A Perfect Storm

By Wally Mersereau

The sky was gray, but the ground was dry, when I arrived in Seattle early on Saturday afternoon. I had successfully left the rainy Bay Area behind. Weather forecasters were not in agreement as to whether or not the Bay Area storms would reach Puget Sound. Until 6 pm optimists, including me, were smugly pleased. I didn’t bother to carry an umbrella as I strolled downtown streets.

But then a few light snow flurries suddenly appeared. By 7 pm there was a light coating of snow on the roofs of parked cars and by 9 pm trees and roofs were white. On Sunday morning I looked down from my hotel windows at all horizontal surfaces covered with snow. Residents told me this was the first significant snow of the winter.

On Friday Stanford barely won a close game over Washington State and Washington had barely lost a close game to Cal. By Sunday the Bay Area teams had crossed the Cascades in opposite directions. Stanford had not contained the two quick Cougar guards. Would it do better against the two quick Husky guards? I headed for Alaska Airlines Arena on the UW campus to find out.

Red brick Hec Edmundson Pavilion was built in 1927 and seats 10,000. Alaska Airlines obtained naming rights to the facility in 2011. About 2,800 fans trudged through the snow on Sunday to see what would happen after tip-off. Little did they know.

I probably should have recognized the snow storm as being a bad omen. Washington jumped out to an early lead and the storm inside the arena began to build. It was a case of excellent, but not outstanding, shooting by the Huskies combined with unbelievably dreadful shooting by the Cardinal.

The team stats tell the depressing story. UW made 30 of 64 shots from the field at a rate of 46.9%. Good, but not great. But Stanford made 28 of 81—yes, that’s right—53 unsuccessful efforts for an embarrassing 34.6% return. How could that be? Stanford missed 53 shots! Wait, there’s more.

From beyond the arc, Washington made 9 of 22, a respectable 40.9%. Stanford made the same number of 3-pointers, but out of 41 attempts for an embarrassing 22%. How could that be? Stanford had 32 failed 3-point efforts! Where did all of the talented long distance Cardinal shooters go? They were all there, heaving it up time after time with little to show for their efforts.

Only from the free throw line did Stanford excel—making 17 of 20 for 85%.

I could go on, but you know the rest. You also saw it unfold like a bad dream.

Washington played a great game. The Huskies were not intimidated in the least by #3 Stanford. Every UW starter scored in double digits. The Huskies did not Fear the Tree. Many UW players stepped up. Stanford did not contain the quick Husky guards--or any other Washington players. Sadly, Stanford fell short, ending a long string of Pac-12 wins.

This was not a good trip to the Northwest, almost a loss to Washington State on Friday and then today’s debacle. Time to take a deep breath, reflect, and then begin again. This team is too good not to bounce back and play better than ever.

Go Stanford!

Hotel deal for PAC-12 Tourney

The PAC-12 Tournament is, as you probably know, March 6-9 in Seattle. I've received a promotional email from the Hotel Five, a new-ish establishment that is not far from the Seattle Center and Key Arena. There are three promotions available, click here to view the hotel's page with the best deal, your third night free on a stay of three or more consecutive nights—perfect for the tournament. From that page, click in the upper left to view the other two deals, one for 15% off and one for a glass-blowing experience. If that doesn't work, try this link and make sure to include the promo code SEA109. That should get rates less than $120/night.

Hotel Five gets four stars from yelp reviewers. The walk to the front door of Key Arena is about 0.8 miles, per Google maps.

A Day in the Desert

By Wally Mersereau

Having successfully made a one-day trip to Colorado last week to watch Stanford women’s basketball, three of us decided to try the one-day method again, this time aiming for Arizona on Monday, January 20th.

Going into its game last week with #4 Stanford, Colorado was ranked 17/18 with a season record of 11-2 and a Pac-12 record of 1-1. It had just been beaten at home by Cal 55-57. Although Stanford won its game against the Buffs, it was outscored in the second half, gaining the win only because of a strong start.

