6'1" sophomore forward Arielle Roberson was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year last season. She leads the Buffs in scoring (12.9 points per game) and in rebounding (8.8 per game). She's had four double-doubles this season.


• #34, 6'2" junior forward Jen Reese comes off the bench for an average of 23 minutes per game. She's the Buffs' best shooter (makes 54% of her shots) and their second best scorer (12.7 points per game).


• #1, 5'11" junior guard Lexy Kresl runs the point for the Buffs and dishes out the most assists (3.7 per game), but has only a fair assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.5. (None of the Buffs are great ball handlers — as a team, they've committed an equal number of assists and turnovers.) Lexy also contributes 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.


• #11, 5'7" senior guard Brittany Wilson shares the point guard duty and is perhaps the Buffs' most aggressive defender. She averages 10.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 2.7 assists per game. Her assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.1


• #21, 6'0" junior guard Jasmine Sborov averages 8.0 points, 4.3 rebounds per game and 1.3 steals per game.

The Buffs have four other players who average more than ten minutes per game:

• #40, 6'4" senior center Rachel Hargis is the fifth starter for the Buffs. She can provide a strong, physical presence in the post, although she's not always as tough as Coach Lappe would like. She averages 4.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game.


• #12, 5'8" senior guard Ashley Wilson is Brittany's twin sister and an equally aggressive defender. She averages 6.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Her assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.8


• #2, 6'1" freshman guard/forward Lauren Huggins has taken over as the Buff's leading 3-point shooter this season. She takes almost all of her shots from beyond the arc and makes 39% of them for an average of 2.0 per game. (No other Buff averages more than 1.2 3-pointers per game.)


• #50, 6'2" sophomore forward Jamee Swan joins Rachel Hargis in the frontcourt. She averages 4.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game.

Colorado's win-loss record (10-2 overall, 1-1 conference) places it 6th in the Pac-12, its RPI (19) places it 4th, and its strength of schedule rank (80) places it 9th.

Here are Colorado's statistics and roster.

Chiney is Player of the Week for the fifth time

For the fifth time this season and the 14th time in her career, Chiney has been named the Pac-12 Player of the week.

Make It Five For Ogwumike

Ogwumike, Plum voted Pac-12 players of the week again

Cardinal puts Beavers in hole early

Beaver's 6'6" center Ruth Hamblin tipped the tipoff away from Chiney, and the Beavers scored the first two points of the game. Chiney, Lili and Sara scored the next 19. Then the Beavers got their game under control and kept the contest fast, close and exciting for the remaining 36 minutes. However, they couldn't overcome the early deficit, and the Cardinal won 89-67.

Lili had a standout game today. She played for 37 minutes and was merciless on defense.

She made 54% of her shots, including three of four from beyond the arc, for a total of her career-high 19 points.

She also tallied five rebounds, five assists, zero turnovers and two steals.

One of the steals was spectacular — she soared to what seemed to be at least twice her height and intercepted a long Beaver pass.

Chiney, who faced a lot of tall tough defense under the basket, added some variety to her scoring today by taking a dozen or so jumpers from close to (but inside) the arc. She made five of them. She succeeded against the tough defense with eight layups for a total of 31 points.

She moved past Jayne Appel up to 4th place on the Stanford all-time scoring list. Her career total is now 2,143. Next above her on the list is Kate Starbird with 2215. She needs probably just three more games to move into 3rd place.

She also had 13 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and three steals.

Taylor also scored in double digits — 13 points, including two of three long ones. She was tough on defense, as always, in ways that don't show up in the box score.

In addition to her usual solid defensive game, Mikaela took some good shots today — and made both of her free throws! She was the Cardinal's fourth double-digit scorer with 10 points.

Regrettably, the Cardinal's free-throw shooting hasn't improved. They were looking good at first, making seven of nine in the first half, but ended with 16 of 25 — a disappointing 64%. Their season average is just under 64% — the lowest in the Pac-12.

The Cardinal's sharp shooting was less spectacular than on Friday night. In addition to the 3-pointers by Lili and Taylor, Sara and Bonnie each sank one for a total of seven.

The team's defense was outstanding. It threw the Beavers off-balance by slowing down the Beaver "swish sisters", Sydney Wiese and Jamie Weisner. Although they ended with 15 and 13 points respectively, Wiese was scoreless for the first 14 minutes, and Wiesner didn't make her first basket until halfway through the second half.

