Team beats Aggies on the Farm

 

Hannah now holds the team record for 3-pointers with 313 so far. (Stanford Athletics)

 

The UC Davis Aggies women’s basketball team visited the Farm on Dec. 20 and allowed the Stanford women to harvest another lopsided victory, 92-52.

It was a game highlighted by grad student guard Hannah Jump’s record-setting 312^th and 313^th 3-pointers, surpassing former teammate Kiana Williams, ’21, who held the previous record of 311. The new mark came at 5:15 in the first quarter.

When her achievement was announced after her second trey during the second quarter, the crowd of 2,701 gave her a standing ovation. A video board message from Kiana congratulated her.

Hannah was among six Stanford players in double figures with 10 points. Senior forward Cameron Brink led the team with 21 points, followed closely by junior forward Kiki Iriafen with 20 plus 11 rebounds.

Junior guard Elena Bosgana chipped in 14 points, while junior forward Brooke Demetre had 11, and freshman forward Nunu Agara had 10.

Davis led only once when it scored the first basket in the first quarter. After that the Cardinal dominated the scoreboard except in the fourth quarter. That’s when the starters – Cameron, Kiki, Hannah, Elena and sophomore guard Talana Lepolo – were spending most of it on the bench, yielding to five of their teammates.

Once again the team had only 10 of its 12 players available. Freshman forward Courtney Ogden and redshirt sophomore guard Jzaniya Harriel were in street clothes, as they were against Portland.

The team lofted eight 3-pointers. Besides the two by Hannah, there were two each by Elena and Talana and one each by Cameron and Brooke.

For the game, Stanford shot 57.6 percent overall compared with Davis’s 34.5 percent.

Because it was a rainy day, some fans arrived with umbrellas, but were told by redcoats near the entrances that umbrellas are no longer allowed. Fans had to take them back to their cars. The previous rule said no open umbrellas were allowed. There was no reason given for this inconvenient change.

Another change that seems permanent is that California Pizza Kitchen no longer operates in Maples, at least for women’s basketball.

Because most students were away for the holiday break, there was no band or other student support groups. Roscoe’s Corner, which is selling the ’23-24 yearbook for $5, was closed.

Before the game started, the videoboard featured head coach Tara VanDerveer’s tribute to the late, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, 1930-2023. A Stanford graduate, she was the first woman on the high court, a fan of basketball and a friend of Tara and Tara’s mother, Rita.

Now the team is taking its holiday break but will return to cross the bay to play Cal at 2 p.m. Dec. 29 to open the Pac-12 season. Pac-12 Networks will televise that game. Then on New Year’s Eve, Stanford hosts its final nonconference game, playing Morgan State of Baltimore, Md., at 6 p.m. Dec. 31.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to winning after Portland falls 81-51

 

Cameron celebrates a teammate's accomplishment. (Stanford Athletics(

With finals and the season’s lone loss in the rearview mirror, the Stanford women’s basketball team continued along the winning road by defeating Portland 81-51 Dec. 15  at Maples.

It wasn’t as easy as the final score might suggest.

First, only 10 of the 12 players were available. Both redshirt sophomore guard Jzaniya Harriel and freshman forward Courtney Ogden were in street clothes and on the bench.

Second, the second quarter laid bare some of the team’s vulnerabilities. With senior forward Cameron Brink and junior forward Kiki Iriafen, two of the team’s highest scorers, on the bench because of two fouls each, the visiting Pilots outscored their hosts 16-8.

After no turnovers in the first quarter, the team had seven in the second, but it ended the game with only 10 turnovers total, while Portland had 14.

Second-quarter defense was iffy as the visitors scored some easy baskets. The crowd of 2,875, including the band, wasn’t happy with some of the calls against Stanford either.

Still, the Cardinal held an 11-point lead, 36-25, as the first half ended.