Now, a week later, still #4 Stanford was facing Arizona State, ranked 19/24 with a season record of 15-2 and a Pac-12 record of 4-1. The Sun Devils had just beaten California 68-59. ASU was undefeated in Tempe, its only Pac-12 loss having been against Washington State at Pullman.

The name Sun Devils was adopted by student body vote in 1946. ASU’s previous nickname had been Bulldogs and before that—way back in 1889—the Owls. To symbolize a Sun Devil, the same Walt Disney artist who drew the Stanford Indian came up with Sparky as the ASU mascot. There is no historic or official meaning of Sun Devil, but I presume the name is intended to represent playing like the devil under the desert sun. I also presume this was the mind-set of every Sun Devil as the 5 pm game time approached.

The desert sun was low in the west, after a high temperature of 75 degrees, when we entered Wells Fargo Arena on the Arizona State campus. Head coach Charli Turner Thorne, Stanford ’88, as always was fashionably dressed, this time in a black dress and 3-inch heels, ready to apply her distinctive substitution protocol against her alma mater and former coach. ASU is always a challenging opponent and Coach Thorne has been doing well with her 2013-14 team. Having topped #15 Cal, she was ready to raise her sights toward an upset of the Cardinal.

ASU led 6-8 after 5 minutes of the first half, but never again. Stanford led at the half 35-28. The Sun Devils ran out of zip in the second half. Stanford began the half with a 9-0 run and kept going. The final score was 80-56.

Once more Chiney was wondrous to behold, ending with 30 points and 16 rebounds, 3 blocks and 4 of 5 free throws in 30 minutes. When she sat on the bench with two fouls in the first half, Stanford looked like an ordinary team.

Taylor turned into a tiger in this game. She had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 of 3 free throws and a three-pointer. She scored in a variety of ways and was aggressive on offense and defense. Karlie and Lili each had 11 points. In contrast, Amber’s stats barely registered with no points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 2 steals. Mikaela was her usual strong presence, providing her usual glue.

Three-point shots fell off dramatically in this game with the Cardinal making 3 of 6, a nice 50% ratio, but only from a few attempts. But it didn’t matter. Stanford chose another course in Tempe. Bonnie and Karlie made one three each. Free throws were a very nice 15 of 20 or 75%.

This was a fine and decisive win, more so than the win over Colorado. ASU beat Cal, Colorado did not. Colorado outscored Stanford in the second half, ASU did not. The result of four road games in consecutive weekends was Stanford 4, opponents 0. Stanford remains the only undefeated team in Pac-12 play. Chiney rolled on in all four games with various teammates stepping up to help clinch each win.

Official attendance was 2,400 at Wells Fargo Arena, not like the good old days in Tempe, but Sun Devil fans were loud in support for their team and created an impressive sense of hostility. However, the nice girls from Stanford were unfazed.

I want to end this report with another shout out to Taylor. This was her finest game, even if she may have scored more points in other games. Never has she shown more energy, assertiveness and variety in her play. She truly was a tiger. She contributed to the win through her own actions and as an inspiration to her teammates.

This was a solid and important win.

In One Day

By Wally Mersereau

Have you ever gone to Colorado to watch a Stanford women’s basketball game and returned the same day? Can you really do that? Well, yes you can and three dedicated Stanford fans did just that on January 12. It makes a long day, but an interesting and enjoyable one, providing a nice change of pace from watching games as a lethargic couch potato and adding a little zest and adventure to our sporting lives.

We set off before dawn in the Bay Area when the Sunday highways were being little used, passed through the sprawling airport and onto a waiting plane that whisked us eastward toward the Rockies. The snow-covered peaks of the western mountains were shining in the sun. We then flew over large expanses of snow stretching to the horizon, with rivers winding through. After a two-hour flight we descended into the Denver airport over surprisingly brown land with only touches of snow here and there.

Transferring to a rental car, we drove west about an hour to the land of the Buffs. After a leisurely and splendid lunch in Boulder, we moved on to the Coors Events Center on the University of Colorado campus for the 3 pm game. The weather was dry and the sky was filled with pleasing cloud formations.

