March 30, 2017

Game day minus one

Interviews in the locker room

The stories of the day

SWBB Facebook's best photos of the day

Click here to see them.

Advice from Kobe Bryant

Wrapping up day 1 in Dallas

Here's more about the Cardinal's first day in Dallas from the social media

Cardinal gets gifts from Nike

Cardinal goes country

Stanford met the other three teams in the Final Four for a country-themed welcome dinner in downtown Dallas.

Brittany is top student-athlete

With a 3.73 GPA in human biology, Brittany wins the NCAA Elite 90 Award as the top student-athlete at the Final Four. I believe that the award will be officiailly announced at the championship game, so more later.

Bri's Stanford Story

Karlie is the sharpest shooter

SWBB Facebook's best photos of the day

Click here to see them.

March 29, 2017

The first day in Dallas

Last trip, best trip

Time to hoop

The road ends here

Behind the scenes

Here are the stories of the day:

Pac-12 broadcaster and former KNBR anchor Kate Scott is a fervent fan of Stanford Women's Basketball. She has no doubt that the trophy is coming back to Palo Alto. Listen to her unconditional endorsement of the Cardinal's success in Dallas, beginning at 03:03 in the podcast.

March 28, 2017

The last leg of the trip to Dallas

The Cardinal took the road to Dallas today (by charter flight, I assume)!

Bird and Karlie took another national award with them: AP All-American honorable mention.

Here is the first batch of Final Four stories:

March 27, 2017

Lexington wrap-up

Second-seed Cardinal topple Fighting Irish to head to thirteenth Final Four. by Lorenzo Rosas (Stanford Daily)

Stanford stages massive comeback to stun Notre Dame, by Paige Sherrard (Swish Appeal)

The last two minutes:

From an unhappy Notre Dame locker room: Regret clutters Notre Dame women's basketball locker room, by Al Lesar (South Bend Tribune)

An interview with Caspar, Wyoming's pride and joy: Final Four Bound Kaylee Johnson Interview, from KCWY Caspar, WY

The daily Samuelson Sisters story: Samuelson sisters cheer each other's NCAA Tournament runs, from the Associated Press

March 26, 2017

Cardinal takes the fight out of the Irish!

Stanford spotted Notre Dame a 16-point lead, then clawed back into the game to grab a one-point, come-from-behind, upset triumph in the Elite Eight.

The announced crowd in the cavernous Rupp Arena was 2,527 on a damp Sunday in Lexington. The great majority of folks in the stands wore the Irish green; a cluster of a hundred or so in cardinal tried to out-shout them from behind the Stanford bench.

Through the first quarter the teams seemed well-matched, and Stanford held several small leads. Then in the second quarter Stanford fell into a scoring drought while Notre Dame's phenomenal freshman, Arike Ogunbowale drove freely to the basket. After allowing a 13-0 run for the Irish, Tara called time; shortly after, Ogunbowale closed the half with a three leaving Stanford down 14.

That became a 16-point deficit shortly into the third quarter when Notre Dame's equally dangerous Marina Mabrey hit a jumper. There was gloom among the red- shirted fans, who didn't known that this marked the start of a historic recovery. It began with a three by Brittany, then a jumper by Alanna, then another three from Brittany. With the score 43-51, Notre Dame called a timeout. A few minutes later Bird made a layup and Karlie hit a three to bring Stanford within four; Brittany made a layup to close out the quarter with a 16-point deficit reduced to just two, 55-57.

