Putting down the Dawgs

By Wally Mersereau

The forecast for Puget Sound today was an 84% chance of rain. It turned out to be a Seattle-type rain, meaning a heavy overcast with an occasional drizzle. I doubt it merited a trace on the rain gauge. This afternoon I rode the monorail from downtown to Seattle Center and Key Arena to do a little scouting in advance of next week’s Pac-12 Tournament.

Alaska Airlines Arena is the new name for the long-time home of Husky basketball on the University campus. This was the first time I’ve seen this name in lights on two sides of the building. Inside are new electronic boards that provide the full range of team statistics. Next door, Husky Stadium is about 6 months away from reopening after a major renovation.

UW has two husky mascots these days: one in a dog suit who rides around on a Segway and a really beautiful genuine husky on a leash.

Susan King Borchardt and her husband Curtis talked with Tara and other coaches before the game and sat behind the Stanford bench along with Kate Starbird. 7-foot-tall Curtis is a Seattle-area native. He and Susan are now home-owners in the area. Other than player families and friends there was only a smattering of red sweatshirts scattered here and there among the roughly 2,000 fans attending the game.

Washington had only 7 players suited up as a result of a 3-player, one-game suspension for violating team rules. Neither Toni nor Aly made this trip to the Northwest.

Washington got off to a 3-9 lead at the start of the game, but, sparked by a 3-pointer by Bonnie, Stanford quickly was up 15-9 after 6 minutes of play and the lead grew steadily to the final score of 71-36. The Cardinal made lots of threes in the first half, but only one in the second half when it seemed a lid was on the basket for longer shots.

Chiney had 10 points and 9 rebounds at the half and ended with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks in 35 minutes. Jos had 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal in 33 minutes. Amber had one of her best games, handling the ball very well and racking up 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, a steal and 4 assists/1 turnover in 30 minutes.

Mikaela excelled at rebounding with 13 to go along with 3 points, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 6 assists/2 turnovers in 25 minutes. Bonnie had 15 points (5 of 15 from 3), plus 2 rebounds in 24 minutes. Four of Bonnie’s threes were in the first half.

Stanford outshot Washington 40.5% to 16.9% as the Cardinal defense really locked down the Huskies. Assists/turnovers were 18/7 for Stanford and 4/9 for UW. The Cardinal had 11 blocks to zero and 6 steals to 4. Rebounds were relatively close with Stanford having the edge 54-47. The Cardinal only got to the free throw line 3 times and made 2. Washington was 8 of 10 from the line.

The Huskies were handicapped by having only 7 players with two of their better players suspended. The remaining Washington players gave it their all, but were out-classed by the Cardinal. UW will be at full 10-player strength for its game with Cal on Saturday.

In the new Bruin Lair

By Wally Mersereau

For something a little different, three Stanford fans made the lengthy trek to Santa Ana Saturday night to watch a CIF Southern Section high school playoff game between Mater Dei (“back-to-back-to-back State champion” we were repeatedly reminded) and Long Beach Wilson. Starting for Mater Dei were Stanford-bound Karlie Samuelson and younger sister Katie Lou. Bonnie and family members sat behind the Mater Dei bench. Attendance was about 200. Mater Dei won 89-31.

Watching this game confirmed the younger Samuelson sisters are difference-makers. Both have Bonnie’s quick release and shooting style and primarily shoot threes. Because they left the game well before the end I’m not sure of their final point counts, but Karlie had at least 12.

Family resemblance (Karlie Samuelson)

(The team was on my flight home. I told Bonnie we went to see her sisters play last night. She was surprised and pleased. Her face lit up. She said, "They did pretty good, didn't they?" I agreed.)

Sunday afternoon was Stanford’s first visit to the newly remodeled Pauley Pavilion.

South-east corner (nearest the car park)

The renovation came in under-budget at about $130-million. In comparison, 6-year-old Galen Center, built from the ground up, cost $147-million. Pauley is larger, seating almost 14,000 in its maximum configuration. Galen seats about 10,250. Although characterized as a renovation, it’s hard to find any evidence of the original Pauley. Everything looks and even smells new.

I really like the new Pauley. Its spacious concourse gives a pleasant, open feeling—and is bright in daylight.

