Dynamic duo fuels two desert wins

The Stanford women’s basketball team finished its stint in the desert with decisive wins over Arizona State, 80-50, on Jan. 26 and Arizona, 96-64, on Jan. 28.These two wins vaulted Stanford to No. 4 from No. 6 in the Jan. 29 AP poll.

Senior forward Cameron Brink and junior forward Kiki Iriafen led the scoring in both games. They teamed up to add 20 and 27 points, respectively, against Arizona State and 25 and 21 points, respectively, against Arizona.

Cam returns to play against ASU

The Arizona State game marked Cam's return after missing the most of the Oregon game and all of the Oregon State game with a lower left leg injury the previous weekend

In addition to their points against ASU, Cam and Kiki led the team in rebounds, 16 and 14, respectively. If that weren’t enough, Cam had three blocks, Kiki one. Redshirt sophomore Jzaniya Harriel joined the block party with two of her own. In all, the team had seven blocks.

Graduate student guard Hannah Jump got her shooting touch back, scoring 13 points with three of the team’s six 3’s. Junior guard Elena Bosgana, sophomore guard Talana Lepolo and freshman forward Courtney Ogden had the other three. Talana also had seven of the team’s impressive 24 assists.

Stanford dominated the stat sheet in all categories, including rebounds, 49-33. Further evidence of the team’s strong defense was seen in its eight steals, including three each by Kiki and junior forward Brooke Demetre.

All 12 players got into the action. Courtney had to go to the bench for a while after she suffered a bloody nose late in the first quarter. One of Cam’s four fouls was a technical assessed against her about halfway through the second quarter when the refs determined she had thrown the ball at her defender after scoring.

Playing Arizona, Cam and Kiki team up again

In the 96-64 win over Arizona on Jan. 28, Cam had 19 rebounds to go with her 25 points. Kiki was close to a double-double with nine rebounds to go with her 21 points. She played only about seven minutes in the first quarter because of fouls. Overall, she was limited to just 19 minutes, but she made the most of them in front of the loud crowd of 7,692.

Retaining her shooting touch, Hannah had three of her four 3’s in the first quarter, leading to 15 points overall.

Jzaniya also was in double figures with 14, including two more of the team’s seven 3’s. Cam had the other trey.

Wildcats play tough despite shortened roster

Despite having only seven available players, the Wildcats played tough defense, especially when it came to their 10 steals. That defense is part of the reason why Stanford had 16 turnovers, while Arizona had 12. On the other hand, Stanford had 19 assists, six of them from Talana.

With Stanford outscoring Arizona in every quarter, no one played the whole game. Talana had the most time with 33 minutes.

Stanford dominated Arizona in all the positive stats, especially rebounds, 49-21.

These two wins helped the Cardinal to maintain their top spot in Pac-12 standings.

Coming up next, the team returns home for two potentially tough games, hosting USC at 7 p.m. Feb. 2 and UCLA at 1 p.m. Feb. 4. Pac-12 Networks will air the USC game. ESPN2 will show the UCLA game.

In case of rain, newly revised rules allow umbrellas in Maples if they’re small enough to fit into the clear bags.

 

 

Tara on top after weekend's games

Alums join the team and staff in honoring Tara. (Stanford Athletics)

It rained outside over the weekend, but inside Maples the Stanford women’s basketball team reigned, defeating Oregon State 65-56 on Jan. 21 and Oregon 88-63 on Jan. 19.

Thus head coach Tara VanDerveer’s career record vaulted to 1,203 wins, surpassing former Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski to become the all-time winningest college basketball coach for either men or women. She surely would have beaten the record much sooner if she hadn’t taken a year off to coach the U.S. women’s team to an Olympics victory in 1996.

It wasn’t an easy game, especially since senior forward Cameron Brink was out after injuring her left leg in the Oregon game. However, she seemed to be in good spirits and walking without a limp.