The fourth quarter was a tense, see-saw battle. Looking only at the scoring and ignoring all the misses and steals and fouls, it went like this:

  • Brittany hits a three to give Stanford its first lead of the half, 58-57.
  • Mabrey, who is like an eel wriggling through the defense to the basket, makes a layup: 58-59.
  • Bird makes one free throw to tie, then Brittany hits a jumper: 61-59.
  • Mabrey makes another layup: 61-61.
  • Notre Dame's Erin Boley hits a three: 61-64. Gloom among the red-shirts!
  • Karlie hits a three: 64-64. Red-shirts explode!
  • Alanna makes a layup: 66-64.
  • Two free throws by Ogunbowale: 66-66.
  • Two free throws by Brittany: 68-66.
  • Mabrey hits a three-pointer: 68-69.
  • Two free throws by Marta: 70-69.
  • Mabrey makes a layup: 70-71.
  • Brittany makes a layup: 72-71.
  • Two free throws by Notre Dame's Lindsay Allen: 72-73.
  • Alanna layup: 74-73.
  • Lindsay Allen jumper: 74-75.
  • Tara calls time at 0:36.
  • Alanna makes a layup: 76-75.

Now Notre Dame had the ball, down one with 25 seconds to play. Stanford had a foul to give, so Marta helped them pass some time by fouling the point guard. With three seconds left, Lindsay Allen missed a jumper, the ball went out of bounds, the refs reviewed the video and awarded the ball to Notre Dame.

Tara called a timeout. Then Muffet McGraw called a timeout. Finally, Notre Dame inbounded the ball. Ogunbowale went for a game-winning jumper, Bird blocked it, and the buzzer went off: Stanford wins!

Brittany led all scorers with 27 points (Ogunbowale had 25), including 5 of 9 three-point attempts, plus five rebounds, two blocks and four assists.

Karlie had fifteen points on 5 of 8 three-point attempts, two rebounds, one block and four assists.

Alanna had fifteen points including what proved to be the winning layup, two blocks, two steals and seven rebounds.

Bird had nine points, eleven rebounds, and two blocks including the one that preserved the win in the final second.

Bri had seven points and three assists.

Marta had just two points, but recorded three rebounds and eight assists (with zero turnovers).

Here are game reports and commentary:

The game statistics,

The game highlights video from Stanford Athletics,

The game highlights video from ESPN

Video clips from ESPN:

The video press conference (Notre Dame & Stanford)

And a gallery of photos by Mark Mahan SWBB Facebook.

March 25, 2017

Regional Final Eve

Graham Hays (espnW) discusses how Stanford and Notre Dame got to the Lexington Regional Final: Confident stars carry Irish, Cardinal to Elite Eight

Al Lesar (South Bend Tribune) explains what Tara has to worry about: Defending Arike Ogunbowale a challenge for Stanford

Ken Kilmek (South Bend Tribune) discusses Notre Dame's revised offense: Notre Dame women's basketball set for Stanford chess game in Elite Eight

Tom FitzGerald's (San Francisco Chronicle) report of today's press conference: Irish downplay revenge factor vs. Stanford in duel for Final Four berth

Graham Hays (espnW) writes about the third matchup between two former national champions: Notre Dame, Stanford meet again with Final Four trip on the line

Here's the press conference on which some of the above stories were based:

And, finally, Road Trip - Day 10:

March 24, 2017

Cardinal grinds out a win over the Longhorns, 77-66

Stanford had a narrow lead, gave it up, fell behind, then came back against a determined, aggressive Texas team to move to an NCAA tournament game against Notre Dame for the third year running.

An announced crowd of 3,160 occupied the lower bowl of the vast Rupp Arena for the first game of the night, Notre Dame versus Ohio State. Notre Dame won that fairly easily, and a lot of red-clad Buckeye fans and green-clad Irish deserted the scene, perhaps to watch the UCLA-Kentucky men's game. Considerably fewer were present when the Cardinal tipped off against the Longhorns.

The Longhorns' defense was aggressive and physical, and the refs were in tournament mode, letting a lot of contact go unwhistled. There were more players sliding or crashing to the floor than usual. Nevertheless, the Cardinal took an early lead and were up by one at the end of the first quarter, 18-17.

During the second quarter Alanna came out looking distressed and left the floor for several minutes, leading fans to think she was ill. However she soon returned and played well in the second half. Also during that quarter Texas took a lead, and were up seven at the half, 29-36.

The third quarter opened with a remarkable series that brought Stanford back into the game. Bird got an offensive rebound which led to Karlie hitting a three and being fouled. Karlie missed the and-one, but Alanna rebounded it and Marta passed to Brittany for another three.

