Exceeding Expectations: This Season with WBB

 

Warren Grimes

This year’s Stanford WBB team is unranked at the start of the season.   That’s unusual for Stanford. 

The media’s assessment is not without reason.  Stanford lost two All American post players, one the leading shot blocker in Stanford history and the other the team’s leading scorer.  And they lost the team’s third leading scorer as well, an outside shooter with a 37.2% three-point average.

The team also lost Tara VanDerveer, a coach that won three national championships and more collegiate basketball games than any other coach.  And, if that wasn’t enough, the team must adjust to playing in a different league with a lot of cross-country travel and perennial top-25 teams.

There is, however, one advantage to starting the season unranked.   There is more room for the upward climb.  Getting into the top 25 will be a challenge – and a top ten ranking more so.  That said, the coaching staff and the players are excited by the challenge.  As a fan, I share that excitement and look forward to seeing what the team can do. 

The team just won an exhibition game against Cal State LA by a twenty-one point margin (91-70).  The game offered hints of where the team’s strengths may lie.   Three sophomore players showed the anticipated second year leap.  Nunu Agara played the post and had double digits in points (25) and rebounds (13).  Courtney Ogden put up 10 points and 6 boards.  And Chloe Clardy shared point guard responsibilities and scored 11, including 2-5 shooting from three-point land. 

Two seniors offered meaningful contributions.  Reliable and steady Brooke Demetre added 10 points while teammate Elena Bosgana put up 11.  And junior Jzaniya Harriel added another 11 while sharing the point guard position.   That makes 6 players who scored in double digits, all of them team veterans.  Therein lies one of the potential strengths of this team – unselfish basketball that allows different players to step up when opportunity and need arise.

Two other veterans played substantial minutes in the exhibition.  Both are transfer players.  Tess Heal, an Australian guard by way of Santa Clara, played 25 minutes and added 7 points.  Heal was the top scorer on last year’s Santa Clara team.  Mary Ashley Stevenson, a New Yorker who transferred from Perdue, added 4 points while playing 18 minutes.  Of note is that all eight of these players can shoot the three ball, and, in the exhibition, six of them converted a total of 10 three point shots at a 34.5% clip.

This year's team should have depth at the guard position, with a lot of outside shooting and, if the defense moves out, options for pick and roll and driving to the hoop.

So what’s missing?  Perhaps some defensive strategy and intensity to limit opponents’ scoring.   Also, two players likely to be in the Stanford rotation did not play in the exhibition.  Point guard Talana Lepolo was held back.  She was an assist leader and one of the two veterans in last year’s starting lineup.   And freshman Shay Ijiwoye is still recovering from an injury.  Ijiwoye is said to be both quick and fast and could be a disrupting defender who racks up a lot of steals.

Two other freshmen, Kennedy Umeh and Harper Peterson, played less than 2 minutes each but offer the team additional inside depth.  At 6”4”, Umeh is said to be the strongest player on the team.  Peterson at 6’3” can play both in the interior and on the perimeter.

Coach Paye anticipates a 9 or 10 player rotation.  Her coaching acumen will be tested this season, but she has already won my vote for her smooth handling of the media and press conferences.  And the players love her high energy in practices. 

This team is poised and hungry to move out of the world of unranked teams.