Slow start, fast finish against Arizona State

The Arizona State Sun Devils managed to do something on Jan. 28 that no other team, not even UConn, had been able to do all season: It led the Stanford women’s basketball team at the half, 29-25. ASU’s lead had been even greater than that earlier in the half, but Stanford began inching upward.

Just slightly more than three minutes into the second half, forward Kayla Pedersen hit the basket that put Stanford ahead 32-30, and there was no looking back. The final score was 71-48. Kayla also led all scoring with 23 points, to go with seven rebounds, but it was a solid team effort that put Stanford in control.

The game illustrated another Cardinal trait: When one usually high-scoring player gets in trouble, others take over. Such was the case this time when forward Nneka Ogwumike had to spend 17 minutes on the bench because of fouls, thus limiting her scoring to 8 points to go with seven rebounds, an assist and two steals. Nneka had scored 30 points and snared a school record 23 rebounds in Stanford’s 100-80 defeat of Oregon there on Jan. 23.

With Nneka sidelined for so long against ASU, her fellow bigs, Kayla and center Jayne Appel, helped to pick up the slack. Jayne, who has steadily improved as her surgically repaired knee has healed, had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds plus a block and a steal.

Guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, who has shown up big in recent games, rose to the occasion again with a career-high 19 points (including three 3-pointers), three rebounds and an assist. And as has been her trademark throughout the season, she dominated defensively. Head coach Tara VanDerveer said in the post-game press conference that not only is Ros the best defensive player in the Pac-10, she’s possibly the best defensive player in the nation.

“Our defense really amped it up in the second half,” associate head coach Amy Tucker told the Fast Break Club after the game. That was good because, “We didn’t match their physicality or their aggressiveness” in the first half.

“It was interesting,” Tara said in an understatement. “I’m really proud of how our team stayed together.”

Michelle Smith, who covered women’s basketball for the San Francisco Chronicle, talked about the challenges she has faced in the nine months since losing her job in one of a series of cutbacks at the paper. “Every day is something new,” she told the FBC. In creating her Internet site, Left Coast Hoops, she’s had to learn new skills, such as how to write an ad contract.

After the college basketball season ends this spring, she might cover the WNBA. “I’ll figure it out,” she said. She also writes for Fan House, an AOL feature.

As for this year’s Stanford team, it has, “a good vibe. This is a pretty poised team.” She expects it to go to the Final Four along with UConn and Tennessee, but she couldn’t venture a guess on who will fill the fourth slot.

As a side note, she mentioned that her 16-year-old daughter, Annie, is one of the Irish dancers who are popular halftime entertainers at Stanford games. She’s one of the taller ones in a lime green dress, Michelle said.

Substandard Stanford win over Washington

The Stanford women’s basketball team’s 66-51 defeat of Washington at home on Jan. 16 left fans unsettled and the coaches scratching their heads over what head coach Tara VanDerveer termed lackadaisical play.

On paper, it should have been an easy win. However, Tara was able to use only seven players because the Cardinal let a 35-21 advantage in the first half slip to only a 31-30 edge in the second. That was enough to win, but not enough to satisfy Stanford fans.

With a wider lead, guard Hannah Donaghe could have played for the first time since knee surgery last winter, associate head coach Amy Tucker told the Fast Break Club after the game. She was dressed for the Washington State game for the first time and has been practicing with the team.

In Stanford’s defense, the team was playing without starting guard Jeanette Pohlen, who aggravated her sprained ankle in the Washington State win two days earlier, and best off-the-bench guard, JJ Hones, who’s resting her swollen knee. Lindy La Rocque replaced Jeanette as a starter, joining the other starting guard, Rosalyn Gold-Onwude. Melanie Murphy then became the off-the-bench guard, but she has a sore knee, too, and hasn’t been practicing.

With JJ and Jeanette out, others had a chance to step up, but “that didn’t happen,” Amy said. “We didn’t compete. We weren’t tough,” she said, citing “uninspired play and lack of aggressiveness.”

“It’s good you can play a game like this and win,” she said, but the team can’t play like this and expect to get to the Final Four for the third straight year. “We set the bar to our standards. … There was nothing about this game that the coaching staff can be excited about,” she said. “We have way too many turnovers,” many of them unforced, caused by such problems as poor passing and poor decisions.

