Warren Grimes
Approaching the halfway point in its season, the Stanford women
stand at a pivotal moment. Will the team
regain the momentum it had in November, finishing that month with a 7-1 record
and high hopes to outperform preseason predictions? Or is its path forward mired in its December-early
January record of 2-6?
The un-Stanford like realities of this season so far suggest
that rival California, with a 16-2 record, is the Cinderella team of the ACC. Meanwhile, Stanford, with a 1-4 conference
record, will be lucky to finish with a preseason-predicted 6th place
finish. Perhaps even more concerning, a Stanford
invitation to the NCAA tournament is now in doubt.
During the Cameron Brink years, Stanford could rely on Brink
and other powerful interior players to block shots of opponents who crashed the
paint. Not this year. For this team, defense requires players at
all positions to coordinate and focus on defense. Focus and intensity for the full 40 minutes
are needed. What may have sufficed
during the Brink era will not get it done for this team.
These realities were evident in the team’s last four
games. Stanford has yet to win a single
game played outside Maples. The team was
unable to seal the deal against SMU and Creighton, teams that will struggle to finish
in the top half of the conference. Both
were one-possession games, with the loss to Creighton in overtime. Stanford recovered for a scrappy Maples victory
against a solid Florida State team. The weekend
ended with a hard fought but overmatched loss to NC State. In that last contest, Stanford won the first
quarter (by 6 points) and the fourth quarter (by 11 points), statistics
that should bode well. But they weren’t
nearly enough. NC State won the second
quarter (by 12 points) and decimated Stanford in the third quarter (by 19
points). NC State’s 34-point third
quarter matched its total for the first half.
There’s no shame in losing to NC State, a final four team
last year with a core of guards with substantial WNBA potential. Stanford showed some mettle with its 24-point
fourth quarter, narrowing what had been a 27-point deficit to an 11-point
margin near the end of the game. But
Stanford ran out of gas and time.
As a glass-is-half-full person, I still see hope for the
last half of the season. Stanford will
be the underdog in most of those games but change and development is in the
air. After the loss to SMU, Coach Paye
changed the starting lineup to add Chloe Clardy and Shay Ijiwoye (moving Tess
Heal and Jzaniya Harriel to reserves). Both
additions show promise. Chloe Clardy had
a team high of 17 points against NC State, including 5 boards and 3-5 shooting
from three-point range. Ijiwoye’s
strength and quickness will disrupt an opponent’s rhythm on both offense and
defense. Her strengths were on show
against Florida State, where she had 7 points, 5 boards, 2 assists and a steal
(no turnovers).
The other starters have not faltered. Elena Boscana has shown Brittany McPhee-like
moves inside. Brooke Demetre and Nunu Agara
have been steady and reliable.
There won’t be any easy wins for this young Stanford
team. The starting lineup now includes
two sophomores and one freshman. Four of
the five starters did not start last year.
There is real potential for improvement.
The chemistry remains strong with this scrappy, creative, and fun-to-watch
team. A few wins on the road, and maybe
two upsets of higher ranked teams should guarantee Stanford an invite to the
big dance.