In the first quarter, Cameron made the first two baskets. Coming off the bench, junior forward Brooke Demetre made three baskets in a row before limping off with under two minutes to go in that quarter. She appeared to walk it off, returned to the bench and got into the game later. However, she got hit in the eye about halfway through the fourth quarter and didn’t return to action.

Still, she was one of four Cardinal players in double figures with 10 points. Cameron led everyone with 23 points plus 15 rebounds, four assists and four blocks in 29 minutes.

Kiki added 13 points in 15 minutes.  Freshman forward Nunu Agara also had 10 points. Junior guard Elena Bosgana was in double figures, too, with 10 rebounds (plus eight points).

The starting lineup remained the same as it has all season with Cameron, Kiki, Elena, sophomore guard Talana Lepolo and grad student guard Hannah Jump.

The team had an unusually low four 3’s. Three of them were by Hannah, who tied the program record of 311 set by Kiana Williams, ’21. However, Kiana played 4,336 career minutes while Hannah is at 3,042, according to AP. Elena had the team’s other trey.

During halftime, Stanford staff displayed containers of unwrapped toys that fans had donated to the holiday toy drive benefiting the Ronald McDonald House on Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto.

In the third quarter, the Portland coach was assessed a technical foul, sending
Cameron to the free-throw line, where she made one of two attempts. For the game she was 11 of 13 to lead the team.

With its season record of 9-1, Stanford next hosts UC Davis at 1 p.m. Dec. 20 before taking a break for Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

Jeanette enjoys new gig at Stanford

 

Jeanette holds the trophy after Stanford won the Pac-10 championship in 2011. (Deb Gumbley)

In some ways, Jeanette Pohlen is a Swiss army knife for the Stanford women’s basketball program.

Serving in the relatively new position of director of player development, she’s a “liaison between the program, the athletic department and the campus,” she said in a recent phone interview. If someone wants players’ involvement outside of basketball activities, they see her.

She helps with the outreach to program alums and overall takes a load off the coaches. She sits in on their meetings, helps with ordering gear and assists director of basketball operations Eileen Roche in planning summer camps. Recently she’s added another item to her resume, providing insight during radio broadcasts of games.

In her relationship with the coaches, “I feel like they value my opinion.” In the meantime, “I listen. I try to learn. It’s been special to be on the other side of things, not as a player.” She’s also grateful to be working with head coach Tara VanDerveer.

Four Final Fours for Jeanette

Jeanette graduated from Stanford in 2011, when she was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and amassed an impressive history, including four consecutive Final Fours.

After graduating, she was drafted by the Indiana Fever and played there and in Turkey before retiring in 2018. During her pro years, she dealt with two major injuries to her ACL and Achilles.

She was married to Julian Mavunga, also a basketball player, for just over four years and lived in Japan off and for five years. While there she taught English and ran basketball clinics. She still has friends there. After her marriage ended, she returned home to Orange County.

Because “I always had an itch to coach,” she reached out to Tara and associate head coach Kate Paye about how to prepare. That’s when Tara invited her to be a coaching intern.

She jumped at the chance “to learn from the greatest.” It also was “a good place to start over. I learned a lot.” She was a coaching intern with the team in the ’21-‘22 season before moving into her present post last season.

Would she like to become a coach some day? “I’m not ruling it out,” she said, noting that some of her teammates like Lindy La Rocque and Joslyn Tinkle are in the coaching ranks. So is one of her new colleagues, assistant coach Erica “Bird” McCall, who was her Indiana Fever teammate for a year.

Favorite times include playing with Candice

Looking back at her four years in a Cardinal uniform, she cited some favorite times, including playing with Candice Wiggins, ’08, and going to her first Final Four, which was in Tampa. “We saw what it took to get there.” Her next three Final Fours were in St. Louis, San Antonio and Indianapolis.  “All of our Final Fours were special,” she said.

Then there’s the moment that lives forever in Stanford women’s basketball history: the 4.4-second run to score the winning basket against Xavier in 2010 at the NCAA regional in Sacramento.