“That was torture” were Tara’s first words to the Fast Break Club. Like Amy, she lamented the turnovers and lack of aggressiveness. “We were less than scintillating today.” (On the other hand, Marian Cortesi hits the highlights in Stories of the Season.)

“We set a really high standard not just for winning but how we play,” Tara said. “We are definitely not peaking early.” It’s uncertain whether JJ and Jeanette will be able to play when the Cardinal visit the Oregon teams this week, she added.

In my report on the Washington State game, I was remiss in not mentioning the impressive performance by the women’s gymnastics team at halftime.

Also, fans are wondering about the “Put a ring on it” T-shirts that were given to students that night. A student told me that the words come from a Beyoncé song and refer to hopes that the WBB team will finish the season with championship rings.

Guards gain one, lose two in win over Washington State

Stanford’s guard situation remained in flux after the women’s basketball team’s 80-43 home victory over Washington State on Jan. 14. Nursing a sore knee, JJ Hones was on the sidelines from the start, along with forward Sarah Boothe, who hasn’t played all season because of a foot injury. Then Jeanette Pohlen reinjured her ankle early in the second half and missed the rest of the game. “It’s pretty swollen,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said after the game.

On the plus side, Hannah Donaghe was back in uniform for the first time since tearing an ACL in practice nearly a year ago. She didn’t play, but it was great to see her warming up with her teammates. “Hannah’s getting close to coming back,” Tara said.

Also on the plus side, Rosalyn Gold-Onwude had another big game after playing a key role in the team’s close win, 65-61, at UCLA last weekend. Against WSU, Ros had 11 points – including three 3s -- seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in addition to her usual tenacious defense. “Ros is feeling a sense of urgency,” Tara said, with a maximum of only nine more games (assuming two in the first NCAA round) at Maples left for her and center Jayne Appel.

The absence of Jeanette and JJ meant more playing time for Melanie Murphy and Lindy La Rocque. Mel, whose knee has been iffy and who was wearing black sleeves on both legs, played 16 minutes and contributed two points, two rebounds and an assist. Lindy was in for 24 minutes and accounted for five points, two assists and a steal. That steal was a nifty one. She intercepted a pass in Washington’s back court, ran the ball all the way back to the Stanford arc and nailed a three. You can see it in the game highlights video. “Lindy did a nice job for us,” Tara said.

Grace Mashore came in for the last four minutes and contributed one rebound and the 3-pointer that was Stanford’s final basket. Before leaving the game, Jeanette had played 11 minutes, scored five points (including a three), grabbed one rebound and made three assists.

Because of the guard situation, “we had some interesting combinations out there,” Tara said. In addition, the Cardinal’s wide scoring and rebounding margin gave several bench players more action than usual, a valuable experience. “We want to play more people,” Tara said. It’s fun to note that yet another post player, Ashley Cimino, showed that she can hit from the outside as she tossed in a three late in the game – much to everyone’s delight. It was the first of her college career. She also had four rebounds in five minutes of play.

Sports writer Michelle Smith was to have been the post-game speaker, but she was ill and couldn’t make it. Consequently, assistant coaches Kate Paye and Bobbie Kelsey spoke for a while. Both gave quick summaries of their activities after graduating from Stanford. They had started on the Farm the same year, but Bobbie red-shirted as a freshman because she had injured her knee during her senior year in high school. Kate said that during that first year, Bobbie asked to borrow her car one weekend while the rest of the team went on the road. After the weekend, Bobbie commented that the car hadn’t driven well and made funny noises. Kate discovered that the emergency brake had been on the entire time.

Several fans groused about the announcement that ringing little bells after forward Joslyn Tinkle scores violates NCAA rules against artificial noisemakers. “Sorry about the bells. Nothing I can do about the bells,” said Eileen Roche, director of basketball operations.

Despite all the contributions mentioned already, and despite continued outstanding play by the three starting bigs – Jayne, Nneka Ogwumike and Kayla Pedersen – Tara wasn’t entirely happy with the game. “We had some slop in the first half,” the coach said, adding that “the second half got better.” She was especially unhappy with some of the passes.

Asked about whether the team is influenced by its No. 2 ranking in the nation, Tara said, “We don’t talk about it.” Rather, “we have to improve.” One way to do that is to study videos. “We do a highlight film after every game,” she said. Because of the way it’s programmed, Tara or anyone else can zero in on a player whenever she’s in the game. There’s no need to fast-forward. “Video is a great tool.”

