Mixed bag for Stanford women in Pro-Am play

After coasting to a 98-65 victory over East Bay on Saturday, July 16, the Stanford-led South Bay team lost 91-87 to Mission Rec Center in overtime the next day in women’s SF Pro-Am play at Kezar Pavilion.

As she has throughout this summer program, junior forward Joslyn Tinkle led South Bay with 38 points (my unofficial tally) and 14 rebounds in the East Bay game. Stanford freshmen pitched in with 13 points each from guards Jasmine Camp and Amber Orrange, while forwards Erica Payne added 9 and Taylor Greenfield added 6.

Guard Markisha Coleman, ’07, completed the Stanford scoring with 7 points. The speedy little guard also had three rebounds and three steals. Freshman forward Bonnie Samuelson missed both games.

Among the interested observers both days was freshman guard Alex Green, who’s rehabbing a knee injury. The Ogwumike sisters – senior Nneka and sophomore Chiney, both forwards – watched the first game.

That game was marked by sharp passing and good teamwork by the Stanford women, but rebounding was a problem, especially on the offensive end.

Rebounding hurt the South Bay team in the July 17 loss to Mission Rec Center in a makeup game. The opponent’s speed also led to numerous costly turnovers by South Bay.

Whereas Saturday was quite foggy, Sunday was sunny, but parking around Kezar was tight because of the crowds participating in the annual AIDS Walk in Golden Gate Park. Inside Kezar, though, the South Bay fan turnout was light, perhaps because the game was scheduled to start shortly after the USA team lost the championship Women’s World Cup soccer match to Japan. Fan interest in that match was keen.

The game started late because it was preceded by an exhibition game between a Canadian team from Calgary and a group of Pro-Am players who have no more college eligibility. The Pro-Am players won.

The Kezar crowd included one new Stanford fan, Daisy, the nearly 4-year-old English bulldog that belongs to Erica and her East Bay family. The gregarious canine was accompanied by Erica’s parents, Laurie and Harry, and watched the whole game.

South Bay opened a lead that varied between 10 and 11 points during most of the first half, but turnovers began to take their toll, cutting the lead to 47-43 at halftime.

The game was tied 78-78 with 2:11 left. Both teams eked out another 6 points each to make the score 84-84 at the final buzzer and send it into overtime. Joslyn prevented a possible loss with a timely defensive rebound with 1.5 seconds left in regulation play.

She finished the game with a team-leading 28 points (unofficial), her first under-30 tally this summer. She also hauled in 10 rebounds and had three steals and five blocks.

She was closely followed by Erica with 26 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Amber added 8 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Jasmine had 6 points, two rebounds and a steal. Markisha had 2 points, three rebounds and four steals, but she fouled out with 4:11 left. Taylor played only a few minutes in the first half and had no points.

South Bay, which fell to second place in the six-team league, will face fifth-place San Francisco in a playoff game at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 23. If it wins that game, it will play the winner of the Bay City-Golden State game at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 30.

Championship games (two out of three) are scheduled at 2 p.m. Aug. 6 and 7 with a final game – if needed – at 2 p.m. Aug. 13. Stanford’s summer term ends that day with the last day of finals.

All games are at Kezar Pavilion, which is on Stanyan Street at the east end of Golden Gate Park. Paid parking is available in an adjacent lot.