Kiki fills the void and then some

Junior forward Kiki Iriafen stepped up in her place, scoring a career-high 36 points, more than half of the team’s total. She also had a game-high 12 rebounds.

Six of Kiki’s points came from the two 3’s she made late in the third quarter. They were the first of her career.

Sophomore point guard Talana Lepolo also had two 3’s in her total of 14 points, along with six assists, one steal and only one turnover.

The team’s other two 3’s came from junior forward Brooke Demetre, contributing to her 10-point total. She started in place of Cameron. This was the first time the starting lineup had changed all season.

Fans in the near-capacity crowd of 7,022 noted tenacious defense by redshirt sophomore guard Jzaniya Harriel, who had three of the team’s seven steals.

The game started slowly with neither team finding its shooting touch. Thus the first quarter ended with a 10-10 tie, one of six ties in the game along with eight lead changes. Stanford finished the next three quarters on the plus side, leading to the 9-point victory.

The weekend wins moved Stanford up to No. 6 from No. 8 in the Jan. 22 AP poll. They also led to ESPN naming Kiki and Tara Player and Coach of the Week, respectively. The Pac-12 named Kiki its Player of the Week.

Alums return to honor their coach

Among the crowd were a number of former Stanford players, who were there to honor Tara. Some of them were with their children and spouses.

Afterward, a ceremony complete with showers of gold confetti commemorated Tara’s accomplishments. Ros Gold-Onwude, ’10, served as emcee. She noted that everyone was there to honor the “historic achievement of our coach. … She’s so humble, that’s why they brought me here.”

Ros sat on a center court podium in front of lighted letters “1203” to question fellow alums Chiney Ogwumike, ’14, and Jennifer Azzi, ’90, who was one of Tara’s earliest recruits.

Players, coaches, staff and alums all received T-shirts reading “1,202 ... And One.” Tara also got a commemorative jacket and jersey.

A video featured tributes from such people as Billie Jean King, Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Hoover Institute director Condoleezza Rice. Coach K himself, Chiney and her sister Nneka, ’12, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and Lisa Leslie. Like Jennifer, Dawn and Lisa were on the 1996 Olympic team that Tara coached to a gold medal.

As the current team listened from the bench, Tara began her remarks by thanking everyone for being there and noting that her record couldn’t have been possible without so many great players and coaches at a great university. “I am very overwhelmed,” she said.

Team registers win over Oregon despite loss of Cameron

The 88-63 victory over Oregon on Jan. 19 was marred by a left leg injury to Cameron during the latter half of the first quarter. Limping, she was helped off the court and to the locker room after contributing 6 points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal in six minutes.

At that point, her team led 20-2 after holding the Ducks scoreless before then. She walked slowly to the bench a few minutes later as the crowd of 4,556, including the band, Tree, cheerleaders and Dollies, cheered. She then spent some time watching the game from an exercise bike.

Cameron and Kiki lift Tara after the Oregon win tied her for all-time best. ((Bob Drebin isiphotos.com)

She was missing at the start of the third quarter. When she returned later in the quarter, there was a brace on her leg. It didn’t seem to hinder her after the game when Kiki and she hoisted Tara to celebrate her tying Coach K’s record.

During the national anthem, which was whistled by Taein Kim to a band recording, the on-court camera showed Cam whistling along with her. As the team returned to its warm ups, she high-fived the little girl.

Courtney misses her third game because of injury

Another missing piece of the roster was freshman forward Courtney Ogden, who didn’t play in the Utah and Colorado games the previous weekend because of an injury. She warmed up with the team and sat on the bench for this game, but when she returned after halftime, she was in sweats. She did play briefly in the Oregon State game.

Despite missing those two players, the rest of the team rallied with nine players scoring, five of them in double figures. They were led by Kiki, who had 21 points, 15 rebounds and two emphatic blocks before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Talana tallied 13 points plus eight assists and three rebounds with only one turnover. Freshman forward Nunu Agara had 12 points, junior guard Elena Bosgana 11 and Brooke 10.