Although some fans have been concerned that Jayne’s point production isn’t as high as it was last season, Tara was quick to point out that “Jayne is all about our team.” She missed six months for knee surgery after last season, but “she’s doing well” and working hard. “She gets clobbered a lot” under the basket,” but she’s an unselfish player who willingly passes the ball to a teammate. “I love coaching her,” Tara said.

The highlights video on the FBC site also shows another facet of Jayne’s game – setting screens, such as the ones that helped Ros make 3-pointers. That’s something that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. The stat sheet does show that Jayne played 28 minutes, scored 14 points, snared nine rebounds, blocked six shots, and had four assists and four steals. Moreover, “Jayne is moving back (from the basket to score). She’ll be hitting a three before she graduates,” Tara said.

We’ll look forward to that.

Fans worry after victory over Cal

We fans of Stanford women’s basketball are a spoiled lot. The team has been ranked #2 in the nation since the start of the season, the record is 10-1, and the only loss was to #1 UConn – by just 12 points, UConn’s lowest margin of victory.

Now the Cardinal has just defeated Cal by 21 points, 79-58, at home on Jan. 2 – and we’re worried. We want perfection, and there were some troubling aspects to the game. This was especially true in the first half, when the Cardinal shot 30.8 percent, missing too many easy baskets.

Some of those misses were by star center Jayne Appel, but she made up for it in the second half, ending the game with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

“I don’t know that we’ve seen the real Jayne yet,” associate head coach Amy Tucker told the Fast Break Club after the game. “Her knee (on which she had surgery after last season) has been sore the past two days, but traditionally she finishes well,” she said. “We know Jayne can play better.” It’s a matter of getting her knee better.

Perhaps more troubling is that neither of the starting guards, Jeanette Pohlen and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, scored. However, Jeanette tweaked her ankle in the second half and had to go to the locker room for taping before returning to action. Ros, who had four rebounds, two steals and an assist, helped keep Cal’s best player, senior Alexis Gray-Lawson, under control, limiting her to 9 points.

On the brighter side, guard JJ Hones, who has had knee trouble, came off the bench again and contributed 5 points, five assists and a steal. Freshman forward Joslyn Tinkle continued to make progress, adding 7 points and three rebounds in just 14 minutes. (Some fans have taken to ringing small bells when she scores.)

Guard Melanie Murphy, who also has had injury trouble, came in to score 11 points along with two rebounds and an assist. She initiated the game’s most exciting fast-break moment, a no-look pass to forward Nneka Ogwumike, who promptly made the basket. “I like how Mel came in,” head coach Tara VanDerveer told the FBC.

Nneka continued to play in stellar fashion with 24 points, 16 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Right behind her, forward Kayla Pedersen recorded 16 points, 10 rebounds and a steal.

Also on the bright side, the team made 80 percent of its free throws (the goal is 75 percent, Tara said) and outrebounded Cal 49-41. Furthermore, 13 players were suited up, and 13 got into the game. We haven’t seen that for a while. “I’m really happy to get more people in,” Tara said. They keep each other accountable, she said. Only guard Hannah Donaghe (knee) and center Sarah Boothe (foot) weren’t in uniform, but they’re both practicing.

Speaking to the FBC, Hannah said, “My knee is doing well. I scrimmaged the last two days in practice.” She was pretending to be Cal guard Layshia Clarendon, a freshman who drew raves from TV announcers Jim Watson and Mary Murphy during the game.

“Be her all the time,” assistant coach Bobbie Kelsey said to Hannah. “Don’t be sweet Hannah.” Speaking from her own experience, Bobbie said that returning from a knee injury is almost as much psychological as it is physical. The plan is for Hannah to be eased into action “sooner than later.”

Answering fans' questions, Hannah, a junior, said she’s majoring in earth systems, which she described as a mix of environmental science, geology and other disciplines. Because she’s from Atascadero, she wanted to stay in California for college. She looked at UC Davis, where her older sister plays basketball, and at UCLA, but “nothing could compare with Stanford” for academics and basketball, she said.

Talking about the game, Tara said, “We just missed some easy shots.” At one point, the Cardinal missed 14 in a row, but “they don’t get down on themselves.”

Something that the team has been working on is taking charges, meaning an opposing player charges into a Cardinal defender and is called for a foul. “We have a charge club,” Tara said.

