Bonnie is Player of the Week!

Congratulations, Bonnie!

Bonnie was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for her performances in the Cardinal’s recent games against UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara, the conference announced Monday afternoon.

It’s the first such honor for Bonnie, who led the Cardinal to a pair of victories over the visiting Aggies and Gauchos to close out non-conference play.

In a 71-59 victory over UC Davis on Monday, the senior sharpshooter scored a career-high 30 points, was 8-of-13 from the field, 6-of-10 from deep and an uncharacteristic 8-of-10 at the line. She had made 44 consecutive free throws before missing her first since Dec. 2013 late in the first half.

Bonnie set a personal best in made field goals and tied her previous high in 3-pointers, hitting six for the fifth time. She became the first Stanford player not named Ogwumike to score 30 in a game since Jeanette Pohlen poured in 31 against Connecticut on Dec. 30, 2010.

Bonnie followed that up with nine points from a trio of 3-pointers in just 15 minutes in Stanford’s 90-34 romp over UC Santa Barbara on Sunday. On the week, she averaged 19.5 points and made nine of her 15 attempts from behind the arc (.600). She was 2-of-4 on shots from inside the 3-point line.

A career 38.5 percent 3-point shooter, Bonnie has made 19 of her 42 attempts this season (.452) and 175 in her career, just three shy of cracking Stanford’s all-time top 10. She is 26-of-57 overall from the field (.456) this season and her 93.3 percent clip on free throws (28-of-30) leads the Pac-12.

— Stanford Athletics

Cardinal crushes the Gauchos

The Cardinal wrapped up non-conference play with a dominating win over the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos, 90-34.

Granted that the Gauchos were not a tough opponent, it was still good to watch the Cardinal finding success with their new offensive system.

The Cardinal won with a well-balanced attack. They shot 54.5% from the field, 41.7 % from beyond the arc and 80% at the free throw line. Everyone played at least five minutes, 12 of them scored, eight of them accounted for 87% of the Cardinal points.

Lili got some of her mojo back today. She made two fast breaks, shot 62.5% and led all scorers by just a bit with 12 points. Three other Cardinal scored in double-digits (Karlie and Briana had 11, Brittany had 10), Bonnie and Taylor had nine, and Kaylee and Bird had eight.

There was balance beyond the arc too. Bonnie and Karlie each sank three treys, Jasmine sank two, and Taylor and Briana each sank one.

Ball-handling was more productive today. So far this season, the Cardinal had averaged 9.5 assists per game. Today they had 17 ‐ with four apiece from Amber and Lili.

Brittany showed so much hustle on both offense and defense. Her primary skill is purported to be 3-point shooting, but she did everything but that today in her career-high 22 minutes on the court – a mid-range jumper, two layups, all four of her free throws, five rebounds, three blocks, three steals and an assist.

Bird had a strong game today. She led all rebounders with a career-high twelve and made all four of her field goal attempts. If she had made her two free throws, she would have tallied her first double-double.

Here's hoping the improvement continues on into conference play, which begins at Maples next Saturday with a game against the Colorado Buffs.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• No. 16 Stanford coasts past UC Santa Barbara 90-34, the Associated Press game recap (posted by espnW)


• Gauchos Open Three-Game Road Swing with 90-34 Loss at Stanford, the UCSB Athletics game recap


• Balanced Blowout, the Stanford Athletics game recap


• Stanford women rout overmatched Gauchos by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)


• Cardinal end the year on a good note with solid victory by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)


• WBB: Stanford 90 UCSB 34 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

A gallery of photos by Hector Garcia-Molina (Stanford Photo),

And photos by George Nikitin (Associated Press):

Brittany grabs a rebound

Taylor drives to the basket

Bonnie puts up a trey

Kaylee puts up a jumper

Staying in touch during the holiday break

Alexa Philippou (The Stanford Daily) reviews the Cardinal's past two games: No. 16 women’s basketball splits pair of nonconference games

Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online) writes about the current state of the team: Stanford women are searching for basketball answers

Stanford Athletics previews the upcoming game vs the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos on Sunday: Pre-Pac-12 Finale

UCSB Athletics previews the game too: Road Trip to Powerhouse Stanford, Seattle Coming Up for UCSB

KCWY13, Casper Wyoming TV reports on Kaylee's success at Stanford: Kaylee Johnson Finds Groove at Stanford

The Chronicle Sporting Green is commemorating an amazing year of sports in the Bay Area with a series that recounts the Top Ten Plays of 2014. No. 5 is: Orrange’s huge 3 helped take down No. 1

Bonnie bombs the Aggies

The Aggies packed the paint and succeeded in keeping the Cardinal guards from penetrating, but Bonnie took advantage of her opportunies and led the Cardinal to a 71-59 victory.

With a 3-pointer by Bonnie and then one by Karlie, the Cardinal took the lead for good with four minutes left in the first half. But the Aggies kept up their oppressive defense and a spirited offense. The Cardinal victory was not secure until a 3-pointer by Bonnie increased the lead to 12 with three minutes left in the game.

That last 3-pointer was Bonnie's sixth one of the day. She's made that many four times before, but this is the first time she's added a jumper, a layup, and eight free throws for a grand total of 30 points (nine points more than her previous career high).

The sharp shooting wasn't Bonnie's only contribution to the win. She also tallied five rebounds, two steals and one block.

Kaylee had a good game in the paint with eleven points and eleven rebounds — the second double-double of her career. She made five of her nine field goal attempts.

Karlie found success beyond the arc too. She made three of her four attempts.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Bonnie Samuelson lifts No. 16 Stanford past UC Davis 71-59, the Associated Press game recap (posted by espnW)
• Doherty, Fipps pace Aggies at #16 Stanford, the UC Davis Athletics game recap
• Bombin’ Bonnie, the Stanford Athletics game recap
• Samuelson sisters lead Cardinal to basketball victory by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
• Stanford women defeat UC Davis 71-59 by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• WBB: Stanford 71 U.C. Davis 59 Bonnie 30 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

The press conference audio with Tara and Bonnie,

And photos by Jeff Chiu (Associated Press):

Kaylee puts up a shot

One of Amber's four steals (?)

Bonnie goes for a layup

Lili is stuffed

Any win is a cause for joy

Cardinal stifled by Lady Vol defense

Paul Sunderland, the TV announcer, said it was, "one of the best defensive efforts ever by the University of Tennessee."

The Cardinal couldn't find a way to attack and lost 59-40.

Bird fights hard for possession

Here are game reports and commentary:

• No. 11 Lady Vols trounce No. 7 Stanford 59-40, the Associated Press game recap by Steve Megargee
• Stifled, the Associated Press game recap (posted by Stanford Athletics)
• #11 UT Stifles #7 Stanford In 59-40 Win, the Tennessee Athletics game recap
• Complete Effort Earns Complete Victory by Brian Rice (Tennessee Athletics)
• Sputtering offense leads to another loss for Cardinal women from Palo Alto Online
• Tennessee rises above Stanford by Graham Hayes (espnW)

The box score and play-by-play,

Quotes from Tara's postgame interview

Stanford, Tennessee in unfamiliar territory

By Steve Megargee (Associated Press):

For the first time in nearly a quarter century, Stanford and Tennessee are facing off with neither of these traditional women's basketball powers ranked in the top five.

The seventh-ranked Cardinal (6-3) and 11th-ranked Lady Volunteers (8-2) have legitimate Final Four aspirations, but both teams are still sorting things out as they head into Saturday's game at Thompson-Boling Arena. Read more...

Ariel & Lili at Maples last season

Another stunning upset by the Mocs

Holy Toledo! What a game!! The Mocs upset the No. 7 seed 54-46!!!

There was plenty for the jubilant fans in McKenzie Roundhouse to cheer about.

