A present for Boxing Day

When The Bootleg published Sue Bair's insightful and humorous review of the Stanford/Tennessee game, I thought it was a premium feature (available only to subscribers), but have since noticed that it's available to all. So here it is, a present for Boxing Day, one more review of The Game. (Can there ever be too many?)

The Bootleg’s Women’s Hoops Columnist Sue Bair reviews the Cardinal's hard-fought 73-69 overtime victory over the previously undefeated and top-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols on Saturday night at a delirious Maples. Tennessee gave Stanford a tight battle, but Candice (with an "i"!), Jayne, Ros, Kayla and rest of the Cardinal women "willed" a huge home win over the defending national champs. Wow! (More ...)

Team Victory: Contribution From Two Less Sung

Contributing Bootleg Columnist Warren Grimes refects on the Stanford Women's Basketball team's cherished victory Saturday night over the top-ranked Lady Vols of Tennessee, giving credit not only to the usual superstars Wiggins, Appel, and Pederson, but taking note of big-time clutch performances by several of the more surprising heroes including Ros Gold-Onwude

and rock-solid freshman Jeanette Pohlen.

(More ...)

More presents

Here are more presents for our Merry Christmas!

An audio slide show from the Mercury News.

A slide show from Stanford Photo.

Several more game reports:

• At Maples, Christmas came early, by Mechelle Voepel, ESPN
• Stanford takes down Tennessee, by Michelle Smith, SF Chronicle
• Cardinal stuns No. 1, by Jon Wilner, Mercury News

and lots of photos:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

So all we Cardinal fans got the best present of all:

STANFORD 73, TENNESSEE 69

Enjoy these reports of the game:

Cardinal end 11 years of frustration against UT

Damion Esper, Knoxville News Sentinel

Tennessee's Alexis Hornbuckle's 3-point attempt was way off. It settled into the hands of Stanford's Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, who then put her fist in the air as the buzzer sounded. Gold-Onwude then raced to her teammates, shrieking with excitement, as a sell-out crowd at Roscoe Maples Pavilion erupted.

With that, 11 years of frustration for one of the top women's basketball programs in the country came to an end.

(More ...)

Cardinal greet, beat a celebrated icon

Gwenn Knapp, San Francisco Chronicle

Then some passion surfaced, a poised intensity, and the words going through everyone's mind - "This is Tennessee" - resonated with new meaning. No more intimidation. No more reverence. Just the thrill of knowing that years on the edge of greatness, never quite penetrating the inner circle inhabited by Tennessee and Connecticut, were about to end.

At the final buzzer, Candice Wiggins was hopping ecstatically and hurling [victory balls] into the audience at a furious speed.

(More ...)

Stanford women shock No. 1 Tennessee

Rick Eymer, Palo Alto Online

A full house, a pair of top five teams, waving towels and noise and excitement filling Maples Pavilion to near bursting point. It was a night to remember.

Ros Gold-Onwude made sure it was memorable by scoring nine of her 13 points in overtime, lifting the fifth-ranked Cardinal past top-ranked and previously undefeated Tennessee, 73-69, in a nonconference women's basketball contest that was worth its weight in gold.

(More ...)
Here are the AP game recap, photo gallery and the box score from Stanford Athletics.

Parker's farewell tour comes to Stanford

All the media buzz for today's game is, quite rightly, on Candace Parker.

As Michelle Smith (SF Chronicle) reports, she is changing the nature of conversations about women's basketball. She will likely become the first women's player to end her college career early and begin what is sure to be a well-hyped and lucrative professional career.

So this will probably be Candace's last visit to Maples Pavilion.

Our Candice says, "I'm excited to play. I'm tired of talking about it."

Holiday Hoops

Charlie Creme (ESPN) discusses a dozen upcoming nonconference games that may distinguish Team A from Team B come selection time, including:

Tennessee at Stanford: Two heavyweights who will definitely be in the NCAA Tournament meet with the game meaning much more to the Cardinal than the Lady Vols. When it's all said and done, Tennessee is going to be a No. 1 seed, but Stanford would be in the running as well with an upset here. Another big loss like the one to UConn at the Paradise Jam, however, and it will be all too clear that the Cardinal aren't ready to compete with the absolute elite. That could relegate Stanford to a region with one of the two aforementioned powers and a huge barrier to the Final Four.

Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online) reports that Candice is very excited about the game and that folks in Albuquerque were very impressed by the Cardinal.

Why do we keep playing them?

is what Tara suggested as the angle for Michelle Smith's annual story of the Stanford/Tennessee game.

The answer: Because that's what the best women's basketball teams do. They play the best teams. And it is what VanDerveer has chosen to do, particularly this fall, preparing her team in November and December for the rigors of March, and maybe April.

Stanford buries New Mexico

The Cardinal women wore their black travel uniforms in The Pit and dominated the Lobos.



Here are the AP game recap and the box score from Stanford Athletics.
Here are a couple more game reports:

Stanford rolls Lobos 73-54

by Richard Stevens, Albuquerque Tribune.

It fell apart quickly for the Lobos.

All it took was Stanford All-American candidate Candice Wiggins to warm up and the Cardinal followed suit to cruise to a 73-54 nonconference win over the University of New Mexico Tuesday night in The Pit. (More ... )

Wiggins to the rescue again for Stanford

by Rick Eymer, Palo Alto Online

The Stanford women's basketball team was in a bit of trouble midway through the first half, playing in New Mexico's "The Pit" in Albuquerque for the first time ever on Tuesday night.

It's a tough place to play for any visitor and the Lobos were doing a number on nationally No. 5-ranked Stanford.

Something needed to happen and senior All-American Candice Wiggins was the right person at the right time. She led a furious comeback and Stanford took charge en route to a 73-54 victory over New Mexico in a nonconference game seen by 8,711 fans. (More ... )

I liked best the headline in the Albuquerque Herald

Stanford buries New Mexico

but unfortunately that article isn't online.

Up Next - New Mexico

Dennis Latta (Albuquerque Tribune) wonders "Will hot Stanford paint Lobos' faces a deeper red?

After the Lobos' loss to Arizona, coach Don Flanagan is determined not, "Our players seemed scared of Arizona," he said. "It won't be like that when we play Tuesday night. They'll be scared of me."

Latta points out that one advantage for UNM will be the crowd. Lobo women's basketball crowds at The Pit have ranked in the NCAA Top Five in average attendance for the past seven years. The Lobos are averaging 7,934 fans over the first eight home games of the season. There were 8,813 at The Pit for the Arizona game. It's likely there'll be more than 10,000 for the Stanford game. But then, the people in the stands don't score any baskets.

It should be interesting. Be sure to listen at 6:00.

The Wiggins Show

Candice was simply brilliant on both ends of the court. She scored 35 points and had four steals, three assists, two blocks,four rebounds and zero turnovers. She didn't quite match her career high (37 points against Oregon in 2006). But she brought her career total to 2000, the fifth Cardinal to achieve that (the others: Kate Starbird, Val Whiting, Nicole Powell, Jeanne Ruark Hoff).

Here are four reports of the Stanford/Baylor game:

Stanford pounds BU, 87-63 Waco Tribune-Herald staff report, "Whatever shooting woes that Candice Wiggins was having before Sunday, they’re gone." The report quotes Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, “She could do whatever she wanted today. She did what she wanted on the defensive end. She created a lot of havoc, and we didn’t have anyone who could keep up with her. The bottom line is we got whipped in every facet of the game today."

The star comes out when Wiggins hits court for Stanford by Ann Killion, Mercury News. "Here's one simple but impossible answer for gaining more exposure [for media coverage of women's sports]: more athletes like Wiggins!"

The Difference Jeff Lippman, CSTV."Sunday night in Palo Alto will go down as the game that Candice Wiggins showed just how scary she can be on a basketball court."

Credit Wiggins for this Cardinal win by Michelle Smith, San Francisco Chronicle. "The senior All-American set the standard on both ends of the floor for the Cardinal, scoring 35 points, playing stellar defense and absorbing a good deal of Baylor's physical game plan."

A fan asked Candice if they were beating up on her as much as it looked, and she replied, "Yeah, but that's basketball!"

And here are the AP game recap, photo gallery and the box score from Stanford Athletics.