So the Cardinal went from down-seven to down-one in a minute's play; and the game remained close for the next several minutes. Then Karlie hit a three to give Stanford its first lead of the half, 47-45; and when Texas tied the score she hit another three to retake the lead 50-47.

After a Bird jumper, Texas called time to regroup, but it didn't help. The quarter ended with Stanford up 54-49.

They maintained a lead of four to six points through most of the fourth quarter. At one point the Longhorns had come back within three, 58-55, when Bird lobbed a pass to Brittany standing in a group of Texans for a layup.

That put the Cardinal again up by two possessions and it stayed that way until Texas began the foul parade in the final minute. Stanford made most of their free throws, so the final score looks like an easier win than it really was.

Bird had a big game against the Longhorns' tough defense, scoring 23 points on 9-14 shooting, plus twelve rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.

Karlie played all 40 minutes and had fifteen points (4 of 8 from long range) plus five assists. As noted above, her threes were critical to bringing Stanford back into the game and then keeping a lead.

Brittany had twelve points, including five of six free throws, plus three assists and a block.

Alanna shook off whatever was bothering her in the second quarter to score ten points plus seven rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.

Kaylee had five points and three rebounds in only eight minutes on the floor.

Bri had six points and Marta, one, while between them they held Texas sharpshooter Brooke McCarty to only eight points, well below her season average.

Here are game reports and commentary:

The game statistics,

The game highlights video from Stanford Athletics,

The game highlights video from ESPN,

A Bird and Karlie highlights video,

The video press conference , with Tara, Bird and Karlie,

And a gallery of photos by Mark Mahan (SWBB Facebook).

Alanna v Joyner, Samuelsons, 3-point shot

Cardinal women hope to mess with Texas in NCAA hoops, by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)

Texas' Joyner Holmes, Stanford's Alanna Smith ready to make impact in Sweet 16, by Graham Hays (espnW)

For the Samuelson family, it’s a Sweet 16 sister act, by John FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)

For 30 years, the 3-point shot has benefited the Texas, Stanford women, by Rick Cantu (Austin American-Statesman)

March 23, 2017

The four contenders in Lexington

A third consecutive Stanford/Notre Dame tournament dance?

Possibly, according to Five Thirty Eight, which gives Stanford a 51% chance of defeating Texas and Notre Dame a 76% chance of defeating Ohio State in Lexington on Friday (however, the odds haven't been updated since it was announced that Notre Dame senior center Brianna Turner, Notre Dame's leading scorer and rebounder, is out with a torn ACL).

Here's how the four teams in the Lexington Regional match up statistically:

Stanford Texas Notre Dame Ohio State
Points per game 72.0 74.3 80.0 86.0
Scoring margin +16.5 +12.6 +18.8 +15.3
Field goal % .447 .450 .496 .455
Opponents field goal % .345 .364 .377 .372
3-pointers per game 6.1 4.0 5.9 7.8
3-point % .355 .353 .412 .349
Free throw % .692 .670 .716 .693
Rebounds per game 41.3 43.4 38.7 44.8
Rebounding margin +7.9 +10.9 +5.8 +4.9
Assists per game 15.3 13.8 18.1 16.1
Turnovers per game 13.9 15.4 14.7 13.9
Assist/turnover ratio 1.1 0.9 1.2 1.2
Steals per game 7.4 7.3 9.1 7.9
Blocks per game 5.6 5.8 4.8 6.2
Overall record 30-5 25-8 33-2 28-6
Conference record 15-2 15-3 16-0 15-1
RPI 6 13 2 27
Schedule strength 7 3 2 33

  Stanford Cardinal

Stanford women wallop Kansas State to reach Sweet 16

Strange but true: Stanford could have a shot at the Final Four

Focused on tests and Texas (video)

