Stanford women still perfect

Fran dunks against UCLA. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP)

The No. 1 Stanford women’s basketball team passed its two toughest tests to date by defeating USC and UCLA to raise its season record to 7-0.

USC fell 80-60 on Dec. 19. Two days later, on Dec. 21, No. 10 UCLA went down 61-49. Both games were in Los Angeles.

These margins of victory were the lowest so far this season, but the opposing teams were tougher defensively.

Both games saw the same starters as all season with senior guard Kiana Williams, fifth-year guard Anna Wilson, junior guard Lexie Hull, sophomore guard Haley Jones and sophomore forward Fran Belibi.

Kiana goes for a layup against USC. (Associated Press)

Kiana, Lexie, Cameron in double figures

Kiana finished the USC game with 27 points in 39 minutes, making seven of 12 three-point shots. Lexie had 16 points and two of three three-point shots.

Also in double figures was freshman forward Cameron Brink with 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting plus both of her free throws.

Haley contributed 11 of the team’s 52 rebounds, which were twice as many as USC’s 26.

All told, the team had 11 three’s. Besides the seven from Kiana and two from Lexie, Anna and junior guard Lacie Hull had one each.

After having no one foul out in previous games, both Cameron and Lacie went out.

Although USC never led, it kept inching to within single digits until the final few minutes made the outcome clear.

Trailed by Anna, Haley heads upcourt after a rebound against UCLA. (Los Angeles Times)

Rebounds help Cardinal defeat UCLA

Two days later, the final score was even closer, 61-49. Rebounds helped the Cardinal with a 51-37 advantage. Haley had 15 of them.

Assists also were a bright spot, 18-12, as were blocks, 10-3. Fran, Haley and Cameron each had three blocks.

The team had only five three’s: two from Lacie and one each from Anna, Lexie and Kiana.

Fran led the team in scoring with 15 points. The only other players in double figures, Kiana and Cameron, each had  10 points.

Fran dunks again

As she did against Cal, Fran produced a highlight play by dunking in the third quarter after picking up a loose ball that had been deflected by Lexie.

Everyone got a big scare when Kiana went down with an injury with just over a half-minute left in the game. She had to be helped off the court.

However, in the post-game press conference, head coach Tara VanDerveer, who raised her all-time winning record to 1,101 games, said Kiana will be fine. She didn’t elaborate.

The Associated Press reported that the team has held all seven of its opponents to 40 percent or less field-goal shooting.

Over the Christmas break, the team will return to Northern California and have a five-day break with no official practice, Tara said.

The players will travel to Arizona on Dec. 27 for the next two games: Arizona on Jan. 1 and Arizona State on Jan. 3.

In the meantime, happy holidays to all.

Tara, just the best ever

Holding the game ball, Tara is cheered by the team. (Stanford Athletics)

After tying Pat Summitt's record of 1,098 wins with a victory over Cal, head coach Tara VanDerveer guided the Stanford team to victory over Pacific. Thus she topped the late Tennessee coach’s record with 1,099 wins and becoming the winningest women’s basketball coach.

First the No. 1 nationally ranked team prevailed at Cal 83-38 on Dec. 13. Then it traveled to University of the Pacific in Stockton to notch a 104-61 win on Dec. 15.

After that game, Pacific head coach Bradley Davis gave Tara the game ball.

Team gives Tara a personalized jacket

Clustering around her, the team gave her a black quilted jacket with T-DAWG, the players' nickname for her, on the back. It was big enough that one of her three dogs could have joined her in it, had they been there.

Tara tries on her new jacket. (Stanford Athletics)

She then high-fived the entire team, followed by a squirt of hand sanitizer.

Zoomed tributes came in from some well-known admirers: Condoleezza Rice, Billie Jean King, Steve Kerr, John Elway, Nneka Ogwumike and Lisa Leslie.

Interviewed after the game, Tara deflected praise, instead saying, “I’ve learned from all my players.”

She also said that she is giving the local food bank $10 for every win she has amassed over the years and will continue to do so through the season.

Celebration is low-key

Since fans weren’t allowed because of coronavirus restrictions, everything was low-key. If it had been at home in Maples, the crowd would be roaring, the band playing and the Tree dancing in appreciation of all she has accomplished. 

The starting lineup for both the Cal and Pacific games was the same as it has been so far this 5-0 season: senior guard Kiana Williams, fifth-year guard Anna Wilson, junior guard Lexie Hull, sophomore guard Hailey Jones and sophomore forward Fran Belibi.

All 12 Stanford players contributed in some way to the win over Cal, while Cal was limited with only eight available players. Head coach Charmin Smith went with a starting lineup of three freshmen, a sophomore and a walk-on. She, her staff and players all wore T-shirts reading, “Racism is a pandemic.”

Fran dunks in a game for the first time

In addition to Tara’s tying with Pat, the game was highlighted by Fran’s dunk after a steal late in the second quarter, much to everyone’s delight. It was the first time she had dunked in a game, but she routinely dunks just as the team finishes its pre-game warmups.

