To say that this year’s Stanford women’s basketball
banquet on May 12 was unusual would be an understatement.
Yes, the format was similar to past banquets with
head coach Tara VanDerveer serving as emcee. In the process, she thanked all
the Stanford people who support the
team, starting with university and Athletic Department administrators and
ending with the interns and student managers.
Nevertheless, it was all different. No alumni center. No round
tables seating 10 people. No lavish buffet. No hobnobbing before and after.
Everything
is virtual
Instead it was all virtual. Everything appeared on
viewers’ screens with head shots of some people and Zoom shots of everyone else.
“How quickly our lives have changed,” Tara said in
her opening remarks. Because of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, the SWBB
season was cut short before the NCAA tournament, the nation was ordered to
shelter in place, and students were sent home to complete their classes online.
No one knows when things will return to some
semblance of normal.
Many
accomplishments for the team
Meanwhile, Tara ticked off the team’s accomplishments.
Among the many were winning 20 or more games for the 19th year (27-6),
making the most 3-pointers in Pac-12 history (162) and placing nine players on
the Pac-12 academic honor roll.
She introduced her surprise “Bear-buster” guest,
Shannon Coffee, ’19, who was in her Ohio home after playing professionally in
the French-speaking area of Switzerland. Tara was referring to Shannon’s 3’s
that helped Stanford defeat Cal last year.
One of her thank you’s went to Tony and Linda Meier,
who gave a pool party for the team in September.
Freshmen
cited
Next she began introducing each player by class,
starting with the freshmen. As they were named, they were seen at home along
with photos of them as pre-schoolers.
n Forward
Fran Belibi: consistent attitude and effort.
n Guard
Haley Jones: savvy and versatile. After being injured for part of the season,
she’s expected to be at 100 percent in the fall.
n Guard
Hannah Jump: 43 3’s. Tara added that she would love to see a 3-point shooting
contest between Hannah and Karlie Samuelson, ’17, another 3-point hotshot.
n Forward
Ashten Prechtel: second on the team in blocks, 31.
Sophomores
come next
Next came the sophomores.
n Guard
Jenna Brown: a hard worker in practice.
n Guard
Lacie Hull: second on the team in free-throw percentage.
n Guard
Lexie Hull: started every game, the leading rebounder (six per game) with the
most steals.
Juniors
get face time
After a slide show of various non-game team
activities, Tara introduced the juniors.
n Forward
Maya Dodson: came back to play in the last nine games after rehabbing an injury
for 10 months.
n Forward
Alyssa Jerome: an unselfish player.
n Guard
Kiana Williams: the team’s leading scorer (15 points per game) who started
every game and garnered numerous honors.
n Guard
Estella Moschkau: a great practice and team player, she’ll graduate in August
and will complete her final year of eligibility at the University of Wisconsin.
n Guard
Anna Wilson: an academic senior, she’ll be back as a red-shirt next year.
Assistant
coaches introduced
The assistant coaches were next, starting with Lindy
La Rocque, who has moved to UNLV as head coach, where she finds “a new
challenge every day,” she said.
Assistant coach Tempie Brown coordinates recruiting.
She also was named this year’s winner of the staff award honoring the late Dee
Dee Zawaydeh, who ran the SWBB office for 30 years.
In addition to her other duties, associate head
coach Kate Paye is good for a last-minute play, Tara said.
Seniors
have their say
Finally the seniors appeared and had a chance to
speak.
n Guard
Mikaela Brewer, the team’s first Canadian, missed 25 games because of an injury
and has written a novel. She thanked the coaches and her teammates for their
support during her struggles with mental health.
n Guard
DiJonai Carrington, despite playing only the first five games and missing the
rest because of injury, had many accomplishments. DiJonai responded by saying
what she’ll miss about each player. (It
wasn’t mentioned that because she missed so many games, she’s eligible for
another year and hopes to transfer to either UConn, Baylor or Oregon.)
n Forward
Nadia Fingall also missed games because of injury but showed improvement from
last season in every category. She had thanks for everyone, including fans.
“We’re
going to be really good”
“We’ll miss you,” Tara said to the seniors. Looking
ahead to next season, she recognized the three highly regarded recruits,
Cameron Brink, Jana Van Gytenbeek and
Agnes Emma-Nnopu.
“We are going to be really good,” Tara said about
the 2020-21 team, with a “tough Pac-12 season.”
The program lasted just over an hour. The
traditional video of season highlights wasn’t available then, but it’s on the
Fast Break Club site, www.stanfordfbc.org,
where it can be enjoyed more than once.