Looking back at the UConn game, Tara said, “Playing there was a great experience for our team. Our team was very poised,” but made some defensive mistakes such as not boxing out well. “It was a Final Four atmosphere…. We’re very disappointed that we didn’t play better. … We have to improve.”

Now that Pac-10 play has started, “We are the big target,” she said. “Our team has to come out and be more aggressive” when it journeys to Los Angeles to play UCLA and USC next weekend.

Keeping the team healthy is a top priority. For example, “we train on bikes” instead of running, Tara said. The players also watch a lot of video of themselves. “Our players are very committed.”

They didn’t get much of a holiday break. They played at UConn on Dec. 23 and had to be back on campus Dec. 27. However, they got into the holiday spirit of sharing. Instead of having a gift exchange among themselves, they contributed some of their meal allowance to help a needy family have the Christmas it might not otherwise have had, Tara said.

After returning from the 68-46 win at Fresno on Dec. 30, the team celebrated New Year’s Eve with a party at the home of Eileen Roche, director of basketball operations.

Home sweet victory

Even though only seven actually got into the mix, “Every player on our team was part of this success,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said Dec. 19 after the Stanford women’s basketball team downed rival Tennessee 67-52. The Lady Vols arrived with a 9-0 record and a No. 3 national ranking, while Stanford was 8-0 and No. 2, so one undefeated team had to fall – and it wasn’t the Cardinal.

“We have a great team,” Tara told the Fast Break Club. She talked about how hard everyone works in practice, thus making everyone better. “They are mature. We create (opportunities) for each other. This team is a very unselfish team,” she said. “They’re really happy for each other when they do well.” That unselfish nature showed up on the stat sheet, which credited Stanford with 14 assists while Tennessee had only four.

“It was pretty hard to nitpick today,” Tara said, citing the team’s rebounding advantage of 44-34 over Tennessee. That was an improvement from the Duke game earlier in the week, when Duke became the only team to outrebound Stanford so far this season.

Associate head coach Amy Tucker said that after that game, Tara installed a new drill. “Tara is known for making up drills,” she said. It involved Tara and Amy shooting the ball for a player, who then had to go up for the rebound while battling assistant coaches Kate Paye and Bobbie Kelsey, both wielding heavy pads. Once the player had made the rebound, she had to go up against the pads again to try for a layup. “It was brutal,” Amy said.

Amy brought guard Jeanette Pohlen with her and opened the floor for questions. The first one asked if the gathering of both teams in a circle after the game was planned. “It was a spur of the moment thing,” Jeanette said, adding that one of the Tennessee players said a short prayer. After that, the Stanford players walked around the court to wave at the cheering crowd.

As for the game itself, “they played what we expected them to play,” Jeanette said. Amy credited Kate for her scouting job. The Stanford players understood their opponents’ favorite moves and tried to take them away. “We knew their plays” so well that the bench players were calling them out as they unfolded, Amy said.

Several fans lauded the Cardinal defense, which led to a 30-18 score in Stanford’s favor at the half. Another fan asked Jeanette what differences she saw between this year’s Tennessee team and last year’s, which defeated Stanford in Knoxville. “I saw a different team in us,” she said.

Amy then recognized Jeanette’s parents, John and Cindy Pohlen. They not only attend every game, they accompanied Jeanette and forward Kayla Pedersen to Serbia, where their USA team won a gold medal during the summer. The Pohlens also were among the parents who went on the Stanford team’s trip to Italy in September.

The Tennessee game drew the largest attendance so far this season – 6,809 – close to a full house. “The crowd and the excitement were just great,” Tara said. “Today was our day. We are very excited about our team.”

The Cardinal women will face UConn on its home court, where the crowd will be heavily pro-Husky. “We’ll be challenged (to show our poise) on the road,” Tara said.

With undefeated No.1 UConn, the reigning NCAA champion, looming only four days away, “I got work to do this afternoon,” Tara said, referring to preparing for that much-awaited clash.

Looking ahead even more, Jenny Claypool, Stanford director of championships, led off the tent by talking about the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament March 20 and 22 at Stanford. Thus Stanford will play at home, but season ticket holders can’t be sure that they’ll have their usual seats because 100 tickets have to be reserved for each of the three other teams. Tickets for those who have already bought them will be mailed after Feb. 1, she said.

Where Stanford would go for the regional, assuming it wins the first two games, won’t be known until after the brackets are announced in mid-March. Stanford fans are hoping to go to the closest regional venue, Arco Arena in Sacramento.