We settled into our seats behind the Stanford bench, removed our outerwear, revealing our Stanford garb, and surveyed the scene. The principal sporting event in Denver this day was a Broncos football game that lured some fans away, as the 49ers had done the week before in the Bay Area. My guess at actual attendance at the Coors Center was about 1,000.

Stanford started well and led 55-38 at the half with Chiney contributing 20 points. There were three remarkable aspects of the first half: 1) Stanford’s 3-point shooting, led by Karlie with five and Chiney, Sara and Amber adding one each, 2) Chiney’s 20 points and 3) Stanford’s 100% free throw shooting.

The Colorado team that returned to the floor in the second half was transformed. The Buffs played the remainder of the game with great intensity, maintaining this to the end. The Buffs almost closed the scoring gap as the game neared its end and out-scored the Cardinal by 7 points in the half. The final score was 87-77. Possibly the elevation took a toll on the Stanford players, but the main factors were the consistent and effective efforts of the Colorado team.

Chiney ended with 34 points and 16 rebounds, held back by four fouls that caused her to play with some caution. She was 9 for 9 from the free throw line and made a 3-pointer for the second consecutive game. Taylor and Lili each made a 3-pointer in the second half to raise the game total to 10. Free throw shooting fell off a bit, but still set a season record of 21 of 24, or 87.5%, for the game. Karlie had her finest game, finishing with 19 points, including 5 of 8 3-pointers and 4 of 4 free throws in 26 minutes. Amber fouled out.

There were concurrent off-setting technical fouls involving Karlie and Arielle Roberson, but we did not see this incident and don’t know its details. TV watchers had the advantage here.

We arrived at the Denver airport after the game just in time to board our return flight to SFO , touching down there 13 hours after we had taken off this morning. This was a very satisfying trip, highlighted by an exciting game, with the right team coming out on top.

Worth the Drive to Fresno

By Wally Mersereau

I made a leisurely 3 ½-hour Saturday drive to Fresno, including a half-hour sandwich stop at the Black Bear Diner in Los Banos (pop. 37,000). The only brief traffic congestion I encountered was just north of Gilroy. Most of Highway 152 has been upgraded to four lanes. Highway 99 north of Fresno is being widened, with completion scheduled for 2016.

Once over the Pacheco Pass and down into the Central Valley, you are in the world of agriculture, primarily orchards. The road is flat, mostly straight and easy to drive, in contrast to the ascent up the pass. The large San Luis Reservoir is at a low level because of the lack of rain this season.

I was enjoying a good episode of This American Life on KQED that provided an inside look at the operation of a new car dealership when radio reception was cut off in the canyon through the pass. Once in the Valley I listened to classical music on Capital Public Radio from Sacramento State.

I made a quick visit to the small Fresno Art Museum and then headed to the Save Mart Center. A nice representation of Stanford fans were on hand. The Center is a pleasant facility with a lot of concessions. I indulged in a rocky road ice cream cone that seemed well deserved after my road journey.

The women’s game started 30 minutes after a Fresno State men’s game that the Bulldogs dominated. My guess at the attendance for the women’s game was something under 1,000.

Sara and Karlie were not suited up. Taylor started in place of Sara and continued her fine play. Bonnie and Taylor were in together for quite a while and tossed in four threes each. Amber made three threes and Mikaela one. The team total from beyond the arc was 12 of 29 or 41.4%. Free throw shooting reverted to a troubling level of 55.6%.

Chiney had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes. Taylor had 18 points, Amber 15 and Bonnie 14. The team had 26 assists to 8 turnovers. Fresno State had 4 assists and 14 turnovers. Stanford had 7 blocks and 7 steals, the Bulldogs no blocks and 4 steals. Nine Stanford players were on the floor for 10 minutes or more.