Roster
Season Statistics
Game Notes

  University of Texas Longhorns

Texas moves on to Sweet 16 over NC State 84-80

Four months later, Texas will take second shot at Stanford in Sweet 16

Karen Aston to coach against an icon when Texas meets VanDerveer’s Stanford

Development of Joyner Holmes culminates in re-match with Stanford

Roster
Season Statistics
Game Notes

  Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Irish Top Purdue, Advance to Eighth Straight Sweet 16

Point guard Lindsay Allen drives top-seeded Notre Dame into Sweet 16

Notre Dame women's hoops adjusts to life after Brianna Turner

Notre Dame shifts gears for Ohio St after losing Turner

Roster
Season Statistics
Game Notes

  Ohio State Buckeyes

Mitchell, Harper lead Ohio State past Kentucky and into Sweet 16

Buckeyes in better position in return to Sweet 16

Roster
Season Statistics
Game Notes

March 22, 2017

Bumps in the road

The Cardinal encountered unexpected difficulties on the road to Dallas, as Janie McCauley (AP) reports: Travel challenges just part of NCAA Tournament for Stanford

March 20, 2017

Cardinal stifles K-State Wildcats, 69-48

Almost 4,000 purple-clad Wildcat fans came to the spacious confines of Bramlage Coliseum for this game, joined by a hundred or so cardinal-wearing Stanford fans. The smaller group had more to cheer about as the Stanford defense shut down K-State's best scorers.

One thing was clear to Stanford fans almost immediately: the Wildcats were absolutely determined that Karlie Samuelson would not beat them. She barely got her hands on the ball before one and usually two defenders pounced at her. As a result it wasn't until the third quarter that Karlie attempted a shot.

When one player is so tightly defended, others have to be open. A couple of minutes into the game, Brittany drove in and made a layup. A fan was heard to say, "If they are going to let Brit operate, we're going to have a good night." And in fact Brit did operate, getting seven points and an assist in the first quarter.

The first quarter ended with Stanford up by a modest five points. In the second quarter, the wheels came off K-State's Conestoga wagon. In the first minute Brittany hit a three, then drove and missed a layup that Bird put back. With Stanford up ten, the Wildcats called a timeout. It didn't help. K-State went more long minutes with no score but free throws. At the half, Brittany had added two more threes, and with Alanna and Bird scoring, Stanford led 39-21.

In the second half Karlie got three chances to shoot and made two of them. The second of these came when the Cardinal had been passing the ball around the perimeter of the Wildcat's wide-spread two-three zone. With the clock getting short, Karlie at the top of the arc passed to Brittany at the right elbow. She bent her knees, drawing two defenders, so passed back to Karlie who was now two long steps back from the arc. Unfazed, Karlie let it fly and swished the three.

Rebounding was a major factor in the result, despite Stanford not being any taller, overall, than the Wildcats. In the final tally Stanford out-rebounded K-State by 15, 39-25, and O-boards were 12-5. That gave the Cardinal more opportunities, and Stanford made better use of them, shooting 46% versus the Wildcat's 39%.

So with a convincing win in hand, Stanford heads to Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky to face Texas for the Sweet Sixteen. That's the same location where Stanford upset Notre Dame last year at this time. If they can get past Texas, they'll probably have a chance to repeat that matchup.

Brittany led all scorers with 21 points, mostly from a career-high five of seven from beyond the arc. She rounded out her stellar offense with seven rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal.

Alanna was close behind with 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block.

Bird had ten points, six rebounds and a block.

Karlie had six points from making two of three shots, plus two assists and two steals.

Kaylee contributed her usual strong defense with four rebounds in twelve minutes of play and also scored five points.

Bri and Marta shared point guard duties and focused on holding K-State's leading scorer to eleven points on three of seven field goal attempts. They each dished six assists, Bri with no turnovers and Marta with four.

