Supercoach!

There's been so much tournament news lately that I've neglected to report some of Tara's recent achievements. Which is probably what she prefers. Nonetheless ...

The Pac-10 Tournament semifinal game against UCLA was Tara's 600th Stanford victory and her 752nd career victory. She is now #4 in career wins by active coaches — preceded only by Sylvia Hatchell (810), C Vivian Stringer (822) and Pat Summitt (1005).

Last week she was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the tenth time.

Yesterday the WBCA named her the Region 8 Coach of the Year for the fifth time. Here is the official announcement.

Congratulations Tara! And thanks for all the joy you bring to your Cardinal fans.

Back to the Final Four?

The analysts on ESPN pick Stanford to go to the Final Four. They all think we'll lose to UConn in the semifinal — We'll see — Read more...

Ann Killion (Mercury News) writes, "And why not? ... The Cardinal motto is, 'Been there. Done that. Would like to do it again.'" Read more...

Kelli Anderson (Sports Illustrated) predicts that Stanford will make back-to-back trips to the Final Four for the first time since 1997. Read more...

In an article by Michelle Smith (San Francisco Chronicle), Jayne is quoted, "If we get back to the national championship, that's the only way we will be celebrating." Read more...

Elliott Almond (Mercury News) reports that Tara thinks the Cardinal operates well with a little chip and that she has found one for Saturday — UC-Santa Barbara (22-9) is coached by Lindsay Gottlieb, a former Cal assistant, and Evan Unrau, Stanford's video coordinator during last season's magical run to the Final Four. "We'll be playing against an insider," VanDerveer said. "To get to Berkeley will not be easy for us." Read more...

Starting the March to the Arch

Stanford was awarded the #2 seed in the Berkeley Regional and will travel to San Diego to meet the #15 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (22-9, 15-1 Big West) in the first round.

The Cardinal and Gauchos will meet Saturday night, March 21, at 7:30 p.m. at San Diego State's Cox Arena. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and is set to tip off approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of the evening's first contest between #7 DePaul and #10 San Diego State.

The second round in San Diego will be Monday night, March 23 at 5:30 p.m. The game will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2.

More information:

• The complete tournament bracket.
  
  
• The FBC Travel blog has maps and tips on flights to San Diego and accommodations near San Diego State.
  
  
• USA Today has in-depth capsules of all 16 teams in the Berkeley region.
  
  

Pac-10 Tournament Champion!!!

Stanford soundly defeated USC 89-64 to win the Pac-10 Tournament championship and Tara's 601st Stanford victory. The Trojans played hard and pulled within five points part way through the second half, but they were no match for the Cardinal tonight.

Kayla led the way with the game- and season-high 25 points, including two triples, and nine rebounds.

Nneka displayed her outstanding athleticism as she scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds. She and Jayne partnered for a great one-two punch throughout the tournament — The opponents double up on Jayne and Nneka hovers nearby. Jayne either tips the ball to Nneka who puts it in, or Jayne shoots and misses, Nneka grabs the rebound and puts it back. Beautiful!

Jeanette scored 10 points, including two triples, and had seven rebounds. (The Cardinal out-rebounded the Trojans 48-25.) Jillian slashed through crowd under the basket and snatched the rebound eight times. She also had five assists, two steals and seven points. Jillian, Lindy and Ros each made a three-pointer. Sara added eight points.

The Trojan defense keyed on Jayne, and the Cardinal's on USC's leading scorer, Camille LeNoir. Both were held scoreless in the first half. Jayne ended with 12 points and Camille with 13.

Kayla was voted the Most Outstanding Player.

Jillian and Nneka were named to the All-Tournament team, along with Camille LeNoir (USC), Atonye Nyingifa (UCLA) and Ashley Walker (Cal).

• The AP game recap
• Game reports:
  • Cardinal cruise to Pac-10 women's tourney title by Michelle Smith, San Francisco Chronicle
  • Stanford romps by USC by Jennifer Starks, Inside Bay Area
  • Pedersen leads No. 2 Stanford to Pac-10 title from Sports Illustrated
• Press conference
• Box score and play-by-play
• A few more AP photos (Look for more and better ones from Don tomorrow.):

Pac-10 Tournament, Semifinals

The most interesting game tonight was the first semifinal between USC and Cal. Cal got off to a slow start and never recovered. USC led all the way until it appeared that, with 0.3 seconds left, Ashley Walker sank a game-tying shot off a cross-court alley-oop inbounds pass. Unfortunately for Cal, Ashley squandered precious milliseconds by bending her knees before tipping the ball into the basket. After conferring for more than ten minutes (really!), the referees finally declared, "No goal", and USC won 69-67. Game information here ...

In regard to the second semifinal, UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell said, "[For us to beat Stanford], Jayne Appel needs to be a little sick and Kayla Pedersen maybe misses the bus.” Well, Jayne felt fine tonight, and Kayla never misses the bus. The Cardinal won easily 75-47.

Nneka led the onslaught with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sarah played major minutes and scored 12 points.

More saved-up three were brought out tonight — the most exciting, three of four from Ros! Jill had two and Michelle and Lindy each had one.