All seats are cushioned and with armrests, although the cushions are a tad hard. One gold seat is reserved for John Wooden in his favorite location. Pauley is almost a shrine to Wooden with several display cases devoted to him and his era.

Pauley acoustics magnified the noise of the crowd of 3,100, making it one of the noisiest places Stanford has played this season. UCLA has techniques for getting its fans aroused and keeping them fired up that are worthy of study and emulation.

This game was rough and bruising. It’s ironic that Tess was called for a flagrant foul for throwing an elbow. UCLA played so rough it merited multiple flagrant fouls. UCLA has good and skilled players. It’s unfortunate that Cori Close has them playing maul ball. I’m proud of how the Cardinal stood up to the onslaught, holding on to its lead. UCLA narrowed the lead in both halves, but could never completely close the gap. Stanford led by 5 at the half and won by 11, 68-57.

In addition to being rough, UCLA played with frantic effort for the entire game, bringing a pressing and determined defense at all times. Stanford kept its poise and withstood all the Bruins threw at it.

Chiney did not get a double-double, but she deserves the game ball for her heroic efforts in leading the team to victory. She had 26 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals and played the entire 40 minutes. Her statistics don’t do justice to all that she brought to this game. Mikaela did get a double-double, her second, with 10 points, 10 rebounds and a steal in 31 minutes. No one on the team puts forth more effort than Mikaela and she was essential for the win.

Jos fell just short of a double-double with 10 points, 9 rebounds, a block and a steal. She also played the entire 40 minutes. Amber, as usual, was multi-talented for another great stat line: 9 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists/5 turnovers and 5 steals in 38 minutes. Bonnie produced two valuable 3-pointers, plus 3 rebounds and a steal in 20 minutes. She also provided excellent defense.

As a team, Stanford was outshot by the Bruins 54.5% to 39.7% and only made 4 of 19 3-point attempts for a poor 21.1%. But in other categories the Cardinal did better, leading in rebounds 38 to 31, in steals 11 to 9 and had fewer turnovers, 15 to 21 for UCLA. And Stanford free throw shooting was excellent making 18 of 20 for 90%.

This was as rough and unlady-like a game as Stanford has encountered this season. UCLA did get a lot of fouls called against it late in the game that gave Stanford many bonus free throws and these were an important part of the win. But the mounting fouls did nothing to subdue the Bruins. The Cardinal showed today that it can deal with the most unpleasantly aggressive play and keep doing what needs to be done to come out on top. Stanford had many women warriors on the court this afternoon.

Cardinal triumphs over Trojans

By Wally Mersereau

Los Angeles provided traditional Southern California winter weather today with blue skies and a high temperature in the upper 70s. The San Gabriel Mountains were clearly visible from my hotel window. I watched the first half of the 6 pm Cal-UCLA game on my computer before heading for Stanford’s 8 pm Galen Center match-up. Cal was having an easy time with the Bruins. The final score in Westwood was known just before tip-off at Galen with Cal winning 79-51.

When USC came to Maples on January 20 Stanford led by 13 points at the half, but was outscored by the Trojans in the second half, with the winning margin down to 9 and a narrow 5-point lead with 3 minutes to play.

Tonight’s game at Galen resulted in a stronger win for the Cardinal. Stanford again led by 13 at the half, but won by 24, without a serious USC challenge in the second half. This was despite markedly more spirited and aggressive play by the Trojans in the last half. Stanford handled the USC efforts with poise and several times took advantage of Trojan players being left behind down court because of ineffectual defensive efforts.

USC has lost some close games in the Pac-12. This wasn’t one of them. There was no doubt as to the superior team or the outcome tonight.

Chiney had only 8 points in the first half, but then let loose in the second to get her 20th double-double, including 26 points, 15 rebounds and a block in 37 minutes. She did have 6 of Stanford’s 13 turnovers.

Jos also had a double-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in 38 minutes. Mikaela continued her excellent play on both sides of the ball, ending with 12 points, 8 rebounds and a block in 30 minutes. Amber scored 10 points and had a rebound. She had 5 assists and only one turnover in 29 minutes. Jasmine also did well at the point while scoring 4 points.

USC had two players with double-digit points: Harberts with 13 and Valoletama with 14. Crook was held to 6 points.