The Mocs defense held the Cardinal to 28% shooting from the field.

The Cardinal guards couldn't find their way to the basket. Amber scored on two of six 2-pointer attempts. Lili sank three 3-pointers, but made none of seven 2-point attempts. Briana made none of three attempts. That's a total of two of 16 – 12.5%. Before tonight, their combined total 2-pointers per game was 8.5 of 18 – 46%.

And the Mocs closed off access to the basket without fouling. They're tied with two other teams in the nation for the fewest fouls per game. They committed only six tonight. None of them were against Amber, Lili or Briana.

The Mocs defense (or bad karma, or something) also stymied the Cardinal beyond the arc, where they made just four of 17 attempts. Besides Lili, six other Cardinals launched 3-pointers – only Taylor succeeded in sinking one.

The Mocs offense was as impressive as their defense. Their ball-handling was crisp and confident. They're a good 3-point shooting team with an average of six per game. They outdid themselves tonight, making nine of 24 attempts. Five of them came from freshman guard Chelsea Shumpert, who scored a career-high 18 points.

To end on a bright Cardinal note: E Payne came off the bench for 18 minutes tonight and tallied six points, four rebounds and two steals. All those stats are season highs for Erica.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Cold in Chattanooga, the Associated Press game recap (posted by Stanford Athletics)
• Mocs Take Down No. 7 Stanford at the Roundhouse, the Chattanooga Athletics game recap
• Shooting woes lead to another loss for Cardinal women from Palo Alto Online
• No. 7 Stanford loses 54-46 to Chattanooga by Steve Megargee (The State)
• UTC Cagers Upset No.7 Stanford from the Chattanoogan

The box score and play-by-play,

And photos of some nice Cardinal moments by BillyWeeks (Associated Press):

Kaylee shoots against Jasmine Joyner

Briana goes way up for a shot

Bird gets past Jasmine Joyner

Kaylee blocks Keiana Gilbert's shot

Karlie impedes Moses Johnson's drive

Taylor keeps the ball away from Chelsey Shumpert

The word from Chattanooga

Folks in Chattanooga are anticipating this afternoon's game against Stanford.

Chattanooga seeks to upset another national power, commentary by Steve Megargee (The State)

UTC Women's basketball schedule benefiting from Coach Foster's connections, a video story about Coach Foster from TV station KRCB

With big sister injured, Keianna steps up; Lady Mocs battle Stanford tonight, an injury report by Marion Wilhoite (The Daily Herald)

Up next: The Universities of Tennessee

Updated Dec 17: Radio coverage of Tennessee game.

The Cardinal are in Tennessee, getting ready to play two Universities of Tennessee – the one in Chattanooga and the one in Knoxville.

When I first saw the schedule for this season, I guessed that the Cardinal would have a fairly easy win in Chattanooga and a tough loss in Knoxville. Then, three weeks ago, the Chattanooga Mocs defeated the Lady Vols and now I have no idea what to expect!

The game in Chattanooga is on Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 PT. The Southern Conference will produce a live video stream of the game; Chattanooga will provide live audio and live stats.

The game in Knoxville is on Saturday morning at 10:00 PT. It will be televised on the SEC Network and broadcast by KZSU, broadcast by the Lady Vol Network, with live stats by GameTracker.

Amber lays it up and in last season at Maples

  Chattanooga Mocs

Chattanooga has long been a dominant team in the Southern Conference (SoCon). They've been the champion 16 times in the conference's 31-year history – six times in the past nine years.

This is a rebuilding year for the Mocs, who lost six seniors from last season's SoCon championship team. They've done well so far with three losses (including one to No. 3/2 Notre Dame) and six wins (including a stunning upset of No. 4/4 Tennessee). It's not first time the Mocs have upset the Lady Vols. They spoiled Holly Warlick's debut as Tennessee's head coach with an 80-71 upset on Nov. 9, 2012.