Trailed by Cameron (22) and Jana (4), Fran dunks. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle)

With no Cardinal playing more than 24 minutes, four players were in double figures: freshman forward Cameron Brink with 16, sophomore guard Hannah Jump with 15, Fran with 14 and Kiana with 11.

Hannah’s points came from her five 3’s. Also scoring from long range were Kiana, Cameron and junior guard Lacie Hull, each with one.

Commenting during the game, Pac-12 Networks analyst Mary Murphy said of the team, “They're the real deal.”

Slow start against Pacific

The Pacific game started slowly, perhaps because traffic had delayed the team bus, which delivered the players only 90 minutes before tipoff.

The first quarter ended 26-12, a 14-point margin. The second quarter finished with an 11-point margin, 43-32 even though this was Pacific’s first game of the season.

After halftime, though, Stanford turned on the jets, scoring 36 points in the third quarter, giving it a 79-47 lead. More high scoring led to the final of 104-61, a 43-point margin.

Six players reach double figures

Among the more impressive takeaways from this game was the balanced scoring. All five starters were in double figures: Lexie with 17; Fran, 15; and Hailey, Kiana and Anna with 14 each.

On top of that, Cameron pitched in with 12 points. Moreover, all 12 players scored.

The team shot 3’s at a 33.3 percent rate, leading to nine from beyond the arc. Lexie had three; Kiana and Anna had two each; and Hannah and freshman guard Jana Van Gytenbeek had one each.

Free-throw shooting was a respectable 78.9 percent, with 15 of 19 made. Also of note: only 10 fouls and 10 turnovers.

Road to get rougher

Although the team looked good as it coasted through its first five wins, a tougher schedule lies ahead. The team is scheduled to play at USC at 6 p.m. Dec. 19 and at UCLA at noon Dec. 21.  The Pac-12 Networks will televise both games.

The players will have a holiday break, but as associate head coach Kate Paye said earlier, they won’t go home. Instead, they’ll get ready for the rest of the Pac-12 gamut, starting at Arizona on New Year’s Day.

Now fans can only hope that the games will actually be played, given the changes that have been wrought by the pandemic.

In the meantime, they can bask in knowing that this is a great team with a great coach. And had she not taken off a year to coach the U.S. team to its first Olympic gold, she would have reached the record a lot sooner.

Moreover, as Mary Murphy said, “This is a team with a lot of room to grow.”

 

 

Winning weekend in Vegas

Lindy coaches her current team against her former team. (Las Vegas Journal-Review)

Settling in at the University of Las Vegas after COVID-related cancellations, the Stanford women’s basketball notched back-to-back wins over the first weekend in December. Both games were streamed live.

First the team defeated UNLV 101-54 on Dec. 5. Washington was next to fall, 83-50, on Dec. 6.

Lindy’s team falls to alma mater

However, Lindy’s knowledge wasn’t enough to keep her team from being overpowered by the No. 2-ranked Cardinal.

Sophomore guard Haley Jones led four Cardinal players with 25 points, a career high. She was followed by sophomore forward Fran Belibi with 15, junior guard Lexie Hull with 13 and freshman forward Cameron Brink with 10.

Ashten adds a block to her stat line.
(Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Stanford dominated most aspects of the game: rebounds 46-31; assists 23-6; blocks 10-1; turnovers 12-19; and steals, 14-6. On the other hand, Stanford had 22 fouls to UNLV’s 13 and made only 63.6 percent of its free throws, compared with UNLV’s 69 percent.

The Cardinal had eight 3-pointers, with two by Lexie and fifth-year guard Anna Wilson; plus one each by senior guard Kiana Williams, sophomore forward Ashten Prechtel, sophomore guard Hannah Jump and senior forward Alyssa Jerome.

Washington wasn’t as easily dominated, especially in the first quarter, which ended 19-14. Stanford then led by double digits the rest of the way.

In both games, the starters were Haley, Fran, Lexie, Anna and Kiana.

Based on her weekend excellence, Haley was named Pac-12 Player of the Week. (John Locher/AP)

Haley leads the way twice

And in both games, Haley dominated, reaching another career high with 29 points to go with 13 rebounds for a double-double against Washington. Consequently, she was named Pac-12 Player of the Week.

Fran and Hannah with 12 points each were the only others in double figures.

Once again the team had eight 3’s, with four by Hannah and one each by Anna, Kiana, Ashten and Cameron.

The UNLV game was scheduled at the last minute after Stanford’s home games against Pacific and San Diego University were cancelled because of Santa Clara County’s COVID-related restrictions and other COVID issues.

COVID impacts schedule

The Washington game also was scheduled at home, but the Huskies agreed to travel to Las Vegas. The team’s next scheduled game against Washington State on Dec. 8 was postponed for COVID reasons at WSU.

 Although the team was scheduled for a home contest against UC Davis on Dec. 11, it was cancelled.

In the meantime, with 1,097 career wins, head coach Tara VanDerveer is only one win away from tying the late Pat Summitt of Tennessee as the all-time winningest Division 1 women’s coach.

Moreover, the team’s strong start moved it into AP’s No. 1 weekly ranking on Dec. 7.