Stanford out-shot USC 46% to 27% and out-rebounded 43 to 26. Stanford 3- point shooting was only 28.6% (6 of 21), despite the first two Cardinal baskets being threes by Mikaela and Bonnie.

Toni made the trip, but was not suited up. Jeanette and Cindy Pohlen attended. Tara invited Jeanette into the locker room after the game. There was a respectable Stanford fan turnout within Galen’s total attendance of 844.

In Beaver Nation

By Wally Mersereau

Even on a gloomy day, it’s a pleasant half-hour drive north from Eugene to Corvallis through the broad and green Willamette Valley. The natural and cultural history museum at the U of O informs that the valley has been inhabited for 600 generations. Representatives of the most recent generations assembled this morning at the Corvallis home of Ed and Mary Jennings for a sumptuous pre-game brunch before moving on to Gill Coliseum to see your Stanford Cardinal take on the Oregon State Beavers.

Gill is a pleasant place to watch a basketball game if you aren’t distracted by the overuse of black and orange. The facility opened in 1949 and has been nicely modernized within its historic shell. It’s named for a 36-year coach at OSU with the floor named for another coach of shorter tenure. Gill seats a maximum of 9,600, placing it about midway in capacity between Matt Court and Maples. 1200 turned out for today’s game on Super Bowl Sunday.

I neglected to mention in my Oregon game report that Matt Court has an abundance of media boards that show comparative team statistics during games, allowing fans to be well informed at all times. Gill has just the basics.

So, how was the game those of you who chose to watch the Super Bowl may ask. It was the Chiney Super Show. Yes, she had another double-double, but that detail is dwarfed by the personal best of 32 points tallied in 36 minutes along with 18 rebounds. Chiney could have had 6 more easy points, but she faltered at the free throw line, making only 8 of 14 or 57%. Since she was the primary Stanford free throw shooter she pulled down the team percentage to just about the same level.

The problem with Chiney’s record performance was it didn’t leave room for anyone else to do much. The two exceptions were Bonnie, who sank 4 of 5 from 3-point land in 11 minutes on the floor, and Amber, who also had 12 points, along with 2 rebounds, 8 assists to 3 turnovers and 3 steals in 38 minutes. No other Stanford player had more than 3 points and only Sara had that many.

So the diversified offense displayed on Friday in Eugene did not survive the trip to Corvallis. Jos had 2 points and Toni had none. Stanford shot only 38.5% from the field, barely outdoing OSU with 35.8%. Stanford out-rebounded 47 to 32 and out-stole 9 to 2, but was out-blocked 1 to 6.

The other personal best of the night was achieved by Tess who scored the last two points of the game by making two consecutive free throws in one trip to the line, something she has not been able to do previously.

More than half of Oregon State’s points were racked up by Jamie Weisner and Ali Gibson, two talented guards, and the only Beavers in double digits.

The Cal women were on my return flight from Eugene to SFO, allowing me to confirm with Layshia Clarendon that the Bears had beaten the Ducks this afternoon. This gave coach Lindsay Gottleib her 100th career win.

Downing the Ducks

By Wally Mersereau

Wally Mersereau caught on "Oblivi-Cam"

It was a murky day in Eugene. The sky was heavily overcast with the temperature in the mid-40s. Mercifully, it was dry and I walked about two miles from my hotel to attend the Stanford fan get-together at a restaurant across the street from Matthew Knight Arena prior to the 6 pm game. About 20-some fans turned up, about equally divided between visitors and locals.

Near-new Matt Court is one of the finest on-campus facilities in the country, primarily financed by Phil Knight of Nike and named for his son who died at age 34 while scuba diving in Central America. As far as women’s basketball is concerned it has not been a case of build it and they will come. Attendance for this evening’s game was 1,812 in the more than 12,000-seat arena.

Words on the wall at Knight Court.

Oregon has some good players, with Ariel Thomas the scoring standout with 17 points. Several Ducks played good defense and Oregon out-rebounded Stanford 48-40.

Stanford jumped out to what seemed likely to be a runaway game, leading 23-6 with 12 minutes left in the first half and held this lead to the 5-1/2-minute mark. Taylor made a 3-pointer during this period. Oregon then began to battle back, getting the lead down to 10. The score at the half was 38-27.