Here are game reports and commentary:

The game statistics,

The game highlights videofrom Stanford Athletics,

The game highlights video from ESPN,

Another highlights video: Brittany's 21 points,

The audio press conference with Tara, Brittany and Alanna,

A gallery of photos by (David Mayes Photograph,

And photos by Orlin Wagner (Associated Press):

Brittany drives to the basket
Brittany lays up two of her 21 points
And-one for Alanna
Bird and Karlie stop K-State's tall center

March 19, 2017

Preparing for round 2

K-State not afraid of Stanford in NCAA Tournament matchup, by Dave Sketta (Associated Press)

Stanford stands in way of K-State women reaching Sweet 16, by Maria Torres (Kansas City Star)

Stanford women will face tough center, crowd at K-State, by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)

Cardinal at K-State, from Stanford Athletics

All Pac-12 teams advance

It's been a busy and exciting weekend for Pac-12 women's basketball fans. Not only did the Pac-12 send an unprecedented seven teams to thr Big Dance, all seven of them advanced to the scond round, three of them by the skin of their teeth!

Enjoy their victories:

 OSU Won 56-55:
Beavers top LBSU to advance to Sunday's second round

 Washington Won 91-63
Washington Tops Montana State To Advance To Second Round

 ASU Won 73-61:
Brilliant Play on Both Ends of the Floor Helps Sun Devil WBB Advance in NCAA Tournament as Turner Thorne wins 400th Game at ASU

 UCLA Won 83-56:
No. 4 UCLA Routs No. 13 Boise State

 Oregon Won 71-70:
Ducks Top Temple in NCAA Tournament Thriller

 Cal Won 55-52:

Bears beat LSU in NCAA Tournament

March 18, 2017

Cardinal wears out Aggies to take first round 72-64

Historically no 15-seed has ever won a first round postseason game. There were moments late in this game when fans were seriously worried that Stanford was going to have the distinction of yielding that unfortunate record; but Stanford conditioning, defense, and determination owned the quarter that mattered — the last one.

From the opening tip, the New Mexico Aggies did not play like a 15-seed. On offense they moved and passed with dazzling speed. They hit eight of their first twelve shots. At the end of the half, they had five threes, one from each of five players.

Meanwhile the Aggies' zone slowed the Cardinal. In one memorable possession, Stanford missed five successive shots but got five successive O-boards before Brittany sank a jumper.

At the end of the first quarter, the Cardinal were in the hole 20-23. The score would have been similar at the half, 31-35, except that with two seconds left, the Aggies missed a free throw, scooped up the rebound and sank a three on the buzzer sending Stanford to the locker room down 31-38, leaving their fans to spend the half with dark thoughts of making the wrong kind of history.

After the break, Karlie helped to erase most of that deficit with two three-pointers. The Aggies and the Cardinal exhanged a narrow lead throughout the third quarter, which ended with the Cardinal down one, 48-49.

As the fourth quarter began, some of the New Mexico players were visibly tired. Brittany, Alanna and Bird scored, and the Aggies missed several successive shots. Stanford finally had a lead that was not immediately erased; and soon after, its first two-possession lead.

The Aggies were unable to muster an answer, and the buzzer gave the Cafrdinal passage to the second round, where they'll play Kansas State (who defeated Drake 76-54) in front of a home crowd on Monday.

Alanna led the Cardinal with 19 points and eleven rebounds, plus six blocks.

Karlie had 17 points including 5-9 from long range, and five assists and three steals. Her last three-pointer of the day brougnt her caeer total to 238, one more than sister Bonnie's.

Brittany had 16 points, several in the crucial fourth quarter that sparked the Cardinal's march to victory; plus three assists, five steals, six rebounds and two blocks.

Bird had nine points, twelve rebounds, and three blocks.

Bri added six points from two three-pointers, plus three assists and two steals.

Marta had five points and five steals.

Here are game reports and commentary:

The game statistics,

The game highlights video from Stanford,

The game highlights video from ESPN,

Postgame video interview of Tara and Alanna,

Transcript of the press conference , with Tara, Alanna and Karlie,

A gallery of photos by David Mayes Photography,

March 17, 2017

On the eve of the first round

Kansas media isn't paying much attention to the women's basketball tournament pod in Manhattan. Both the Kansas and Kansas State men qualified for the men's tournament, and the midwest regional will be in Kansas City next weekend.

