Done with the Desert

Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen are both nominated for National Starting Five Awards.  Fans can vote ONCE A DAY at 

http://www.hoophallawards.com/women

Stanford’s National Award Nominees

 

The last PAC-12 Desert Trip is Done

                  Stanford's final PAC-12 women's basketball season is half over.  Stanford has completed their final "mountain trip" and their final "desert trip" with only one conference loss. The Cardinal, picked in the preseason to finish 3rd or 4th, is currently sitting at the top of the of the conference standings - the only team with only one conference loss.  But, the next nine games are a continuation of the gauntlet that is PAC-12 women's basketball this season.  

 

                  The PAC-12, loaded with nationally ranked teams, has been a round robin of upsets.  Stanford is the only school that has not lost a conference game to a lower ranked team -- Colorado was ranked above Stanford when they defeated the CARD.  Stanford and Oregon State are the only schools that have not lost on their home floor.  

 

                  The CARD have home games coming up against a USC team that lost today to Washington and a UCLA team that lost today to Washington State.  The LA schools will be coming in angry and hungry to salvage their rankings.  After that, Stanford travels north to play the Washington schools.  Then, there will be the final three home games of the season against Cal, Arizona, and Arizona State before closing out the regular season against a nationally ranked Oregon State team and an always tough Oregon team.  Whew, not an easy schedule -- those road games will be tough.

 

The Desert Trip

 

                  By score the games in the desert were the easiest conference games of the year, with the Cardinal defeating ASU by 30 points and Arizona by 32.  But anybody who watched knows that they were not truly easy games.  Both Arizona schools played tenacious defense, including some hard fouls.  Cam had icebags on her face and leg after the ASU game and Arizona forced Stanford in to 16 turnovers.  Despite the aggressive defense, Stanford controlled both game from the opening quarter. Brink had double-doubles in both games, getting there against Arizona in the first half!  Kiki scored over 20 points in both games but missed collecting her 11th double-double against Arizona by one rebound.  In winning both games, Tara VanDerveer reached wins 1204 and 1205 for her record setting career.  

 

 

What has gone right

 

                  Underestimated by the experts in the preseason polls, Stanford has climbed into the top five (maybe higher after this week’s upsets) because of a strong team effort.  The Cardinal is continuing to play with pace -- the current average points-per-game (81.7), if maintained, would be Stanford's highest in this millennium!  Nationally the CARD are in the top four in free throw percentage, the top five in assist-to-turnover ratio, the top two in rebound margin, the top 20 in points-per-game, the top 10 in scoring margin, and the top 15 in field goad percentage defense.  The CARD are led by their dynamic duo -- Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen -- both averaging over 10 rebounds and over 17 points per game!  Hannah Jump is also averaging in double figures, plays strong defense, and is this year's "coach on the floor."  Jump set the Stanford career record for made-three-pointers earlier this year --so every three she hits is a new Stanford 

record!  

The Starting Five

 

                  Stanford is playing ten deep. Ten players, including all three of Stanford's freshmen, are playing in significant minutes and averaging double-digit playing time.  Hannah Jump (32.6 mpg) is the only player averaging more than 30 minutes a game - although floor leader Talana Lepolo (29.4) is close.  Lepolo continues to be an excellent floor leader -- her assist-to-turnover ratio ranks in the top 15 nationally.  Additionally, Lepolo has started looking for her shoot a bit more often.  She averages 5.5 ppg while hitting over 42% of her threes. The team's fifth starter, junior Elena Bosgana, is averaging 7 points and 4.4 rebounds in a bit over 18 minutes a game. She also has 35 assists, 14 steals, and 3 blocks. 

 

                  One delightful development from the younger players has been their active defense.  Red-shirt sophomore Jzaniya Harriel leads the team in steals (19) and has 26 assists, 23 three-pointers (she is shooting 47% from three), 29 rebounds, and four blocks! It is not surprising that she is seeing her minutes go up!  Chloe Clardy has 15 steals despite having missed some games due to injury.  Junior Brooke Demetre has also seen her minutes go up this year.  Brooke has responded by playing tough defense while posting the team's 4th best shooting percentage (45.6%).  