Stanford led at the half 43-31 and won the game 86-54. Tara started clearing the bench with about 7 minutes to go. Tess was last off the bench with 5 minutes remaining. Briana was the point guard for the end of the game and did ok, but not outstanding. Stanford had a 33-point lead at the 7-minute mark, which shrunk a bit with the regulars out, but was back up to 32 points at the end.

Taylor Thompson, the Fresno State point guard is an excellent player.

I thought I detected Taylor Greenfield with a very slight limp, but her play was unaffected.

Fresno: Pre-game nosh at Don Pepe's?

A few Cardinal fans may gather for pre-game beer and snacks at Don Pepe Taqueria at 4950 North Woodrow Avenue. It's just across the street from the Savemart Center:

View Larger Map

Time, about 4pm, leaving plenty of time to get to the 6pm game.

By the way, Google maps thinks it is a 2:47 drive from Palo Alto to Fresno.

Deep in the heart of Texas

By Wally Mersereau

The team was on my Friday morning flight from San Francisco. Austin was not visitor-friendly, weather-wise, on this Stanford road trip. It was cold and wet--not fit for man or beast. Rain was falling as we arrived at the AUS terminal and the gloomy skies did not brighten then or later. The weatherperson on the TV news stressed it was unusual to have a high temperature below 40 on November 23. The good news was no flooding.

Kate used the wait at baggage claim to take Amber aside for some one-to-one coaching tips. Amber listened impassively. The advice must have been helpful because Amber had another great game with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals in 32 minutes.

The official attendance at the Frank Erwin Center was 3,900, but the actual crowd appeared to be no more than 2,000. Those wearing Texas brown stood before the game with right hands extended in the Longhorn salute as the 60-member band played “The Eyes of Texas” and continued to stand until their team scored. The Texas fans next to me said second-year coach Karen Asten is a big improvement over Gail Goestenkors because of more effective recruiting. Three of Stanford’s starters are from Texas: Chiney, Amber and Lili.

Discretionary Stanford starters were Lili and Karlie. Chiney lost the tip to the Texas 6-7 center. Mikaela scored 6 early points to keep Stanford in the game in what could have been a Texas runaway.

Sara had her best game so far, showing the hustle that has been missing until now. Her defense was effective and she scored two threes in the first half. Not stepping up in the first half was Chiney who had only 4 points at the half when Stanford trailed 30-37. Texas blocked at least two of her first-half attempts.

Texas is an excellent free-throw shooting team and I thought for a while this edge could win the game for the Longhorns. At game-end, free throws were 18 of 24 or 75% for Texas and 15 of 25, or 60% for the Cardinal. This game was the first of the season in which Stanford faced multiple attempts to press, none of which were successful.

Sara started the second half, apparently in recognition of her high level of play in the first half of the game. Six minutes into the second half Stanford still trailed 37-40. That was when Stanford began its pull-away, going from down 3 to up 8 in the next 6 minutes. Chiney came to life, scoring 14 points in the second half. After that Stanford held the lead to the end of the hard-fought game. The final score was 63-54.

Tara shrunk the rotation to seven players with 16 minutes or more on the court. Sara played 18 minutes, was 2 of 5 from 3 and had 4 assists and no turnovers. Mikaela had the only double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but was a pitiful 3 of 8 from the line. Karlie played 30 minutes. Bonnie did not play. Chiney fouled out with two minutes to play having made 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

I had a dry walk back to my hotel under dark gray skies. I listened to the Stanford-Cal football game on KZSU as I wrote this report.

Pregame lunch in Austin

Sam Chang from the Stanford/Austin Alumni Club is wondering if you're going to Austin for the game this Saturday.
Stanford/Austin has a reservation under his name at Scholz Garten for 11AM if you'd like to join them. He says that it's a venerable BBQ/soul food restaurant that's been in operation since 1866, making it a real Austin gem.
Here's a Google map showing Scholz's and the game venue (the Erwin Center).