But here are some stories and videos on the eve of the Cardinal's first round:

Stanford hits road to play home game in NCAA tourney opener, from the Associated Press

Practice today, play tomorrow, Instagram video

Stanford’s most emotional player Erica McCall eyes national title, by Lindsay Schnell (Sports Illustrated)

Defense carries Stanford women into the Big Dance, by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)

No. 2 Stanford starts March Madness run against New Mexico St., by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)

K-State women continue upward trend with berth in NCAA Tournament, by Maria Torres (Kansas City Star)

The Dance begins in Kansas

Here is how the teams that will play rounds 1 and 2 in Manhattan, Kansas match up statistically:

Stanford New Mexico State Kansas State Drake
Points per game 72.1 69.3 68.1 83.1
Scoring margin +16.1 +10.7 5.6 +18.8
Field goal % .448 ..421 .420 .488
3-pointers per game 6.0 6.4 5.8 8.4
3-point % .352 .347 .333 .365
Free throw % .687 .706 .680 .742
Rebounds per game 41.5 39.3 37.5 30.9
Rebounding margin +7.7 +3.7 +1.8 +4.9
Assists per game 14.9 14.0 14.6 21.8
Turnovers per game 13.8 15.2 14.8 15.5
Assist/turnover ratio 1.08 0.92 0.98 1.40
Steals per game 7.2 9.3 8.2 11.4
Blocks per game 5.5 3.9 4.3 3.4
Overall record 28-5 23-7 22-10 28-4
Conference record 15-3 14-0 11-7 18-0
RPI 6 137 24 26
Schedule strength 8 331 30 81

FiveThirtyEight gives Stanford a 97% chance of defeating New Mexico State and Kansas State a 77% chance of defeating Drake. The chance of advancing to the Sweet 16 is 70% for Stanford and 26% for Kansas State.

  New Mexico State Aggies

The Aggies play in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). They earned an automatic bid to the NCAAs by winning their third straight tournament championship. The three-peat has only been accomplished one other time in WAC history (Louisiana Tech, 2002-2004).

The Aggies were also the WAC regular season champion for the first time with a perfect 14-0 record.

The Aggies are led by a coach familiar to Pac-12 fans ‐ Mark Trakh — who coached the USC Trojans from 2004-09 (between Chris Gobrecht and Michael Cooper). Trakh has been the head coach at New Mexico State since 2011. He was named the WAC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season.

The Aggie offense is led by three double-digit sharp-shooters:

  • Senior guard Moriah Mack, who was the WAC Player of the Year, averages 13.5 ppg and takes about 23% of her shots from beyond the arc.
  • Sophomore guard Brooke Salas averages 13.1 ppg and takes 38% of her shots from beyond the arc. She is also the leading rebounder with 6.6 rpg.
  • Senior guard Tamera William averages 10.9 ppg and takes 39% of her shots from beyond the arc.
They're all looking forward to their game against Stanford. Mack says, “We know what to expect. I think we’re going to go out and play hard. We feel great. I think we’re playing really good right now and we’re just excited to even be here.”

Here are New Mexico State's season statistics and roster

  Kansas State Wildcats

The Kansas State Wildcats earned their second consecutive at-large bid to the Big Dance by placing fourth in the tough Big-12 Conference behind Baylor, Texas and Oklahoma.

What brought the Wildcats to a jumping joy, quite literally, was when their name popped up as a seven seed to play at home in Manhattan.

Senior guard Kindred Wesemann said, "It means so much more. You thought Senior Night was the last time you got to play in Bramlage and the fact that it wasn’t makes this that much sweeter. We’ll get to play in front of our fans a few more times, hopefully, and we’ll just leave it all on the court.”

The Wildcats can expect a good turnout for their games against Drake and then, most likely, Stanford. Their average home attendance in 12,500-seat Bramlage Coliseum this season was 5,280.

The Wildcats are led by Jeff Mittle, now in his third season at Kansas State.