Once again I failed to win in the challenging bingo contest that is an enduring half-time tradition at Oregon home games, but there’s always next year.

Stanford quickly increased its lead in the second half to 51-29 after only 4 minutes of play and at one point was up by 29 points. Oregon reduced the lead a bit, but the final score was Stanford 86, Oregon 62. Taylor made a second three near the end of the game. Bonnie also made two threes. Chiney left the game with about 6 minutes remaining, followed shortly by Joslyn as Tara began moving down the bench.

Oregon’s major problem was keeping control of the ball. The Ducks had 17 turnovers to the Cardinal’s 8. Unfortunately, Stanford failed to score on several steals that led to fast break lay-up opportunities.

Chiney battled her way to another double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds, a block and two steals in 28 minutes. She did not appear to be bothered by last weekend’s ankle injury. Jos added 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and 4 steals in 26 minutes.

Sara did well in everything with 11 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks in 26 minutes. Amber had 9 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists/2 turnovers and a steal in 20 minutes. Toni also made a diversified contribution with 6 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists/1 turnover, 2 blocks and 3 steals in 32 minutes. Jasmine played 12 minutes and had 2 assists/1 turnover, but did not score.

For a last place team with only one win in Pac-12 play, Oregon did well, out-playing Stanford at the end of the first half and requiring the Cardinal to keep its best players in the contest until near the end.

The most encouraging aspect of the game was that Chiney was given a lot of help from a goodly assortment of teammates. I was particularly pleased with Sara and Taylor coming through. Here’s hoping Stanford will be able to maintain a broad-based and productive offense to add to its reliable defense.

Planning for the PAC-12 Tournament

This year, as most know, the PAC-12 Women's Tournament will be held at the Key Arena in Seattle, a cozy venue, one-time home to the NBA Sonics and later, the WNBA Storm.

View Larger Map

Dates and Schedules

The dates are Thursday March 7th through Sunday, March 10th. Here is a link to the PAC-12 Tournament page, which has a bracket with times, and current standings. Here's a recap:

• Thursday: four games in two sessions (noon to 4:30, 6 to 10:30) among the lowest eight seeds, eliminating four of the twelve teams.
• Friday: four games in two sessions (same times) among the remaining eight teams. The #1 seed plays in the first session, #2 in the second session.
• Saturday: two semi-final games, 6pm and 8:30pm.
• Sunday: the championship game, 5pm.

(Note that the late Sunday game-time means you can't fly home to the Bay Area Sunday night. With the game ending about 7pm, even if you don't stay for the net-cutting and general hooplah, the earliest departure you could schedule would be 9:30pm. The last nonstop to SFO departs at 8:50. So plan on an early Monday departure.)

Thursday and Friday are "iron-butt" days, many hours of basketball. Some fans, confident that their team won't play Thursday and wanting to save some time and money, will not arrive until Friday.

Saturday and Sunday afford plenty of free time to explore and enjoy Seattle's many attractions. For a list of some of those attractions see our Travel Page

Tickets

Buy reserved seats near other Stanford fans through Stanford The Stanford ticket office has sold out its allotment.See next paragraph for a deal on GA seats. Or you could contact any other PAC-12 school's ticket office (see our main page for links to all of them) hoping for decent reserved seats. For instance one might hope that either Arizona school would have unsold tickets still.

The PAC-12 is also making general-admission seats available on a "flex plan": $32 gets you four vouchers that can be used for GA seating in any of the six sessions. The general admission seats include the areas directly behind the baskets as well as the usual corner and rafter seats. Click here to view the seating chart and purchase.

Accommodations

The PAC-12 has a deal with the Crown Plaza. Click this link and fill in your dates to book a room at the Crown Plaza for $139 to $179 a night. The Crown Plaza is a high-rise building in the center of downtown, at 6th and Seneca. It is a five-block walk to the start of the Monorail at 5th and Pine.

The Seattle Monorail runs between 5th and Pine and Seattle Center, location of the Key Arena, every 10 minutes until 9pm Thursday—and thus, shuts down before the end of the last game that day. It runs until 11pm Friday and Saturday.