Good work -- now work some more

The 71-55 win over No. 7-ranked Duke was a good reason for the No. 2-ranked Stanford women’s basketball team and its fans to celebrate on Dec. 15. “This is one of the most athletic teams we’ve played,” fifth-year senior guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude told the Fast Break Club after the game.

“I’m tired. That felt like a heavyweight fight,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “This was a big win for our team. This is a really special team,” she said, praising Ros and fellow guard Jeanette Pohlen for their defense. “We want physical play,” she said. It will help prepare the team for not only the Dec. 19 home game against No. 3 Tennessee and the Dec. 23 away game at No. 1 UConn but also all other games, including the NCAA tournament.

“They (Duke) were probably surprised at some of the calls,” she said. She was referring to Duke’s amassing 23 fouls compared with Stanford’s 11. The disparity was especially apparent in the first half. With only 2:58 remaining, Duke had nine fouls, while the Cardinal had only two. Overall, Stanford outscored Duke 19-7 at the free throw line.

One fan asked Ros if the team had practiced boxing. She laughed and said, “You battle back. Your team sticks together and you have each other’s backs. You have to be aggressive” and take good shots without rushing. “We bought into our schemes. Bobbie did a great job scouting,” she said, referring to assistant coach Bobbie Kelsey.

While Stanford had fewer personal fouls, a good thing, it also had fewer rebounds, a bad thing. The team was outrebounded – 44-39 – for the first time this season. Even worse, Duke had 25 offensive boards compared with Stanford’s 11. “We know we have some things to work on,” associate head coach Amy Tucker said. Still, “it was a great win.”

Forward Michelle Harrison was back in uniform after missing the DePaul game because of a mild concussion. Center Sarah Boothe (foot) and guards Hannah Donaghe and Melanie Murphy (knees) were still in warmups.

Looking ahead to the Tennessee game, Tara said her players would study the videos and look for ways to improve their rebounding. They’ll need all the boards they can grab because Tennessee is “a really tough team,” Tara said.

This was the first FBC gathering in Maples, according to Amy. “We really appreciate the energy in the building tonight,” Ros said. The official attendance was 4,719, the highest so far this season. A few minutes later, Ros asked the fans to sing “Happy Birthday” to guard Lindy La Rocque, who was standing on the sidelines with teammates.

Besides celebrating the win over Duke and Lindy’s birthday after the game, fans honored the Stanford football team at halftime. Wearing red jerseys with their numbers, the team sat in the northeast corner of Maples during the first half, then gathered on the court for the fans’ cheers and high hopes for the Sun Bowl game against Oklahoma on Dec. 31. The cheers were especially loud for running back Toby Gerhart, who was runner-up in the closest Heisman Trophy voting ever. After most of the players had filed off, a few stayed to compete for bragging rights in a half-court shootout. Those rights went to kicker Nate Whitaker.

Doggone good fun at DePaul game

The Stanford women’s basketball team treated fans to another display of its prowess by defeating visiting DePaul 96-60 on Dec. 13. Besides all the game highlights, which are described in Stories of the Season, the fans welcomed the return of the agility dogs from Ace Dog Sports at halftime. Ranging from a Great Dane to a teacup poodle, the 12 dogs raced through tunnels, leapt over barriers and swiveled around poles as their owners ran with them. As they were last year, they were a huge crowd pleaser.


Besides the resounding victory, the game was notable for center Jayne Appel snaring her 1,000th rebound to join the illustrious company of Nicole Powell, ’04 and Val Whiting, ’93. Also on the plus side, freshman forward Joslyn Tinkle returned to action after missing several games with a stress reaction in her foot.

On the minus side, forward Michelle Harrison was sidelined again. She had missed several games with back spasms before returning. This time the problem was a concussion. It seems her head had an unexpected encounter with Jayne’s elbow in practice. She hopes to be back soon. Guard Hannah Donaghe (knee) and center Sarah Boothe (foot) are still unavailable.

After the game, fans ambled over to the annual Fast Break Club auction, the booster club’s biggest fundraiser.

In keeping with the theme of “Back in the Saddle,” auction volunteers wore Western garb and Dallmar Court was adorned with “Wanted” posters of each team member. For example, there were “Wanted – for long-range shootin’, Lightnin’ Lindy La Rocque, $$ Reward $$” and “Wanted – for bustin’ a move, Jeanette Pohlen, Bojangles, $$ Reward $$.”

