"WBIT: Stanford's Post Season Opportunity

 

Warren Grimes

After losing its first ACC tournament game to Clemson, Stanford’s dwindling prospects for making the NCAA tournament disappeared.   Instead, Stanford is now a second seed in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT).

WBIT is a relatively new tournament organized in 2023 by the NCAA for 32 teams that are not playing in the regular NCAA tournament.  It has now replaced the WNIT as the second-best end of season tournament for women’s college hoops.   That status is assured because the first four teams out of the big dance are automatic first seeds for WBIT.  There are some very good teams in WBIT including three former Pac-12 teams (Stanford, Arizona, and Colorado) and three teams from the ACC (Stanford, Virginia Tech, and Boston College).

It’s likely that the top eight teams in the WBIT would fare well against some of the lower seeds in the regular NCAA tournament.  That’s so because lower seeded teams at the big dance tend to come from less competitive minor conferences. 

So Stanford is a second seed in a bracket that has Saint Joseph’s (23-9) as the number 1 seed.  Top seeds in other brackets include Colorado (20-12) and Virginia Tech (18-12), a team Stanford defeated in conference play.  Second seeds, other than Stanford, include Arizona (19-13) and UNLV (25-7). 

So Stanford has an opportunity to make a deep run in this tournament.  To get to the final  four in Indianapolis, Stanford must win three straight games, starting with its game against Portland to be played Thursday at Maples.  If it wins, it will host a second game against  the winner of Quinipiac and #3 seed Seton Hall.  The third game could be on the road against #1 seed Saint Joseph’s.

This Stanford team has an Achille’s Heal.  That would be its vulnerability to a defense that guards the perimeter and clogs the middle.  Clemson did that very well in its decisive win over Stanford in the ACC tournament opener.  Clemson’s scout was likely based on Stanford’s win against Georgia Tech, where Stanford was only 5 for 15 from distance, but blitzed Tech on the inside with Mary Ashley Stevenson’s 17 and Courtney Ogden’s 16. Clemson designed a collapsing defense that eliminated easy interior points and still stifled Stanford’s three-point shooting (3-11).

One answer to these offensive woes is Nunu Agara, who has the strength and skill to be a forceful interior presence.  She played just 17 minutes against Clemson (scoring 8 and grabbing 3 boards).  If she can find her earlier season form (averaging 15.5 points, 7.4 boards and 1.9 assists), Stanford can play with anyone in this tournament.

Other players playing at their best in the end season games include underclassmen Courtney Ogden (scoring 16 against Georgia Tech and 13 against Clemson), Chloe Clardy, Mary Ashley Stevenson, and Shay Ijiwoye.  And seniors Elena Boscana and Brooke Demetre want to end their Stanford careers on a high note.  Altogether, Stanford should have a nine-player rotation that could serve the team well in a single elimination tournament.

I’m looking forward to watching.