Warren Grimes
On December 13 of last year, the Cal Bears defeated Stanford
decisively at Haas (83-63). A bit more
than a month later, playing at Maples, Cal completed the two-game sweep, this
time by a narrower 75-72 margin.
A Cal sweep in this rivalry game has happened before – to be
precise, in January of 1986. Almost 40
years had passed between these events.
Sandwiched between these 40 year markers were Tara VanDerveer years in
which Stanford won most of the games, often
sweeping the two conference games.
Stanford had won the last 12 straight.
Not this season. Cal
has the strongest team that Charmin Smith has fielded during her 5 seasons as
the head coach. Using the transfer
portal, Smith has put together a team that is outperforming the preseason
rankings. The team is now 18-3 and 6-2
in the very competitive ACC conference.
Cal will have a challenge against Notre Dame and Louisville on the road
and North Carolina at home, but the team should have a comfortable path to the
NCAA tournament. They are getting it
done with focus and balanced scoring by an experienced lineup, with five
players averaging in double digits.
As a Stanford student, I quickly bought into the rivalry
hype – hate Cal, prank Cal, and most of all BEAT CAL. Over the years, the rivalry games have brought
out the best in players from both teams.
So yes, players and fans are passionate about winning the rivalry
games.
The athletic departments of the two schools likely have more
nuanced views. Rivalry games bring in
the fans with more ticket revenues.
There is a kind of a mutual dependence in the Stanford vs. Cal
rivalry. Consider the following.
During their time together in the
Pac-12, Stanford and Cal joined in fighting for event scheduling that protected
student athletes’ classroom performance.
When the Pac-12 disintegrated, the
two schools stood together and bargained for admission to the ACC.
Both the Cal men’s and women’s
basketball teams are coached by former Stanford greats (Mark Madson and Charmin
Smith). The Stanford football team is
coached by a California alum (Troy Taylor).
Charmin Smith and Kate Paye played
together under VanDerveer and later were assistant coaches on VanDerveer’s
staff. Both Paye and VanDerveer openly
state that they cheer for Cal whenever the two teams aren’t playing each
other. VanDerveer has referred recruits
to Cal when there is no place for them on Stanford’s roster.
Stanford’s loss to Cal at Maples was painful. It increases the long odds that Stanford will
make the NCAA tournament. And it was a
winnable, one possession game with an inspiring comeback by Stanford. There was a late-game controversial
intentional foul call against Shay Ijiwoye that removed her from the game and
gave Cal a four point turn around.
Stanford, however, showed moxie at Maples that wasn’t
displayed in the December game. Stanford
was NOT the same team in January that Cal had comfortably taken down a month
earlier.
Consider these points.
In the December game, only one
starter (Nunu Agara) was an underclassman.
Agara, along with Chloe Clardy and Kennedy Umeh
from the bench, scored 25 points, or 40%
of the team’s total 63.
In January, two more underclassmen
(Chloe Clardy and Shay Ijiwoye) had joined the starting lineup. Together with Agara and three more
underclassmen from the bench (Courtney Ogden, Mary Ashley Stevenson and Kennedy
Umeh), they scored 61, or 85% of the team’s total 72 points.
During the late third quarter and
most of the fourth quarter, the team overcame all but two points of a 19 point deficit. They did so by generating Cal turnovers. Ogden and
Stevenson joined the three starting underclassmen for most of the inspirational
rally.
In January, Clardy started and
played over 39 minutes. For good reason
-- she scored a team and career high 22 points.
Her drives to the basket drew fouls, and she converted 8 of 11
free-throw attempts.
In the January game, Ijiwoye’s
statistics were solid (8 points, 2 boards, 3 steals, and 3 assists) but
probably understate the spark she provides to her teammates. Ijiwoye is very strong, very quick, and very
aggressive on defense.
Kennedy Umeh played over 5 mintues
in the January game (she had only 44 seconds in the December encounter). Umeh picked up 3 fouls, one free throw, one
defensive board, and 2 turnovers.
Unimpressive statistics – but the coaching staff had the confidence and
wisdom to give her playing time in a hotly contested game. She fills a need and will get better.
Nothing is easy for this Stanford team, but I love watching
them evolve and compete. I hope the team
will be inspired by Stanford women’s soccer.
In the fall, that injury-ridden team didn’t play well enough to make the
ACC tournament. Never mind. In the NCAA tournament, they made it all the
way to the final four (College Cup).