On the road again

By Wally Mersereau

Fall weather is well established in Boston with a forecast high for Saturday of 48 degrees under a hazy sky, but no dramatic foliage change has occurred yet, at least not in Boston. One of four branches of the westbound Green Line trolleys ends at Boston College. From there it’s about a 15-minute stroll to Conte Forum. Tip-off was at 1 p.m.

Boston College holds its own among Boston’s academic elite. Founded by Jesuits in 1863 it began to expand to a full university in the 1920s. Last year there were 34,000 applications for the 2,250 spots in the freshman class. Enrollment is 14,400, with 9,100 undergraduates. U. S. News & World Report ranks BC #31 and Forbes puts it at #35 on its America’s Best Colleges list.

When I called the BC ticket office a few weeks ago I was told all seats are general admission for women’s games so I bought my ticket at the door. There I was told all seats along both sides of the court are reserved. With my mind set on general admission, I paid $7 and got a GA seat at the end of the court behind the Stanford bench just across the aisle from the reserved section with the most Stanford fans. Official attendance was 1,628, but looked less than that—I thought more like 1,200.

The national anthem was sung by a 2010 BC women’s basketball alum who has apparently rocketed to country music stardom, but who was unknown to me. She sang slowly in her best country style.

Bonnie and Sara were off the injured list, but neither started. The starting five were Chiney, Amber, Mikaela, Alex and Kailee. Sara was first off the bench, replacing Alex after an early foul.

Stanford was off to a slow, almost bumbling, start. Kailee, a standout at the exhibition game, looked very much a freshman today. She was perfect at the free throw line in the Vanguard game, but missed all of her free throws today, including four in the first few minutes. Stanford’s defense was good in the early going, but the score was 7-7 after 4 minutes. Erica McCall made the first free throw for the Cardinal.

With 11:20 to go in the first half, Stanford trailed 13-18 and the game had become worrisome. Then Stanford took off on 28-0 run with BC stuck at 18 points for 10 minutes. Stanford led at the half 44-24. Boston College reached the 10-foul mark quite early and Stanford had only 5 fouls in the first half. Things were looking up and I celebrated with an ice cream bar.

Stanford built its lead to 57-32 in the first four minutes of the second half and my ice cream bar still tasted good. But the Eagles were determined not to fold and they did not. They cut the lead to 17 after 8 minutes. Stanford pushed it back to 20 after 10 minutes. With 7 minutes to go Stanford led by18. Kailee continued to struggle, and was pulled when she got her fourth foul and zero points. Stanford got the lead back to 20 with 4 minutes left. BC still would not fold and cut the lead to 16 at the 2-minute mark and to 12 at the end. The final score was 83-71.

It was a good thing Stanford was not playing UConn today. The Cardinal was outscored by 8 points in the second half by scrappy Boston College. And in the second half it was Stanford who got in foul trouble. The Eagles scored in lots of ways, primarily from 3-pointers, from drives to the basket and from the free throw line. Stanford will have to do much better on Monday to avoid a blowout at Storrs.

Individually, four Stanford players had a great game. Chiney had 30 points, with 11 of 12 shooting and 8 of 10 free throws, plus 14 rebounds in 37 minutes. Amber came close to a triple-double, with 19 points, including two early 3s, 9 rebounds and 10 assists with one turnover in 32 minutes. Bonnie scored 15 points, including 3 of 7 3-pointers and 4 of 4 free throws in 21 minutes. Mikaela scored 9 points and was a vital contributor for the win, battling effectively all game long on offense and defense, playing 32 minutes. But she made only 2 of 8 free throws. Sara was scoreless.

As a team, Stanford out-rebounded 44 to 26, but made only 17 of 31 free throws, for 54.8%, and 6 of 19 3-point attempts, for 31.6%.

I don’t know what Tara and the team can do to boost the overall level of play before Monday night, but a lot will be needed. Chiney, Amber and Bonnie will need to continue their fine play against a much stronger opponent. Mikaela will need to score more and make her free throws. And from somewhere on the roster a few others will need to greatly improve in the next two days and dazzle us all.