As the players arrived, they willingly signed autographs. One enterprising young fan had Jayne sign his red victory ball.

A life-size black horse was stationed near the auctioneer’s stage. Eileen Roche, director of basketball operations, said that it was delivered to the WBB office unbeknownst to the coaches, who were more than a bit taken aback when they first saw it. It took five people to get it back downstairs, she said. On the horse’s saddle was a poster with the players’ numbers.

Next to the horse stood a life-size cutout of Dale Evans (Mrs. Roy Rogers) in her younger years. Hannah and forward Kayla Pedersen posed for a picture with it. Joslyn, who hails from the Big Sky country of Montana, got into the spirit of things by donning a cowboy hat lent to her by a fan.

The first item for the live portion of the auction was a football signed by football coach Jim Harbaugh and star running back Toby Gerhart. Sarah served as the auctioneer, starting the bidding at $200. It eventually went for $700 at Sarah’s urging.

Next up was a colorful team quilt made by Beverly La Rocque, Lindy’s mother. Lindy, wearing an ice pack on her hip after being knocked to the floor by an intentional foul, did the auctioneering honors. Held up by Sarah and Jeanette, “the quilt is authentic, handmade,” Lindy said. “It has all our pretty faces on it”. She added that there would be only one this year. The bidding was so intense for last year’s quilt, which sold for $800, that her mother agreed to make another one for the same bid.

Dale Schroedel of San Francisco won this year’s quilt with a bid of $975. In the meantime, the players agreed to autograph it for her.

Guard Mel Murphy, who later sported an elf hat, auctioned off a game jersey worn and autographed by Jayne. Bidding started at $100 as Mel reminded the crowd that Jayne could be “the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. She has a bright future.” Two bidders went back and forth, eventually raising the price to $700. At that point, head coach Tara VanDerveer stepped in and said she’d make sure that each of them got a Jayne jersey for $700.

A chance to sit on the Stanford bench when the team hosts UConn next December sold for $500. A Final Four chair from St. Louis, autographed by the players, went for $500.

As the auction wound down, Dana Stewart, fundraising chair, announced that Tara would host a second Piano and Pie afternoon ($75 a person) at her home next spring.

Hats off to everyone who helped make this auction such a success and so much fun by soliciting donations and organizing everything. All the proceeds go toward the team. Last year’s auction, for example, helped finance the team’s trip to Italy in September.

(See Don Anderson's Photo Gallery for a slideshow of auction photos.)

Big win over Gonzaga, but coaches want more

There’s no doubt that the Stanford women’s basketball team racked up its biggest win of the regular season to date with its 105-74 drubbing of Gonzaga on Nov. 29. The halftime score, 59-38, was almost equal to the 60-41 final score against Utah two days earlier.

Nevertheless, “our post defense wasn’t very good,” associate head coach Amy Tucker told the Fast Break Club after the game. Gonzaga’s 74 points were the most allowed by the Cardinal this season, but the team has the two-week finals break to work on defense before competition resumes, Amy said.

On the other hand, Amy called it “a great offensive game,” citing the play of forwards Kayla Pedersen and Nneka Ogwumike. On her way to a 30-point game, Kayla scored the 1,000th point of her Stanford career with about 14.5 minutes to go in the first half. Nneka’s 29 points marked a career high. She also contributed 13 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Kayla recorded seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Center Jayne Appel, the third member of Stanford’s post triumvirate, scored the first basket just 18 seconds into the game. She wound up with 15 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal even though she wasn’t fully recovered from illness that struck on Thanksgiving and limited her production against Utah the next day. “She was a 6’ 4” decoy in that game,” Amy said.

“Gonzaga said, ‘We’re going to run with you,’ ” Amy said, but they couldn’t keep up with the Cardinal in the second half even though “our rotation is not quite as big as we’d like.” She was referring to injuries that have sidelined forwards Sarah Boothe and Joslyn Tinkle along with guards Melanie Murphy and Hannah Donaghe.

Mel, who missed the Utah game after hurting her knee in practice, can play when it no longer hurts. However, Tara said in the post-game press conference that if it has to be scoped, she could be out four weeks or so.

Sarah, a sophomore, has been cleared to practice with contact after foot surgery last spring, but “I have a pretty good idea that she won’t play at all” this season, Amy said, adding that Sarah wants to red-shirt. If she were to come back this season, she might not get much playing time.