There are many hotels much closer to Seattle Center. This link to TripAdvisor is a list of hotels centered on Seattle Center, sorted by distance. You can easily re-sort by price and by ratings. Here is a similar list from Kayak.com.

Update: we have verbal recommendations from friends of FBC members for Hampton Inn and Suites, an easy walk to the arena; and for the Marqueen Hotel, which is even closer.

Fan Plans for Oregon

Over on the Travel Page we have updated the Oregon Fan Plans section.

To recap:

• We will have a block of seats behind the bench in Eugene, if you haven't asked for yours already, you need to email travel at stanfordfbc.org right away!
• Prior to the game we'll meet across the street from Knight Arena for drinks and snacks and schmoozing with Barb Arnold and the other Eugene Alums.
• Sunday morning we're all invited to the Jennings' place in Corvallis for brunch before the game at Gill Coliseum.

To get to the Sunday brunch, follow instructions on the travel page to print out a nice map.

Oregon is maybe the nicest of the PAC-12 away weekends; hope you can make it.

Unsettling the Utes

By Wally Mersereau

The team boarded its bus at the Boulder Marriott for the Denver airport at 9 am on Saturday morning. I moved to a hotel in Denver and stayed on in that city until Sunday morning.

The west side of the Rockies is colder and whiter than the east side. The Great Salt Lake Basin is heavily covered in snow, much more so than in the Denver-Boulder area. The temperature this morning when I arrived at the Salt Lake airport was 12 degrees and the sky was overcast. On my flight from Denver was the women’s basketball team from Weber State University, returning to its Ogden home after losing to Northern Colorado yesterday.

Red banners proclaiming “Home of the Utes” and showing the Pac-12 logo are on every lamp post along the main street between downtown and the university. All single game seating for Utah women’s games is general admission. After lunch at my favorite Salt Lake City restaurant I bought my ticket at the arena about the time the doors opened at 1 pm. Attendance was poor, in the USC range, at only 500-600 or so.

Utah is a good team—as good as Colorado, based on this weekend’s games. Not until almost halfway through the second half was Stanford able to achieve more than a four- or five-point lead. The Utes presented a strong defense and had a multi-pronged offense with many players scoring. With 11 ½ minutes left in the game Stanford got its first 10-point lead and then kept the difference between 9 and 12 points until the last minute when it was able to stretch it to 14 points. The final score was 70-56.

So Stanford topped the Utes by 14 compared to Cal’s 5-point win on Friday. And Stanford beat Colorado by 17 on Friday compared to Cal’s 4-point win in Boulder today. Pretty much the same results, but with Stanford clearly doing better against both Rocky Mountain teams.

Toni did not play, with no explanation announced, and Taylor again started in her place. But it was Sara who soared in this game. At Colorado Sara bumbled with two successive turnovers and not much else of note. Today was completely different. Sara was red hot and her accomplishments kept her in the game for 31 minutes—a personal record to go along with new personal bests of 18 points and 4 assists. Sara’s scoring included three confidence-building 3-pointers.This was a long overdue breakout game for Ms. James, earning her my game ball for her inspirational performance.

Three other Cardinal players scored in double digits—Chiney with 20, Amber with 16 and Jos with 12. While topping Stanford scorers, Chiney did not have her typical double-double. Amber continued her aggressive play on offense and defense and showed no lingering effects from her ankle injury on Friday. Jos had 2 blocks and 3 steals and was essential for the win.

This trip to the Mountain West was satisfying and fulfilling. Stanford rebounded nicely from its UConn loss and won two hard-fought games, doing better than Cal in both of them, to set the stage for next week’s two meetings with the Golden Bears. There were some impressive individual performances and no one, with the possible exception of Toni, was injured. The Stanford Pac-12 win-streak remains intact.

To cap the trip, the team was on my flight back to San Francisco from Salt Lake City. Nice.

Rounding up the Buffaloes

By Wally Mersereau

The high temperature in Boulder today was 39 degrees under sunny skies. The ground is generally covered in snow with streets and most sidewalks clear. There is no wind, making it seem relatively balmy in the afternoon.

Boulder is dramatically located at the foot of the Front Range with snow-covered peaks of the Rockies visible to the west. From here the Great Plains start their gradual descent east to the Mississippi.

