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| Players and coaches assemble for photos after the banquet. (Stanford Athletics) |
Now that the season has ended, 160 people gathered
for the annual Stanford women’s basketball team’s spring banquet April 8 at the
Arrillaga Alumni Center.
Unlike past gatherings, which were dinners, this
one was a brunch. Served buffet style, offered an array of food like fresh
fruit, salads, entrees, side dishes and tempting desserts. According to a
number of fans, it was a marked improvement over last year’s event at the
Faculty Club.
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| Alanna chats with a young fan. (Dave Cortesi) |
Like past gatherings, though, it gave the players
a chance to wear outfits other than their uniforms. Hence, each one was nicely
dressed, and many wore high heels, even some of the tallest forwards, like 6’4”
junior Alanna Smith and 6’3” senior Kaylee Johnson.
Tara
serves as emcee
“Today is a day of celebration and appreciation,”
said head coach Tara VanDerveer, serving as the emcee.
Even though junior guard Marta Sniezek was the
only returning player who had averaged more than 20 minutes a game in the 2016-17
season, even though the early schedule meant facing Top 10 teams and even
though the team had to learn a new offense, “This team showed great
determination and resilience,” Tara said.
“I’m really proud of how everyone stayed together.
We kept improving and growing.”
Throughout the program, Tara touted both
individual and team accomplishments. She didn’t mention that those
accomplishments helped her earn the honor of Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
Among the team accomplishments she ticked off were
that SWBB was the only undefeated Pac-12 team at home and that it averaged 81
points a game in its first two NCAA tournament games, shooting 50 percent
overall and 51 percent from beyond the arc.
Freshmen
earn praise
During the program, she thanked all of the people
who had contributed to the team’s success. She then introduced each player,
starting with the freshmen.
“What an outstanding freshman class,” she said.
Among them, forward Maya Dodson led the team in
field goal percentage and was third in blocks. Forward Alyssa Jerome played for
Canada last summer and proved to be a versatile player. Even though she didn’t play much, forward
Estella Moschkau was first in three-point percentage and was first in the gym
every day.
As for guard Kiana Williams: “What a special
freshman season” she had. A three-point sharp shooter, she also had the best
assist to turnover ratio and displayed “consistent energy and enthusiasm.”
Tara
admires sophomore’s boots
As the sophomores took to the stage, Tara joked, “I
almost wore those boots, Di.” She was referring to guard DiJonai Carrington’s
above-the-knee boots of beige suede. As for her playing, Tara noted how much
she had improved from her freshman year. “Whenever there is a scrum, Di comes
up with the ball.”
She praised guard Mikaela Brewer for her hard work
in practice and cited her writing ability, as shown in her regular columns for
the Stanford Daily.
She urged forward Nadia Fingall to “follow the
Erica McCall (’17) path and break out your junior year.”
She said she can’t wait for oft-injured guard Anna
Wilson “to play for a whole season. She did great when she wasn’t injured (and)
was leading the cheers for others” when she was.
Shannon
makes memorable three-pointer
When it came to the juniors, Tara recalled center
Shannon Coffee’s three-point buzzer beater at the end of the first half in the
home game against Cal and cited her 4.0 GPA in the winter quarter. Guard Alexa
Romano “really improved” on defense.
Alanna garnered many honors and was the team’s
second-leading scorer (behind senior guard Brittany McPhee) and rebounder
(behind Kaylee). She might play for her home country of Australia this summer.
Marta, wearing white-rimmed glasses, “understands the strategy
of basketball” and has “great court vision.” She also improved a lot, joining
the likes of such past greats as Jennifer Azzi, ’90; Nneka Ogwumike, ’12;
Jeanette Pohlen, ’11; Erica and Brittany.
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| Lindy with Kaylee and Britt. (Stanford Athletics) |
Big
chunk of scoring, rebounding to graduate
The two seniors then came up front. “What
outstanding seniors they have been,” Tara said. Later she noted that 30 percent
of the team’s scoring and rebounding will graduate with them.
Kaylee has made an impact on the team since she
was a freshman, Tara said. She does the little things, is “a great defender and
a vocal, no-nonsense leader.”
Kaylee responded, “A lot of people have helped on
this journey,” she said, citing her mother, other relatives and her father, who
died in May 2017. She thanked the coaches and her teammates, earning a standing
ovation after she had finished.
Britt also earned a standing O for echoing
Kaylee’s remarks and thanking her teammates and coaches. Tara said that “she
improved in every single statistic” and earned numerous athletic and academic
honors.
Each senior received her framed home jersey and a
pasteboard cutout of herself.
Tara singled out her colleagues: assistant coaches
Lindy La Rocque and Tempie Brown and associate head coach Kate Paye. She also
mentioned former associate head coach Amy Tucker, who retired from coaching
last season after 32 years at Stanford and now serves as basketball
administrator. “Everyone misses Amy,” even the referees, she said.
Video
brings back memories of season
As a final grace note to the gathering, a video showed
season highlights starting with the
team’s trip to Italy in September and continuing
through its final game against Louisville in the Sweet 16. It brought back lots
of great memories and showed just how good each player could be. As one fan
remarked afterward, “It looked like they should have won every game.”
Noting that she has been a head coach for 40
years, Tara said, “This team is really special.”
She then looked ahead to the next day, when
returning players would work on strength, conditioning and skills, and to the
summer, when the three highly touted recruits officially become freshmen.
“We’re laying a foundation for next season,” she
said. It will include a home game against Baylor and away games at Tennessee and
in Hawaii and Toronto (a salute to Canadians Mikaela and Alyssa).
With that, the crowd began to disperse, but many
stuck around to take pictures of the team and players while the returning
players awaited a team meeting to talk about what’s to come.
