Stanford women’s basketball fans got a second
reading of the team’s latest edition during a scrimmage Oct. 28. (The first was
at an open practice Oct. 23.)
This red-white (actually gray) scrimmage took the
players through four quarters with longtime announcer Betty Ann Hagenau at the
mike and three referees overseeing the action.
The gray team included six men plus sophomore guards
Stavi Papadaki and Lauren Green. They were coached by assistant coach Erica
“Bird” McCall, returning to the venue where she played her college ball until
2017. She then played in the WNBA for six seasons before retiring to enter the
coaching ranks.
The white team included the other 10 women led by
the other four coaches.
Starters for the white team were senior forward
Cameron Brink, junior forward Kiki Iriafen, fifth-year guard Hannah Jump, junior
guard Elena Bosgana and sophomore guard Talana Lepolo.
Both sides made frequent substitutions to give
everyone a chance to play.
I didn’t keep score, but it seemed that the male-dominated
team won because of the men’s greater strength and speed.
Overall, though, all of the women excelled at times
with several heads-up plays and fast ball movement.
Eight women scored at least once from 3-point range:
freshman guard Chloe Clardy; sophomore guards Lauren, Stavi and Talana; juniors
Elena and forward Brooke Demetre; Cameron and Hannah.
The women hit all of their free throws (at least I
don’t recall seeing any misses).
During the first break, Betty Ann asked season
ticket holders how long they had had season tickets by five-year intervals. The
last ones standing had had their tickets for more than 40 years.
Thus their tenures were longer than head coach Tara
VanDerveer’s, who’s starting her 38th season at Stanford.
After the practice, Betty Ann briefly introduced all
of the players, both men and women, as well as the coaches and staff.
Most fans recently received an email about the
construction project at Maples. Estimated to last 18 months, most of the work
will take place underground (requiring excavation) to expand facilities for the
women’s and men’s basketball teams and the women’s volleyball team.
The area between Maples and Campus Drive is fenced
off for the work, and much of the small parking lot next to the practice
facility is unavailable.
Three temporary handicapped parking spots are marked
in the Maples lot along Campus Drive. Fans can access the southwest entrance of
Maples from the sidewalk along the practice facility next to the closed-off lot.
They also can walk along the east side of the practice facility and Maples next
to the football practice field to reach the northeast entrance.
Besides the Maples lot, parking will be available in
the Graduate School of Business garage across the street.
Next up is an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Nov. 1
against Dominican at home,