I’m staying at the Boulder Marriott that also is the team hotel. It’s a brisk 30-minute walk to the Coors Events Center on the CU campus. Going up inclines or a long flight of stairs leaves me a little breathless—a reminder of the official elevation of this city of 5,344 feet above sea level. The elevation provides an extra home-team advantage for the locally acclimated CU student-athletes.

The Coors Events Center was built in 1979 and was renamed in 1990 after a gift from the Adolph Coors Foundation. It is home to CU men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball. Women’s basketball has been more successful than the other sports, winning 74.4% of its home games. The arena seats just over 11,000.

Colorado is a good team and deserves its ranking. Its strength is defense—plus Chucky Jeffery. Chucky is the real thing, a determined scorer and able to produce some amazing, twisting drives to the basket. CU played Stanford even in the second half, really battling at times, requiring Tara to keep her top players in until the end. Chucky ended with 17 points, 6 rebounds and a steal in 35 minutes.

Highlights for Stanford included another double-double by Chiney, Jos returning to the scoring column, Jasmine’s best game of the season and a top-notch, gritty game by Amber.

The top stat lines for the Cardinal were Chiney with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal in 35 minutes. Amber with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists/2 turnovers and 2 steals in 34 minutes. Joslyn with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal in 32 minutes. Mikaela with only 2 points, but 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal in 27 minutes.

Stanford had a 17-point lead at the half, 31-14, and a 17-point lead at the final, 57-40. The second half was 26-26 in a really hard fought game. Colorado deserves a tip of the hat for its second half effort. I didn’t observe any adverse high altitude effects on the Cardinal. The Buffaloes had great fan support. Attendance was 5,880—a more than half-full arena—and the crowd got really loud when encouraged by the scoreboard to do so.

This was not Stanford’s finest game, but it was reassuring to get this comeback win after the UConn defeat. Stanford shot 47.9% from the field, only 20% from outside the arc (2 of 10, with Jasmine and Jos being successful), 75% free throw shooting (9 of 12) and had 8 blocks and 5 steals. In the first half Stanford seemed to get a block on just about every CU possession.

Taylor played 21 minutes and Bonnie 13 minutes, with both of them being in the game at times. But neither made a 3 and Bonnie was scoreless. Taylor had 4 points and 2 steals.

Colorado was only 28.8% from the field, 8.3% from 3, and 47.4% from the line, largely due to Stanford’s outstanding defensive game. The Cardinal outrebounded 41-27, but Colorado outstole 13-5. Stanford’s team assists/turnovers were a disappointing 13/18, but Colorado’s were a more lop-sided 6/16.

Amber injured an ankle in the second half and was hobbling on the floor before she came out. But she went back in after a quick taping job by Marcella and looked fine.

There is something wrong with Toni. She started, but played only 10 minutes in the first half. She did not play at all in the second half. I did not see any injury and she appeared normal except for not playing. Toni’s absence gave Amber and Jasmine a lot of playing time together and both did well as point guard.

Ros Gold-Onwude was in the Pac-12 TV commentator chair, looking spiffy in a red blouse.

With malice toward all, with charity for none

By Wally Mersereau

The Lady Vols were seeking redemption after their loss to Baylor at Waco earlier this week. Coach Holly Warlick said her team needed to get back to its primary aims of strong rebounding and a stout defense. It could not let its opponent get a big opening lead as the Lady Bears had done by jumping off to a 17-0 starting score.

The home team took encouragement from the oh-so-close performance of South Carolina against Stanford on Wednesday. The Gamecocks had shown that the Cardinal’s #1 ranking was not to be feared. Holly and her team also were encouraged that Tennessee had actually out-scored Baylor in the second half in Waco 37-35.

Coach Warlick, her players and their many loyal supporters were determined and encouraged to do better and to end the week much better than they began.

So there was no holiday charity or Southern hospitality to be found in Thompson-Boling Arena before the game today. The beautiful fall weather in Columbia had been replaced with chilling winter wind in Knoxville. The lower bowl of the arena was packed with orange-wearing Tennessee fans (13,000 in all) roaring their support and ready for an upset. The small contingent of about 40 Stanford fans was barely noticeable.