Talana and Elena each had three of the team’s 10 3’s. Graduate guard Hannah Jump and Jzaniya each had two. To most of the crowd, it appeared that Nunu had three 3’s, but the box score shows no 3’s for her.

Stanford led throughout the game, several times by more than 20 points.

Coming up next is a trip to the desert to play Arizona State at 5 p.m. Pacific Time on Jan. 26 and Arizona at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Jan. 28. Pac-12 Networks will show both games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Split decision in snowy mountains

 

Kiki led the team with a two-game total of 44 points. (Stanford Athletics)

Playing the mountain teams for the only time this season, the No. 8 (as of Jan. 8) Stanford women’s basketball team emerged with a 66-64 win over No. 19 Utah on Jan. 12 and a 59-71 loss to No. 5 Colorado on Jan. 14.

Both games were played at high elevations: 4,265 feet in Salt Lake City and 5,430 in Boulder. It was cold, too. When the Colorado game started at noon Mountain Time, it was -3 degrees, the TV announcers said.

Stanford’s shooting was somewhat cold, too, only 33.9 percent, compared with Colorado’s 41.7 percent. Moreover, the Buffaloes had quick hands, making 11 steals, including three in a row in the first quarter, while Stanford had only three for the game.

Turnovers hurt

Turnovers were costly, with 18 by the Cardinal and 11 by the host team.

Things looked promising at first with Stanford surging to an 8-point lead about halfway through the first quarter, but Colorado finished the quarter with a 1-point lead.

The fourth quarter began with a 17-point Colorado lead. Stanford refused to give up and actually outscored the Buffaloes 18-13, but it was too little too late.

Junior forward Kiki Iriafen led the Cardinal with a double-double, 19 points and 17 rebounds.

Cameron snares 1,000^th rebound

Senior forward Cameron Brink also had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds despite being hampered by four fouls. She recorded the 1,000^th rebound of her career early in the third quarter and finished the game with four blocks.

The only other Cardinal in double figures was junior forward Brooke Demetre with 12 points.

Her points came from four of the team’s nine 3’s. Cameron and redshirt sophomore guard Jzaniya Harriel each chipped in two. Graduate guard Hannah Jump added the other one.

The game saw five lead changes and three ties.

The crowd of 9,111was the largest since 1994, the TV announcers said. Included in that number was Boulder resident Rita VanDerveer, mother of head coach Tara VanDerveer.

Down to the wire with a win in Utah

Thanks in large part to Kiki, Stanford eked out its 66-64 victory over Utah on Jan. 12.

Despite accumulating three fouls, Kiki poured in 25 points, snared 16 rebounds and had four assists to go with a block in 32 minutes.

Hannah was the only other Cardinal in double figures with 12 points and four assists in 40 minutes. Sophomore guard Talana Lepolo also played 40 minutes and dished out seven assists to go with four points.

Cameron got the first of her two fouls less than two minutes into the game, went to the bench, returned and got the second foul with just over a minute to go in the first quarter. She wound up playing 27 minutes and scored an uncharacteristically low 9  points, but had seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.

13 3’s boost the Utes

Playing before a loud crowd of 5,608, the Utes got more than half of their points from their 13 3’s. Otherwise, they were outrebounded 40-32. It was a tight game with eight lead changes and seven ties.

Stanford had six 3’s: two by Jzaniya and one each by Hannah, Cameron, Talana and junior guard Elena Bosgana.

Nine of the 11 available players got into the game. Freshman forward Courtney Ogden was there but reportedly had an injury and couldn’t play.

Next up for Cardinal is a two-game home stand against Oregon at 7 p.m. Jan. 19 and Oregon State at 2 p.m. Jan. 21, followed by a Behind the Bench. Pac-12 Networks will televise both games.

If Stanford wins both games, Tara will have 1,203 career wins, the most by any basketball coach for either men or women, surpassing former Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski.