Senior guard Kindred Wesemann is the Wildcats' leading scorer with an average of 16.0 ppg. She takes about two-thirds of her shots from beyond the arc and makes 35% of them.

6'5" senior center Breanna Lewis does all her scoring in the paint , where she makes 55.7% of her shots for a total of 13.7 ppg. She is also the leading rebounder(8.3 rpg) and shot-blocker (1.8 bpg).

Here are Kansas State's season statistics, roster and game notes.

  Drake Bulldogs

Drake University, which is in Des Moines Iowa, plays in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). The Bulldogs won an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the MVC Tournament. The Bulldogs were also the MVC regular season champion with a perfect 18-0 record, which is a first-ever in the conference. Graham Hays ranked them tops in the mid-majors.

The Bulldogs are led by fifth-year head coach Jennie Baranczyk

The Bulldogs are one of the most unselfish, as TV commentators like to say, teams in the country. They rank second in the nation (to UConn) in assists with 21.8 per game.

Senior guard Caitlin Ingle dishes a third of them — 7.7 per game, which is second best nationwide. She also scores 10.4 points per game herself at a rate of 49%.

Senior forward Lizzy Wendell is the major recipient. She has made 260 field goals this season, which is fourth best nationwide. She makes 50% of her shots and averages 21.1 points per game.

The Bulldogs have two other double-digit sharp-shooters — freshman guard Becca Hittner (12.4 ppg, 54%) and sophomore guard Sammie Bachrodt (10.3 ppg, 48%)

Here are Drake's season statistics, roster and game notes.

March 15, 2017

New Mexico Aggies ready to take on the Cardinal

New Mexico State's "whatever-happened-to?" head coach says that his kids are ready to play Stanford in the first round and they're going to have fun.

NMSU women will face Stanford in NCAA Tournament, by Mark Rudi (Las Cruces Sun-News)

March 14, 2017

Tournament Fantasies Fantastique

By Warren Grimes

Most fantasies don’t work out.

Actually, that’s an understatement. Almost all fantasies don’t happen, at least in the form we envision them.

Still, fantasies are for having.

Only one team’s fans may have a legitimate expectation of winning the women’s national championship. U Conn fans have been spoiled, and, someday, they may have fantasies about reliving the past. For now, and for the rest of us, it’s still a good thing that we can fantasize about our team’s chances. And the team and the coaches should join in the fantasizing.

Fantasies make people work hard, strive, and do good things. The French composer Hector Berlioz pined for an Irish actress. He even wrote a symphony for her. I don’t think she was sufficiently impressed. But Berlioz wrote Symphonie Fantastique. That’s a good thing.

So if the Stanford players and coaches are fantasizing about a national championship, I say go for it. They will play harder, they will be more focused, and, win or lose, they will do good things.

This year’s team has already done some amazing things in Seattle. Was it a fantasy that Stanford could defeat UW at home, especially after digging themselves into an 18 point first half hole? Was it a fantasy that Stanford, again in Seattle, could win the Pac-12 tournament final with only 48 total points, especially after allowing Oregon State to score 22 points in the first quarter alone?

Well, been there. Done that.

Now the magic of Seattle has to play out in other venues, starting with Kansas. Listen, if Dorothy can get from Kansas to Oz and back, Stanford should be able get from Kansas to Lexington to Dallas.

Well, here are some fantasies for this Stanford team.

Win six more games. Long odds for that, but fantasies aren’t bound by odds.

Meet another Pac-12 team in the tournament. There are no other Pac12 teams in Stanford’s half of the bracket, so making the final four is the only way this fantasy can happen.

Meet California, Oregon, UCLA or Washington in the tournament. Those teams are in the other bracket, so this can only happen if Stanford makes the final game.

Have at least two Stanford players have career games. Stanford’s best tournament runs have frequently been accompanied by individual career games (I recall Jayne Appel, Candice Wiggins, JJ Hones and Taylor Greenfield doing this). It would be nice to have each of the seniors do this, but heck, I’ll cheer for any and all.

Play their Hearts Out - If Stanford does this, win or lose, the season will end on a high note.