With the score tied 53-53 and mere seconds to go, Xavier missed two easy shots. Jeanette’s classmate, Kayla Pedersen, rebounded the second miss and immediately called a time out. She inbounded the ball to Jeanette under the Xavier basket with just 4.4 seconds to go. Jeanette sped down the floor and made the winning basket just in time.

If she hadn’t, the game would have gone into overtime. Instead she was swamped by her joyful teammates. On the bus taking fans home after the game, someone yelled, “Pohlen for governor.”

Jeanette addresses the Maples crowd after the team ended UConn's streak. (AP photo)

Team ended UConn’s record streak

Beating UConn 71-59 at Maples on Dec. 30, 2010, during her senior season and ending its record 90-game winning streak is another of her favorite memories. Fans who were there vividly recall that Jeanette threw the ball straight upward at the final buzzer.

Fans may also recall that she had a pet turtle, Rocky. She still does. He’s staying with one of her brothers in Southern California.

“I had a great four years” at Stanford, she said. She considers her teammates sisters and best friends.

Since returning to Stanford, Jeanette has lost her mother, Cindy, who died in April after a recurrence of breast cancer. Hence, Jeanette spent time with her during that final illness.

Speaking of this year’s team she said, “This group is focused. They’re still learning.” They care for one another. “I’m really proud of this group.”

As for her job, “I really enjoy it. It makes my days fun,” she said. After her four collegiate years, “I love being back at Stanford.”

Team suffers first loss after eight wins

 After racking up a season record of 8-0, including a decisive 85-44 win at San Diego State two days earlier, the Stanford women’s basketball team came down to earth with a thud, losing 96-78 at Gonzaga on Dec. 3.

The loss knocked the Cardinal down to No. 9 from No. 3 in the Dec. 4 AP poll.

Despite shooting 56.6 percent overall, the team couldn’t match Gonzaga’s output, which had two players scoring 27 points each and three more in double figures.

Stanford also had five players in double figures with 13 each from graduate guard Hannah Jump and freshman forwards Courtney Ogden and Nunu Agara along with 10 each from senior forward Cameron Brink and junior forward Kiki Iriafen.

Illness, fouls limit Cardinal bigs

Cameron played only 11 minutes. She reportedly was feeling ill. Kiki was in foul trouble with four personals. Sixteen turnovers also hurt.

But kudos to the Tree-O, the three freshmen who contributed a total 35 points, including the nine from guard Chloe Clardy.

The team’s nine 3’s came from Courtney, who had three; Hannah and junior forward Brooke Demetre, who had two each; and Cameron and Chloe, who had one each.

Cameron has  surpassed Jeanette in scoring. (Stanford Athletics)

Cameron tops Jeanette in career scoring

In the 85-44 victory at San Diego State on Dec. 1, Cameron piled up 25 points in just 25 minutes. She also had 12 rebounds and three blocks.

With her career total of 1,459 points as of that game, she advanced to 20^th among Stanford’s all-time leading scorers. Thus she edged out director of player development Jeanette Pohlen, ’11, who had scored 1,453 points in her four years at Stanford.

Hannah had 13 points in the game, while Nunu added 11 plus seven rebounds. Limited by fouls, Kiki played only 15 minutes and had six points but a team-leading 11 rebounds.

After cold 3-point shooting in the first quarter, the team went on to post nine 3’s. Hannah and redshirt sophomore Jzaniya Harriel each had three. Cameron, Nunu and Brooke each had one.

The Cardinal dominated the Aztecs in every aspect of the game and never yielded a lead or tie.

The team now will take a break from competition to focus on academics. Finals are Dec. 11-15. Winter quarter starts Jan. 8.

In the meantime, the team hosts Portland at 7 p.m. Dec. 15 and UC Davis at 1 p.m. Dec. 20 before returning from a holiday break to travel across the bay to Cal at 2 p.m. Dec. 29 and then to host Morgan State at 6 p.m. Dec. 31. The Pac-12 Network will televise the Portland and Cal games.