Early Offering of UCLA Game Tix

Are you planning to go to the games in L.A. this season? Stanford plays at USC on Friday, Feb. 21st, and at UCLA on Sunday the 23rd.

UCLA is sending out this link to former purchasers, offering an early shot at reserved seats before the official sale of single-game tickets begins on Oct. 1st.

Select the game and click "Find Tickets". The ensuing "Interactive Seat Map" will require you to enter an offer code; the code is EARLYBRUIN. Section 101 is behind the visitor bench and is already half-sold.

Plan for the Tournament in Puerto Vallarta (update 10/9)

The Cardinal plays in the "Hardwood Tournament of Hope" (official press release) from Tuesday November 26th through Thursday November 28th (Thanksgiving day). Not actually a tournament but more a round-robin series, the event is a benefit for a metabolic condition, Urea Cycle Disorder. Games will be played in the rather magnificent Puerto Vallarta Convention Center.

General tournament info is scarce at this point. The official tournament schedule is up. It matches the dates and times we already had for Stanford games in our schedule page. We have verified that Stanford will only play on the listed dates, the 26th, 27th and 28th.

The organizing body, PlanBC3, has announced tour packages for the tournament; click here for the details. In summary, you can buy a hotel package in a large beach resort that looks rather splendid (it is also the team hotel). The package includes resort lodging, ground transportation, game tickets and "unlimited food and beverages" including alcohol.

If you make your own hotel choice from 150 different ones (click for booking.com list), game tickets are $300.

There are no nonstop flights to PVR from SJC. Alaska has one nonstop from SFO. All other flights change planes somewhere, usually LAX.

Plan for the Boston-UConn Trip (Update 10/8)

Stanford's first road trip of the 2013-14 season will be in the second week of November—less than 10 weeks a month from now!

Update 10/8: Wally M. reports that "All Boston College tickets are general admission. Doors open one hour before game time. The ticket office is inside Gate B at Conte Forum."

Stanford will play Boston College at 1pm EST on Saturday, November 9th. Then on Monday (Veteran's Day), they play at UConn at 7pm EST. This game will be telecast on ESPN2. (Although the UConn website currently says the location is "TBA", a televised game against a ranked school would usually be held in their larger arena in Hartford, rather than on the campus in Storrs.)

Wrongggg! Late news from UConn is that this game will be in the friendly confines of Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT. From the Hartford Amtrak station to Gampel Pavilion is 27 miles; here's a map.

Wally Mersereau has already started to plan his winter's travels and writes as follows:

It's not too early to book reservations if you plan to travel cross-country to attend the Boston College and UConn games. Airfares are often lower if booked more than 60 days in advance.

There are plenty of non-stop flights to Boston from SFO and SJC. Boston College is in Newton, Massachusetts, adjoining Boston on the west and served by the Green Line of the MBTA. Boston College is the terminal station on the Green B Line, easily reached from downtown Boston. The game will be played at Conte Forum, about a half-mile walk across campus from the MBTA station.

The next leg, from Boston to Hartford is a challenge if you don't have a car. There are no airline flights and Amtrak is round-about and takes 3 1/2 to 5 hours via Springfield or New Haven. For the non-driver, that leaves the bus that will get you there in about 2 1/2 hours on either Peter Pan or Greyhound. If you plan to travel by public transport on November 11 you need to check holiday schedules.

With a car, and assuming decent weather, you are looking at a reasonably pleasant 2-hour Sunday drive on I-90 (click for a map). Renting a car for only the Hartford portion of the trip requires careful attention to details such as pick-up and drop-off locations and whether these will be open on Veterans Day. My current plan is to go to Hartford by bus, but if a FBC member will be driving and has an extra seat I would like to hitch a ride.

After the UConn game on Monday night the next task is to find your way to an airport for the return flight to the Bay Area. In my case, I'm going early to Boston and staying on in New York and will fly back from JFK. I will take Amtrak from Hartford to Penn Station in New York. Others may prefer to return to Boston for the flight home.

Wally