It’s not certain when Joslyn, who has a foot injury, can return to action. A team doctor says the freshman can test it in another week or so, Amy said.

In previous comments, coaches have said that Hannah is progressing well from knee surgery early this year, but no date has been set for her return.

The post-game gathering gave the FBC a chance to become better acquainted with freshman forward Mikaela Ruef, who started playing basketball when she was in kindergarten and received a basketball for Christmas when she was 5. Hailing from Beavercreek, Ohio, she has an older brother, Joe, at Wright State in Ohio and a younger brother, Brian, a high school junior. Both are involved in sports. The family has two boxers and two cats who “think they’re dogs,” she said.

She also has relatives on her mother’s side in the Bay Area. They include her grandmother, great-grandmother, two aunts and six cousins.

She chose Stanford because it’s a great school, has a great team, and “I love the weather out here.” She also considered Ohio State and Purdue.

She hasn’t decided on a major, but she’s taking math and physics this term. In summer school she took physics and sports psychology, getting A’s in both.

One of the differences between playing in high school and playing at Stanford is that “in high school I didn’t play much defense because I didn’t have to.” Also, “it’s hard to adjust to not being the best player,” she said, adding that she even played some point guard in junior high. High school practices were two hours long, whereas college practices are three hours, and “there’s not much standing around.” She’s working on her speed and conditioning, and assistant coach Bobbie Kelsey is helping with her shot.

Tara credited Bobbie for a good scouting job on Gonzaga. “We played about as well as we played all season,” she said. “Nneka had a monster game, and Kayla is just awesome good,” she said.

With the two-week break ahead of them and the less-than-stellar Utah game behind them, the team didn’t want Tara mad at them for two weeks. They needn’t worry. “We’re very happy with how they played,” she said.

But maybe they’ll try to hone their defense to get even better.

Basket, basket. Who’s got the basket?

Poor shooting by the Stanford women’s basketball team led to a low-scoring post-Thanksgiving win over Utah on Nov. 27. The score was only 24-11 in the first half, when the team shot 25.8 percent. The percentage rose to 41.9 in the second half, resulting in a 33.9 percent average and a 60-41 victory, the team’s 31st consecutive win at Maples.

“Today was just trying to find the basket,” said head coach Tara VanDerveer, speaking to the Fast Break Club after the game.

Senior center Jayne Appel was ailing, playing 21 minutes and scoring only two points, along with six rebounds, three assists and two blocks. “I’m surprised that she played,” Tara said. In the post-game press conference, Tara said that Jayne was sick most of the night before and received two IV bags of fluid before the game.

Also of concern to fans was the sight of guard Melanie Murphy on crutches, joining guard Hannah Donaghe (knee), center Sarah Boothe (foot) and forward Joslyn Tinkle (foot) on the sidelines. Tara said Mel hurt her knee in practice. The exact nature of her injury is unknown except that it’s not an ACL or MCL tear, Tara said.

On the other hand, forward Ashley Cimino was back in uniform and played for the first time after missing several games with a sprained ankle.

The FBC gathering was delayed because the football team was meeting in Kissick Auditorium. After the men had left, FBC members filed in and heard from alum Angela Taylor, ’93, vice president and general manager of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.

Taylor spoke fondly of her Stanford days and praised the FBC as “second to none” in its support for WBB. After graduating from Stanford, she said, she was a graduate assistant at the University of Arizona, followed by a stint as an assistant coach at Texas A&M. She spent a year as an assistant at Stanford while Tara coached the USA Olympic team, then went to the WNBA’s New York office during the league’s first season. While in New York, she earned her MBA from NYU in 2002.

Her next stop was Minneapolis, where she was vice president of business operations for the Minnesota Lynx. She was “part of the team that selected Candice,” she said, referring to Stanford guard Candice Wiggins, ’08, who was drafted by the Lynx in 2008.

After going to the Mystics in 2008, she played a role in hiring Julie Plank as head coach. Julie had served as an assistant coach at Stanford from 1985 to 1995.

The Mystics are slated for the seventh pick in the first round of the 2010 WNBA draft, so Angela doesn’t expect her team will be lucky enough to get Jayne or UConn center Tina Charles, whom she called “two of the best” players in the country. She put forwards Kayla Pedersen (who led the team with 18 points Friday) and Nneka Ogwumike (who contributed 17) on her future wish list.