Into this hostile environment came the nice girls from Stanford. The Cardinal, in its biannual visits, had not won in this place since 1996 and the Lady Vols and their supporters were intent on keeping it that way. The friendly comfort of Maples Pavilion seemed very far away. In this place and in this mood it was easy to see Stanford as the underdog. I was nervous before the game.

However, my confidence quickly returned and the team was properly confident from the beginning. Stanford got off to a 6-0 lead. Tennessee was not closer than 4 points in the first half and trailed 33-21 at the half. At halftime Chiney had 13 points, Amber 8 and Bonnie 6. Bonnie made two quick threes just before the half ended.

Tennessee did better in the second half, partly I think because Stanford was getting tired. Early in the second Stanford was up by 19. Tennessee made a run mid-way in the half, cutting the lead to nine. The crowd got into it, cheering and clapping, and the noise level went way up. But the Vols run was short in duration and with 7 minutes left Stanford had regained control. With two minutes left Stanford was visibly tired and the Lady Vols were still battling, but the outcome was not in doubt.

The final score was 73-60.

Tennessee accomplished one of its objectives by rebounding better—each team had 41. Tennessee played good defense, but Stanford’s was better. I thought Stanford looked much better prepared for this game than it was against South Carolina. There was plenty of sloppy play by both teams, but Stanford was clearly the better team today. The Cardinal looked much more like #1 than it did in Columbia.

Chiney was the top player once again. She was in for more than 39 minutes, had 21 points and an amazing 19 rebounds, along with 5 assists, 2 blocks and was 3 of 3 from the line.

Toni played 37 minutes and scored 11 points. Amber was in for 30 minutes, had 14 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists/2 turnovers, a block and 3 steals. Amber and Toni both played confidently and very well at the point. Tennessee pressed a lot, especially in the second half, but seldom rattled the Card.

Jos regained her shooting ability, getting 10 points, 3 rebounds and a steal in 36 minutes. Mikaela had 4 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in 27 minutes. Bonnie made 3 of 3 from beyond the arc, ending with 11 points, and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes. She is continuing to play good defense.

Nneka, her father and her two younger sisters were at the game, sitting just in front of me. The young sisters made posters calling attention to #13.

Pat Summit sat on the opposite side at mid-court in the second row. Tara went over and gave her a hug before the game. Pat must have left early in the game because I didn’t see her after the action started. I think she only put in an appearance today.

And so the Thompson-Boling jinx was finally overcome with Stanford earning its first win there in 16 years. Beating Tennessee is always good. Beating Tennessee on its home court is something very rare and very special and well worth a trip to chilly Knoxville in December.

Holy Moley! What a game!!

By Wally Mersereau

During the day there was nothing to suggest what an epic game lay ahead tonight.

December 19 was a beautiful fall day in Columbia, South Carolina, sunny with blue skies and a high temperature of close to 70 degrees. In the morning I bought my game ticket at Colonial Life Arena, “Home of Gamecock Basketball”. The arena is celebrating its 10th anniversary. It is located just off the university campus. The entry lobby features a giant banner with Dawn Staley’s picture.

I then strolled the USC campus (no, not that one), including The Horseshoe which is its historic heart, somewhat reminiscent of the University of Virginia. The institution was created in 1801, but first opened in 1805 with one building that sufficed for everything--student rooms, classrooms and administrative offices. Student enrollment on the main campus today is about 31,000. There are 7 satellite campuses throughout the Palmetto State.

The university museum currently has a special exhibition about USC sports. I learned that the Gamecock mascot is called Cocky and assumed his current appearance in 1982. Cocky was preceded by a 7-foot tall rooster called Big Spur who apparently has retired. Cocky is about 6-feet tall.

Central Columbia is a pleasant place, especially on a nice day. It has historical markers in almost every block telling for whom streets were named, etc. General Sumter was a Revolutionary War hero, for whom the Fort in Charleston harbor was named, along with a street in Columbia. He was called the Fighting Gamecock for his military prowess. USC sports teams began to use the Gamecock nickname in 1902.

There was a men’s game in the arena starting at 5 pm against Appalachian State. Those holding tickets for the women’s game at 7 pm were allowed to enter during halftime of the men’s game. Three sections of the arena are reserved for women’s season ticket holders, all other seats are general admission. With my early entry during the men’s game I was able to get a seat as close to the Stanford bench as a general admission permits.

