Of the nearly 5,200 spectators watching this Pac-10 opener in Haas Pavilion, a great many wore the Cardinal red. They included 45 who rode the booster bus driven by the genial man who called himself Dave, the friendly bus driver. Dave also made a most cogent observation as the trip began: “We’ve got a longer win streak than UConn.”
Once again the Cardinal dominated nearly every statistical category such as rebounds, 49-26; assists, 21-9; and 3-point baskets, 7-3. The Cardinal also presented a balanced scoring attack with five players in double figures: senior guard Jeanette Pohlen with 15, junior forward Nneka Ogwumike with 14, freshman guard Toni Kokenis with 12 and senior forward Kayla Pedersen along with freshman forward Chiney Ogwumike with 11 each.
Leading the way in 3-point shooting was Toni with three. Kayla, Jeanette, freshman guard Sara James and sophomore forward Joslyn Tinkle had one each.
The only worrisome part of the game for Stanford was that Nneka left the game with what was reported as a shoulder injury in the second half.
On the other hand, fifth-year senior guard Melanie Murphy was in uniform for the first time this season. She had been sidelined while rehabbing from knee surgery after last season. Even though she was the only player in uniform who didn’t get into the game, Stanford fans have to be pleased that she’s made so much progress.Next up, the Arizona teams come calling.
Hi Judy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog. Seeing Nneka go down was frightening and a reminder of how fragile the health of a team is. As someone who has endured a torn ACL, I know that there are exercise regimes that have been developed, tested and found to provide some measure of prevention against ACL tears. I don't know which program is currently the best, but wonder if you could pass this info along to any of the Stanford trainers. Hopefully they already have something going in this area, but if not, it may be useful for them to consider.
Best,
Pam