The WNBA is in its 14th season, but “the climate right now is very sensitive,” she said, referring to the nation’s economic malaise. The Sacramento Monarchs are looking for a new home after their owners put them up for sale. The WNBA hopes to keep going, though, and to have a team in the Bay Area, Angela said.

Also in her remarks to the FBC, Tara said, “This was not an inspired game for us. We weren’t playing as hard and as well as we wanted to.”

On the other hand, “We can learn a lot from this game.”

Joslyn's story of a bear scare

When a freshman basketball player joins the Stanford women’s team, it doesn’t take long before she has a favorite story to illustrate head coach Tara VanDerveer’s renowned dry wit. Usually it’s some admonition or word of advice. Last year, for example, guard Lindy La Rocque, now a sophomore, told the Fast Break Club that when she ventured too far from the perimeter toward the front court, Tara said something like, “Lindy, don’t you know there are alligators in there?”


Now freshman forward Joslyn Tinkle has her own favorite story, but this one is more at the coach’s expense. Joslyn, who hails from Missoula, Mont., said that as Tara was going out the door after the official home visit, Joslyn’s mother said jokingly, “Should we tell her about the bear?’ With that, Tara almost sprinted to her car, Joslyn said.

The personable Joslyn was speaking to the Fast Break Club on Nov. 19 after the Cardinal’s 99-50 victory over visiting Pepperdine – the Cardinal’s 30th consecutive home court win during the regular season. Unfortunately, Joslyn didn’t play because of a foot injury. An MRI showed that it has begun to heal, so it’s hoped that she can be back in action within a matter of weeks, said associate head coach Amy Tucker, adding that the coaches are eager to get her into the rotation of bigs. “She’s a great kid. She is a great player,” Tara added later.

Also sidelined were sophomore forward Sarah Boothe, who is recovering from foot surgery and might red-shirt, Tara said; junior forward Ashley Cimino, who has a sprained ankle but is expected back next week; and junior guard Hannah Donaghe, who continues to improve following knee surgery last season.

Commenting on the game, Tara said, “Our starting lineup and JJ (senior guard JJ Hones) really got after it.” JJ, who had knee surgery a year ago, is the first one off the bench and is considered part of the starting lineup. Even though she isn’t 100 percent, “she’s looking great,” Tara said. “It’s great to have Michelle back,” too, she said, referring to senior forward Michelle Harrison, who got her first playing time after back trouble.

The younger, smaller Pepperdine team pressed hard against the Cardinal, giving the home team a taste of what it can expect from other opponents. “We knew we’d wear them down,” but “we need to take care of the ball a little bit better,” Tara said, referring to the team’s 21 turnovers, compared with 17 for Pepperdine.

On the plus side, five players – JJ, junior forward Kayla Pedersen, senior center Jayne Appel, sophomore forward Nneka Ogwumike and sophomore guard Jeanette Pohlen – were in double figures. The team also knocked in nine 3-pointers.

Asked about the recently signed recruits, Tara said “we’re very excited.” Guard Sara James works hard and “is going to be great.” Toni Kokenis, a point guard, committed to Stanford as soon as she was accepted and will be a good complement to JJ when she returns for her final year (she red-shirted last season).

Forward Chiney Ogwumike, Nneka’s sister, was “very highly recruited. She is going to make an immediate impact,” Tara said.

Joslyn, who has a younger sister and a younger brother – both of them athletes -- was born in Europe and lived there for about eight years while her father played professional basketball. Now he’s the men’s basketball coach at the University of Montana in Missoula. He and Joslyn’s mother met when both played basketball there. Amy interjected that Joslyn’s mother and Joslyn’s high school coach were on the Montana team that Stanford played against in its first NCAA tournament game in 1988.

Besides Stanford, Joslyn considered Oklahoma, Texas, Duke and Georgia, making official visits to all of them. Stanford was last on the travel itinerary, and then “I was sold,” she said. In making her decision, she thought about “where I would be most happy outside of basketball.”

Now that she’s at Stanford, “I’m loving the experience. I’m super glad to be here.”

She’s finding time management to be her biggest adjustment from high school, but “everyone here is so helpful.” She jokingly said that one of the things she has learned from her new teammates is to “wear my mouth guard.” She regards being one of the bigs a challenge and sees herself backing up Kayla at the 3 spot.

Tara had this comment about the team: “We have something very special,” she said, citing the players’ unselfishness and maturity.