The Mocs are led by Women's Basketball Hall of Fame coach Jim Foster, now in his second season at Chattanooga. Foster has also been the head coach at St Joseph's (PA), Vanderbilt and Ohio State.

The most productive Mocs are:

• #20 5'11" freshman guard/forward Keiana Gilbert is the leading scorer (12.3 ppg) and the second-best rebounder (5.8 rpg). She has the most assists (2.4 apg), but unfortunately turns the ball over a bit more often than that. She had a breakout game in the upset of Tennessee where she scored her career-high 27 points.


• #3, 6'2" sophomore forward Jasmine Joyner leads in rebounding (8.9 rpg) and blocking (3.7 bpg) and is the second-best scorer (11.0 ppg).


• #25, 5'4" freshman guard Chelsey Shumpert runs the point for the Mocs. She averages 8.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game.


• #35, 5.9" sophomore guard/forward Aryanna Gilbert averages 7.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. She and Keiana are sisters.


• #11, 5'10" senior guard/forward Ka'Vonne Towns averages 7.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. She's the best 3-point shooter. She has taken 71% of her shots from beyond the arc and made 39.5% of them for an average of 1.7 per game.

Here are the Mocs statistics and roster.

Many visitors to Stanford athletic events wonder why the team is called the Cardinal and the mascot is a tree. The Chattanooga Mocs' nickname and their mascot, a bird, is just as confusing.

Mocs used to be short for Moccasins and the mascot was at various times a water moccasin, a moccasin shoe and Chief Moccanooga. But now it’s just Mocs and the mascot is a mockingbird (the Tennessee state bird) dressed as a railroad engineer (a reference to Chattanooga's history as a major railroad hub and to the song "Chattanooga Choo-Choo") named Scrappy (in honor of former Chattanooga football coach A. C. "Scrappy" Moore).

  Tennessee Lady Vols

The Lady Vols made it to the Sweet Sixteen last year.

Everyone returned this season except four-year starter Meighan Simmons. That left a scoring void, but with greater emphasis on its talented front court, the Lady Vols had reasonable expectations of returning to the Final Four for the first time since 2008. They were ranked No. 4 in the preseason national polls.

But things haven't gone according to plan so far this season. Sophomore center Mercedes Russell is sitting out the season to recover from off-season surgery on both feet. Senior center Isabelle Harrison sprained her knee late in the second game of the season and missed the next five contests.

The Lady Vols won five games before the stunning 67-63 loss to Chattanooga followed by a 72-59 loss to No. 6 Texas. They dropped to No. 14 in the national polls (but have since moved back up to No. 11).

The team's lack of defensive effort in those two losses left head coach Holly Warlick frustrated and angry. She intimated that the team couldn't defend a walk-through.

The priority has been on defense since then, and the team is getting the message that defense counts (and Isabelle Harrison is back.) They won their next three games — two against weak opponents, then against tough No. 17 Rutgers last week.

The Lady Vols have eleven active players on the roster. They all play major minutes (12.7 - 27.6 per game) and all score a significant number of points (from 5.1 to 12.0). Five of the key players are:

• 5, 5'7" senior point guard Ariel Massengale is the leading scorer (12.0 ppg) and the best 3-point shooter. She has taken 53% of her shots from beyond the arc and made 46.2% of them for an average of 2.3 per game. She seems to be fully recovered from the concussion that caused her to miss the last 16 games of last season.


• 12, 6'2" junior forward Bashaara Graves, after a slight sophomore slump last season, is again almost as productive as she was in her outstanding fresmman season. She is averaging 11.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. She has had double-doubles in five of nine games this season.


• #1, 6'3" junior center Nia Moore has been a key member of the Lady Vols front court, especially during Isabelle Harrison's absence. She's averaged 11.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.


• #20, 6'3" senior center Isabelle Harrison has played in just four games this season – she's been back for the most recent two She averages 11.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game


• #0, 5'11" sophomore guard Jordan Reynolds has been the starting point guard this season. She averages 3.1 assists per game and has a good assist/turnover ratio (2.0). She adds 5.1 points and 2.1 steals per game.