The Cardinal handled the Beavers' frequent press easily with crisp, decisive, north/south passes. So far, the new 10-second rule has had little effect — at least, not for the Cardinal. Tara pointed out at the postgame behind-the-bench that the emphasis on hand-checking this season lessens the value of pressing. The chance of forcing a turnover isn't worth the risk of being called for a foul.

Across the Bay, Cal won over Oregon 101-98 in overtime! Reshanda Gray scored her career-high 33 points, and Gennifer Brandon has rejoined the team.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Slow start dooms Beavers in road loss to No. 4 Stanford by Antonio Gonzalez (Associated Press)
• Ogwumike leads Stanford to easy win over Oregon State by Ray Hacke (Mercury News)
• Stanford wins 28th straight over Oregon St. by Susan Slusser (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Thompson has a big day in Stanford's win over Beavers by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
• Early run carries Cardinal, the game recap from Stanford Athletics
• Early Run Helps No. 4 Stanford Over OSU, the game recap from Oregon State Athletics
• WBB: Stanford 89 Oregon State 67 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

Stanford-Oregon State postgame notes from Stanford Athletics,

A game highlights video from Oregon State,

A postgame video interview of Lili by Ros,

A gallery of photos by Dave Cortesi (Look for photos by other fans in Fan Pix and Deb's Gallery tomorrow or Tuesday),

A gallery of photos by Bob Stanton (USA TODAY Sports),

And photos by Ben Margot (Associated Press):

Chiney shoots over Gabriela Hanson

Mikaela fights for a rebound

Lili and Ali Gibson chase a loose ball

Amber passes away from Jamie Weisner

Cardinal beats the Ducks at their own game

I can't decide which was prettier — the Cardinal's defense or their sharp-shooting. Together they led to a dominant 96-66 victory.

The sharp shooting from beyond the arc came from Bonnie, who matched her career-best with six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points; Lili and Taylor, who each sank two of them; and Karlie and Jasmine, who each sank one.

The total of 12 matched the Cardinal's season high against Fresno State last week. They were made at a rate of 48%, way better than the team's 36% season average.

The Cardinal defense held the Ducks to:

• Their season-low score (their previous low of 68 was in their loss to UConn).
• Six made 3-pointers at a rate of 23% (they had averaged 11.7 3-pointers per game (ranked #4 in the nation)).
• 24 points from three of their top four scorers (whose average total was 49).

Only Jillian Alleyne prevailed against the Cardinal defense with an impressive double-double of 26 points and 13 rebounds.

You might think that all that Cardinal success from beyond the arc was due to the Ducks' shutting down Chiney on the inside. No way! She grabbed (and I mean grabbed) 14 rebounds and became the Stanford and Pac-12 all-time career rebounder. She now has 1,271 (five more than Kayla's career total) and is on pace for a career total of 1,571 by the end of the season. You can see her record-breaking rebound here. (No-one took a photo of a Chiney rebound tonight! The photo on the right is from the New Mexico game.)

The Ducks didn't hamper Chiney's scoring either — she made 79% of her shots and scored 33 points (just three short of her game high and her fifth 30+ game this season).

One of the prettiest plays of the game was Chiney's touch pass to Mikaela for a layup. You can see it here.

For the first time this season, all 15 Cardinal players suited up and contributed to the victory.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Oregon falls to No. 4 Stanford in lopsided fashion, by Janie McCauley (Associated Press)
• Stanford women shred Oregon defense, win Pac-12 opener by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• Ogwumike sets rebound mark, dominates Oregon in Cardinal win by Henry Schulman (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Ogwumike reaches new heights in Pac-12 hoops opener by Palo Alto Online
• Ogwumike Claims Record, the game recap from Stanford Athletics
• Oregon Falls at No. 4 Stanford in Pac-12 Opener , the game recap from Oregon Athletics
• Stanford women's basketball runs away from Oregon, a video recap from Pac-12 Networks
• WBB: Stanford 96 Oregon 66 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

Stanford-Oregon postgame notes from Stanford Athletics,

A postgame video interview of Chiney by Ros,

The game highlights video from espnW,

A gallery of photos by Bob Drebin (Stanford Photo),

A gallery of photos by Robert Stanton (US Presswire),

And photos by Marcio Jose Sanchez (Associated Press):

Bonnie can score from inside the arc too

Chiney lays it up over Lexi Petersen

Bird blocks Ariel Thomas's shot

Chiney blocks Lexi Petersen's shot

Mikaela goes up for a basket

Coach Westhead disagrees with the call

"I love playing for my team!"