 

1,200 wins for Tara after the Washingtons

Tara is on the verge of becoming the winningest college basketball coach. (Stanford Athletics)

Defeating Washington 71-59 on Jan. 7 and Washington State 74-65 on Jan. 5, both at home, the Stanford women’s basketball team handed head coach Tara VanDerveer her 1,200^th career victory, two away from matching the record 1,202 wins by former Duke men's coach Mike Krzyzewski.

On her way to a team- and game-high 19 points against Washington, junior forward Kiki Iriafen scored the game’s first 4 points, both resulting from passes by senior forward Cameron Brink. As for Cameron, she had 16 points and 16 rebounds along with three of the team’s five blocks. The other two were by Kiki and junior forward Elena Bosgana.

Although Elena had only four points, she had four rebounds and three assists while playing ferocious defense, like her teammates.

Hannah adds four 3’s

Graduate guard Hannah Jump also was in double figures with 13 points, most of them from her four 3’s, all of which came in the third quarter.

Freshman forward Nunu Agara added 12 points, including one of the team’s seven 3’s. Cameron and freshman forward Courtney Ogden had one each.

It was a tight game, especially in the first half, when Stanford held a 2-point lead after the first quarter and a 5-point lead in the second.

The third quarter was decisive as the Cardinal outscored the Huskies by 11 points, leading to a 60-44 advantage. Washington outscored Stanford by 4 points in the final quarter, but Stanford prevailed.

Overall, the lead changed six times, and the score was tied five times, leading to some nail-biting by the crowd of 3,924.

During the Behind the Bench after the game, associate head coach Kate Paye said, it was “a great game for our team.  … Our team had to work extremely hard to prepare for them.”

Kate expects ‘a dog fight every night’

Commenting on the strength of the Pac-12, Kate said, “It’s going to be a dog fight every night.”

She was joined by Cameron and junior forward Brooke Demetre, who answered fans’ questions. Their answers were hard to discern because of distortion by the microphone.

When Tara arrived, she was greeted by a standing ovation, but as usual, she focused on the team and its big win. “Our team worked hard defensively,” she said.

Talana launches one of her four 3's against WSU. (Stanford Athletics)

WSU game goes up and down

In the Jan. 5 WSU game, the team and crowd of 3,084 had to endure 12 lead changes and four ties before the Cardinal pulled out the 74-65 win.

It was a game marred by 17 Stanford turnovers and 19 fouls, some of which the crowd loudly booed. By comparison, the Cougars had 14 turnovers and 15 fouls.

On the other hand, Stanford was tops in assists, 19-14, and rebounds, 43-28.

Cameron led the team with 20 points, 18 rebounds and all five of its blocks despite being limited by four fouls. She briefly went to bench for attention by trainer Katelin Knox after being hit in the face in the third quarter, but she returned after the time out and scored right away.

Cameron opens scoring with a trey

She had scored the team’s first points by nailing a 3. Kiki had 17 points, followed by Talana with 13 and Brooke with 12.

Playing all 40 minutes, Hannah logged an uncharacteristically low 8 points, none of them from her two 3-point attempts, but she was being covered like a second skin. 

Sophomore guard Talana Lepolo helped to make up that gap with four of the team’s seven 3’s. Brooke had two, and Cameron had the other one.

Because the game was so tight throughout, Tara used only nine players from the 12-woman roster. Speaking of rosters, WSU’s has a strongly international flavor with only four of its 13 players from the United States.

Although the home team had a 6-point lead after the first quarter, the visitors dominated the second, putting Stanford behind 34-35. A 10-point advantage after the third quarter preserved the win because both teams scored 15 in the fourth.

WSU has never defeated Stanford in all 73 of the teams’ meetings since they started playing each other in 1983, AP reported.

Fans could get fanny packs with “Cardinal” on them at tables in the concourses. They also saw the construction equipment that took up several spaces along Campus Drive in the Maples parking lot.