Here are the Lady Vols statistics and roster.

Cardinal rounds up the Broncos

The Cardinal were a bit rusty on offense tonight after their two-week hiatus, but they still didn't have much trouble defeating the Broncos 82-43.

The Cardinal were strong on defense. They out-rebounded the Broncos 57-33, were 9-1 on steals and 9-17 on turnovers.

But they shot poorly from beyond the arc and at the free-throw line.

They launched 19 three-pointers, but made just four of them. That poor rate of success is somewhat tempered by the fact that several of the misses went into the basket, then swirled out again.

The Broncos committed 27 fouls as they fought hard for a win. The Cardinal took advantage in the first half, as they made 13 of 17 free throws. But focus waned in the second half with more misses than makes. Their rate for the game was just 58.8%.

Highlight non-rusty performances came from:

Amber, who shone tonight with the game-high 20 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.

Kaylee, who matched her career high and Stanford's third-best rebounds in a single game with 22. (Chiney made 24 once; Nneka made 23 once; Mikaela made 22 once; and Kaylee made 22 once before this season ‐ against New Mexico.) She made three of her seven field goal attempts, but also only three of seven free throws, so fell one point short of her second career double-double. She also tallied two steals, two blocks and an assist.

Brittany, who is looking very much at home on a college court. She's fast, sees the court well, and is a strong defender. She earned 15 minutes of playing time tonight, during which she scored eleven points on three of seven field goal attempts and four of five free throws. She also tallied four rebounds, two steals and a block.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• Boxing Out, the Associated Press game recap (posted by Stanford Athletics)
• Broncos Fall at No. 7 Stanford, the Santa Clara Athletics game recap
• Orrange leads Stanford women past Santa Clara, 82-43 by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online Sports)
• Stanford women rout Santa Clara by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• Stanford women rout Santa Clara by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Stanford's Johnson grabs 22 rebounds in win over Santa Clara from the Casper Star-Tribune
• WBB: Stanford 82 Santa Clara 43 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

Stanford women's basketball steamrolls Santa Clara, Pac-12 game recap video

Stanford's Kaylee Johnson reflects on 22-rebound effort against Santa Clara, Pac-12 postgame interview video,

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

And photos by Ben Margot (Associated Press):

Bonnie blocks Marie Bertholdt's shot

Amber keeps the ball away from a pair of Broncos

Karlie drives past Marie Bertholdt

Raquel Avila drives against Amber

Amber named to Naismith watch list

Congratulations Amber!

Amber was named to the Naismith Trophy Women’s 50 Watch List this week. She is now on the preseason lists for all three major postseason individual awards (Wade Trophy, John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy).

For more information about Amber and the Naismith Trophy, see the Stanford Athletics announcement: One more for Orrange

Kaylee couldn't believe it

Mark Soltau (Stanford Athletics) completes his series about the Cardinal freshmen with a story about Keylee's being convinced that the offer from Stanford Women's Baskeball was a hoax: No Joke

Brittany really likes Stanford

Mark Soltau (Stanford Athletics) writes about freshman guard Brittany McPhee's finding endless new learning experiences at Stanford: Never Dull

No better option for Taylor Rooks

Mark Soltau (Stanford Athletics) writes about freshman forward Taylor Rooks' finding the perfect combination of academics and basketball at Stanford: No Better Option

Kaylee is Pac-12 Freshman of the Week

Congratulations Kaylee!

Cardinal forward Kaylee Johnson (Benicia, Calif.) earns Freshman of the Week honors on her birthday after averaging 11.8 rebounds per game in Stanford’s four games last week. In the Cardinal’s 70-65 win over New Mexico, the freshman registered her first-career double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 22 rebounds against the Lobos. The 22 boards were the most ever in a single-game in Stanford history. Her season average of 11.0 rebounds per game is the highest of any freshman in the nation.