• Game reports:
  • Cardinal reaches Pac-10 title game from the Mercury News
  • Cardinal waltz to final, aim for high NCAA seed from the San Francisco Chronicle
  • No. 2/2 Stanford Cruises into Pac-10 Championship from the Associated Press
• Press conference.
• Box score and play-by-play.
• More photos (Click to enlarge)

Stanford wins on the outside

Arizona stifled Stanford in the post, so the Cardinal went to the perimeter and rolled to a 77-46 victory behind a barrage of 3-pointers. Jeanette and Lindy each hit four, Jillian and Mel each hit one, and Jayne attempted (but missed) one as shown in one of the photos below.

That wasn't the whole story of course. Stanford had 24 assists (a Pac-10 tournament record) to Arizona's five, and outrebounded them 49-26. Five Cardinals shot in double digits: Nneka had the game-high 15, Jeanette had 14, Lindy 12, Jillian 11, Kayla nine (OK, that's not double digits, but she also had the game-high 15 rebounds, seven of the 24 assists and zero turnovers).

Tara said, "We've been saving up our three-pointers and we brought them out at the right time."

• Game reports:
  • Cardinal women roll, thanks to 3-point shooting, Jennifer Starks, Contra Costa Times
  • Stanford forced to play a perimeter game, Michelle Smith, San Francisco Chronicle
  • Tournament experience key for Stanford , Rick Eymer, Palo Alto Online
• Press conference
• Box score and play-by-play
• Photos (Click to enlarge)

Pac-10 Tournament, Quarterfinals

10:30 pm, postgame

Stanford defeated Arizona 77-46. See separate blog post Stanford wins on the outside.

In the final event of the day, UCLA and OSU played a very aggressive game with poor shooting on both sides. OSU held a small lead for most of the game, but couldn't hang on to in the final few minutes. UCLA won the battle 62-56 and will play Stanford in the semifinals on Saturday. Game information here ...

Attendance was very poor today, although a bit better than yesterday. I would guess that there were about 1000 spectators at any one game, perhaps twice that over the course of the day.

3:30 pm, between sessions

USC compensated for Nadia Parker's absence better than ASU did for Dymond Simon's. They moved ahead of the Sun Devils after seven minutes of play and stayed there the rest of the way, winning 70-65. It wasn't an easy win, but as Mark Trakh said earlier, "You've got to believe that anything can happen." Game information here ...

The Washington Huskies' peak was short as well as late. They were no match for California today and lost 41-61. Game information here ...

10:00 am, pregame

What does a team facing three games in three days need most? A player who will come off the bench to offer valuable minutes, fresh legs and an infusion of enthusiasm. Cal coach Joanne Boyle has been talking to freshman guard Casey Morris about being the spark off the bench this week. Lindy, "The little general", fills that bill for the Cardinal. Read more...

UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell is hoping that she can go to the NCAA tournament for the 15th consecutive season. USC Mark Trakh says, "You've got to believe that anything can happen. It's not going to be easy." Read more...

Arizona State hopes to uncover some hidden gems without its Dymond — Briann January moving to the point; Kate Engelbrecht starting as the shooting guard. Read more...

Pac-10 Tournament, First Round

It was an interesting evening of basketball at the Galen Center. In attendance were:

• 500 kids from the US Bank Girls' Clinic, each with her basketball.
• 40 Oregon Duck fans.
• 40 Washington Huskies fans
• 20 Arizona Wildcat fans
• 20 WSU Cougar fans
• 50 Cardinal fans
• A couple hundred other spectators

Most of us enjoyed watching Washington dominate Oregon in the first game and defeat them 69-43. Where were these Huskie players during the regular season? They left peaking a bit late — perhaps they'll upset Cal tomorrow!

Oregon was hampered by the absence of their second-best scorer, Taylor Lilley, who sat out the last 33 minutes of the game after taking a charge and suffering a concussion.

The Huskies made a bit of Pac-10 history tonight. They became the first #10 seed in the eight-year history of the tournament to defeat the #7 seed. Read the game report ...

The matchup for Friday's game at 5:00 will be Stanford vs Arizona. The Arizona/WSU game tonight was a very good hard-fought one. It was a close game until the last five minutes, when Arizona crept ahead. The Wildcats ensured their 79-72 victory over the Cougars by making all of their free throws in the last minute after making just 40% of them up to that point.

Ify Ibekwe and Amina Nnonjou were excellent, as they were against Stanford and Cal last week. They'll give us a tough game, but they looked pretty tired after tonight's effort. (No game report available yet).

Cardinal expected to rule

The L.A. Daily News reports that Stanford is seen as the heavy favorite in the Pac-10 Tourney.

But a win or loss won't affect the Cardinal much either way. Tara says, "The three-day tournament is exciting and it gets you ready for the NCAA Tournament, but I think there are advantages and disadvantages to winning or losing. If you win the Pac-10, you have a lot of momentum. If you lose, you work on what you did wrong and correct it before the (NCAA) tournament." Read more...

Pac-10 Honors

Coach of the Year: Tara VanDerveer, Stanford

Player of the Year: Jayne Appel, Stanford

Freshman of the Year: Briana Gilbreath, USC

Defensive Player of the Year: Briann January, Arizona State

All Pac-10 First Team
Jayne Appel, Stanford
Alexis Gray-Lawson, California
Ify Ibekwe, Arizona
Briann January, Arizona State
Ashley Walker, California

Other Stanford award winners
Second Team: Jillian Harmon, Jeanette Pohlen
Third Team: Kayla Pedersen
All-Defensive Team: Jillian Harmon, Rosalyn Gold-Onwude (honorable mention)
All-Freshman Team: Nneka Ogwumike


The complete announcement