Head coach Tara VanDerveer revised the starting lineup, going with two seniors, forward Nneka Ogwumike and guard Lindy La Rocque; a sophomore, forward Chiney Ogwumike; and two freshmen, forward Taylor Greenfield and point guard Amber Orrange.
Others got into action fairly quickly, starting with junior forward Joslyn Tinkle and freshman forward Bonnie Samuelson. By game’s end, everyone had seen action except for junior forward Mikaela Ruef, who has had a sore foot; and sophomore guard Toni Kokenis, who had left the UC San Diego game and stayed on the bench with ice on her ankle after taking a tumble. Both were in uniform, though.
The afternoon was highlighted by a barrage of 3-pointers – 14 in all. Bonnie and Lindy had five each and tied for game scoring honors with 17 points each. Taylor and sophomore guard Sara James each contributed two more 3’s.
Six players finished in double figures. Besides Bonnie and Lindy, they were Joslyn with 15, Chiney with 11, and Sara and Taylor with 10. Nneka, who usually leads the team in scoring, had 6 points in her 15 minutes of playing time. Since this was just an exhibition game and since there’s no doubt about her abilities, there wasn’t much need to play her any longer.
Often playing with four freshmen, as she did during Pro-Am summer play at Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco, Joslyn logged the most playing time with 23 minutes, closely followed by Bonnie with 22.
The crowd seemed somewhat sparse, perhaps because the high-flying football team was playing Oregon State in Corvallis at the same time. Still, the official attendance was pegged at 3,072. The video board showed the football game until 30 minutes before the tipoff, but WBB fans were given periodic updates after tipoff. (Stanford went on to win 38-13.)
Once again Lindy led the team onto the floor, and Nneka met with the officials as the team captain. Maples was a bit quieter than usual because the band was in Corvallis. Instead recordings were used for the national anthem, “All Right Now” and the alma mater song. The Tree and Dollies also were absent.
The game was marked by a number of heads-up and unselfish plays, as shown by the team’s 24 total assists. Amber had the most with six, but nine other players had at least one.
Turnovers were limited to just seven, while Vanguard had 16. Freshman guard Jasmine Camp had three of the team’s eight steals. Rebounding was fairly well balanced. Of the 51 total rebounds (to Vanguard’s 28), Joslyn and Amber led the team with eight each, followed by Nneka and Erica with six each. Ten Cardinal players got into the rebounding column.
A handful of fans met in the south concourse after the game to share their views. The consensus was that they liked the freshmen players’ hustle and cited the “pesky point guards” who harassed their Vanguard counterparts from one end of the court to the other. With “no complaints,” the fans agreed the team’s performance was “very impressive.”
However, no one ventured an opinion on the outcome of the team’s first official outing, an away game at Texas at 5 p.m. PT on Friday, Nov. 11.
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