The men’s game was close which caused it to run late, finishing at 7:05 pm. South Carolina won 74-69. The women’s game started at 7:40 pm. It seemed as if most of the crowd for the men’s game stayed for the women’s game, making this the highest attendance game of the season for both teams. It’s hard to estimate crowd size in an unfamiliar arena, but I thought it could have easily been 7,000 to 8,000. The crowd was in for a treat—a thrilling game with ample opportunity to cheer for the home team. Stanford had a very small representation, I didn’t see any other fans that weren’t family members and the family group was smaller than usual for a road game—maybe 25 in all.

Before the game I noted that Taylor appeared recovered from her ankle injury and everyone else also looked fine. Alex made this trip, but Aly did not. I was glad to see Stanford in the black uniforms, but this did not intimidate the Gamecocks in the least.

What a game it was! South Carolina was well prepared and played inspired from start to finish while also staying calm and collected. The Gamecock defense was excellent and didn’t allow 3-point opportunities. The team’s season stats suggested great effectiveness in stealing and this was amply demonstrated, especially in the first half. Many of the steals were team efforts with someone deflecting the ball to a teammate. The team stats suggested poor SC free throw shooting, but this was not the case, again especially in the first half, although there were some welcome misses from the line down the stretch.

Tara used 9 players in the first half. Stanford was fortunate to have a 24-19 lead at halftime. Chiney had 12 points in the first half and Amber had 6. Jos had no points. Tara used fewer players in the second half—I think just seven.

I hoped for some halftime corrections by Tara that would result in Stanford pulling away. If Tara had such corrections, so did Dawn Staley. The result was a closer second half than the first.

The Stanford lead was 3 to 5 points for the first 12 minutes of the second half. From the 6-minute mark to the end it was a one-point game or a tied game with the Gamecocks sometimes ahead. The crowd went wild, on its feet and waving rally towels. The noise was deafening. South Carolina continued to be calm and effective and Stanford could only hold on under intimidating conditions. With four minutes left it was 42-42. With a minute left it was 45-45. Either team could have won.

With 25 seconds left Stanford led 47-46 and had the ball. South Carolina started fouling. Fortunately, the in-bound passes were to Toni and it was she who was fouled. And it was Toni that made clutch free throw after clutch free throw. Gamecock fouls and Toni’s free throws built the lead to 51-46 . A South Carolina three with 1.5 seconds left made it 51-49 — too little and too late. The final score was 53-49. Whew! What a battle! What a thrilling battle!

Stanford did not play its best. For example, Jos still had zero points at game’s end, but she and her teammates played well enough to win. South Carolina just played so well and its defense was even better in the second half. Stanford didn’t look like #1, but it looked like a champion. In the end it won, matching and outlasting the Gamecocks who certainly deserved to be called the Fighting Gamecocks tonight.

This game was worthy of an advanced match-up in the NCAA Tournament. It was the ideal preparation for the Tennessee game on Saturday. Congratulations to Dawn Staley and her team for giving Stanford such a challenge. The South Carolina defense was absolutely magnificent.

Toni apparently injured her neck in the second half and had ice on the back of her neck whenever she was on the bench. Everyone else seemed healthy at the end.

I was very proud of the Stanford team. I was able to tell Chiney she was great and give her a high-five as she left the court. She ended with 21 points. She was vital to the win and she came through again. All of the starters played great, with Amber with 11 points and Toni with 15 points deserving special mention. Bonnie was in for extended periods and played very good defense and made two free throws that mattered.

Time to Think About Oregon!

Stanford plays at Oregon in Eugene at 6pm Friday, February 1st. At 4pm before this game, the Eugene Stanford Alumni will once again welcome visiting fans to a no-host dinner at The Bridge Bar and Grill, just across the street from Knight Arena.

After that game we'll have a weekend free to enjoy central Oregon before the OSU game in Corvallis (details and logistical speculations on the Travel Page).

We will pre-order tickets for Oregon.

Update We will have tickets in section 102, behind the visitor bench, at $11/seat!

Please email travel (at) stanfordfbc.org with your ticket count. No orders taken after the USC game of 21 January.

For OSU tickets, order your own using the link on the aforementioned the Travel Page.