After starting winter quarter classes on Jan.  8 and taking that day off from practice, the team hits the road to play Utah at 5 p.m. PST Jan. 12 and Colorado at 11 a.m. PST Jan. 14. Pac-12 Networks will air both games.

 

 

 

 

 

Team ushers out 2023 with two decisive wins

 

Talana had a career day against Cal. (Supriva Limaga/isisphotos.com)

The Stanford women’s basketball team ended 2023 and began Pac-12 play on winning notes by defeating Cal 78-51 there on Dec. 29 and Morgan State 98-38 at home on New Year’s Eve. These two wins, combined with losses by some higher-ranked teams, advanced Stanford to No. 8 from No. 9 in the Jan. 1 AP poll.

Starting point guard Talana Lepolo took the spotlight at the Cal game by scoring a career-high 20 points bolstered by a career-high six 3-pointers. Playing a team-high 35 minutes, she also had six assists, which led to at least 12 points for her team.

She was one of three Cardinal players in double figures. Junior forward Kiki Iriafen had 16 points to go with 10 rebounds for a double-double. Senior Cameron Brink had an uncharacteristically low 13 points and seven rebounds because of foul trouble.

She also missed a few minutes in the third quarter after apparently injuring a thumb and having it taped. She returned to the floor but was charged with her third foul, sending her to the bench. Shortly into the fourth quarter, she got her fourth foul and took a seat for the rest of the game.

By then her abilities weren’t needed because the team had such a commanding lead, one that had grown larger after each quarter. However, she got the team’s scoring going by making two consecutive baskets to start the game. She also had the first of her two blocks in that quarter, and – for good measure – made the team’s first 3.

Team has 11 3’s

All told, the team had 11 3’s. Besides Talana’s six and Cameron’s one, graduate guard Hannah Jump had two, and junior forward Brooke Demetre and redshirt sophomore guard Jzaniya Harriel had one each. Brooke’s 3 came as a long-distance shot just as the second-quarter was about to end.

This game was the 100^th between the cross-bay rivals.

Scouts from Jayne Appel-Marinelli's troop meet with the team after the game. (Stanford Athletics)
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Part of the reported attendance of 4,197 included Girl Scouts from Jayne Appel-Marinelli’s, ’10, daughter Shea’s troop. Afterward they met with the team.

Morgan State win means happy birthday for Cameron

The 60-point victory over Baltimore’s Morgan State on Dec. 31 was a fitting way for Cameron to celebrate her birthday. She did so by leading the team with 18 points and six blocks with no fouls despite having her right thumb taped after injuring it in the Cal game.

She was one of six Cardinal players in double figures. Junior guard Elena Bosgana and freshman forward Nunu Agara each had 14 points, followed by Hannah and Jzaniya with 13 each and Kiki with 10.

Jzaniya, who, along with freshman forward Courtney Ogden, had returned to action in the Cal game after missing the two previous games, bolstered her point total by hoisting three of the team’s nine 3’s. Elena accounted for two, while Cameron, Hannah, Nunu and Brooke had one each.

Talana didn’t score, but she did dish out a team-high eight assists with no turnovers. The team had only four fouls, none of which sent Morgan State to the free throw line.

Everyone gets in, contributes

Stanford outscored the visitors in all quarters, including the first when 10 players were used. By the final buzzer, all 12 had seen action and contributed in some way. Even in the fourth quarter, when the starters were on the bench for most of the period, Stanford had 23 points to Morgan State’s 11. Official attendance was reported as 2,751.

This win marked the 1,198^th in head coach Tara VanDerveer’s coaching career. That means she’s just five wins from topping the all-time record of 1,202 for men or women held by former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Two more Pac-12 opponents will visit Maples with Washington State scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 5 and Washington for 1 p.m. Jan. 7, followed by a Behind the Bench. Pac-12 Networks will televise both games.

Winter quarter classes resume Jan. 8.