 

                  The team's other freshmen are also big contributors. Freshman Nunu Agara has the team's third highest scoring percentage (51%) behind only Brink and Iriafen, including the hitting 5 of 11 from three. Courtney Ogden has played in fewer games because of injuries but has looked good when she is on the court.  Her 23 assists with only eight turnovers complement her rebounds and steals.  Although they don't play when the game is on the line, sophomores Stavi Papadaki and Lauren Green continue to make valuable contributions -- especially on the scout team. 

The Team

 

Questions!

 

#1:   The Stanford team clearly fed off the energy provided by the crowd at a loud, packed Maples Pavilion when they defeated a tough Oregon State team for Tara's record setting win.  Can fans pack the gym for the final PAC-12 regular season games against USC and UCLA?  

 

#2:   How long will it be before Stanford University gets it right and renames the floor at Maples Pavilion the Tara VanDerveer floor?  

WOW! What a Weekend!

1203!

She never stops teaching!

                    There are several important stories from the weekend games against the Oregon teams.  Let's get the BIG story out of the way first...Tara VanDerveer is now the winningest coach in college basketball!  Even with All-American Cameron Brink going out with an injury in the first quarter of Friday night's game and missing Sunday's game entirely, the CARD got it done for their coach!  They beat Oregon 88-63, then took down Oregon State 65-56 in front of over 7000 screaming fans to provide Tara with her 1203rd win.  

                  Tara's mindboggling record was celebrated spontaneously by players and fans -- then honored by an elaborate and well-organized celebration with t-shirts (available for fan purchase on the Stanford website), confetti canons, gifts from Nike (a jacket with a hashmark for every win) and Stanford University (a jersey with the number1203), video tributes, and commentary from Ross Gold-Onwude, Chiney Ogwumike, and Jennifer Azzi. The full ceremony is available on the Stanford Women's Basketball site and the PAC-12 website (https://pac-12.com/videos/demand-stanfords-postgame-ceremony-coach-tara-vanderveers-record-1203rd-win) along with the post-game press conference and on-court interviews. It was recognition worthy of the occasion. 

 

                  Reflections on Tara's coaching achievement could fill pages -- and have in articles from the New York Times, to Sports Illustrated, all the local papers and more.  We as fans have been privileged to watch her and her teams, her positive forward-looking approach, her integrity, her ability to adapt and grow...it has always been about the team and the players -- never about her.  Such a refreshing attitude in this "me-me-me" world.  If she had not taken a year off to build interest in women's basketball with US Olympic team Tara would, of course, have even more wins (probably at least the 29 her team won during her absence).  That Olympic team played 52 exhibitions games in route to a gold medal for the USA -- and proved that there was enough support for women's basketball to make a professional league a viable proposition.  It is hard to imagine any other high-profile coach making such a sacrifice. But Tara has always been about building opportunities for women and advancing women's basketball. 

 

                  Of course, Stanford fans all knew this moment was going to happen this year.  Tara only needed 17 wins to break the record and Stanford hasn't had a season with fewer than 17 wins since 1986-87, Tara's second year at Stanford.  What made this special was that it happened in Maples, on Sunday, during women's basketball's Alumni Weekend.  The timing allowed for an occasion worth of Tara's achievement. 

 

Learning and Getting Better!

 

                  Another story worth talking about is how this team is improving!  Before this season started "experts" predicted that Stanford would struggle. They questioned whether Cameron Brink was good enough to carry this team to the Elite Eight.  There were doubts that the "supporting cast" was good enough to win without her or even with her.  Up until this weekend Stanford has struggled when Cam was not available. That difficulty was most notable in the Gonzaga game - but happened to some extent every time Brink has sat due to foul trouble.  Certainly, the team is stronger with Cam than without her.  For the Oregon games, everybody helped compensate for Cam's absence.

 

                  Coaches report that when the team watched film from the loss to Colorado, the players concluded that Colorado had been the more aggressive team and the more aggressive team wins.  Against the Oregon schools the CARD showed that they have learned that lesson.  On defense multiple players got steals and "bothers." Talana continued to be more aggressive on offense.  She scored in double figures for both games while passing out 14 assists over the two games with only one turnover per game.  That increased offensive assertiveness will portent well for Stanford's on-going success.  Becoming a point guard who distributes AND scores takes Talana to the next level. 

 

                  On Friday night, five Stanford players scored in double figures.  Hannah Jump only scored eight but she pulled down five rebounds, dished out five assists, and had a steal.  On Sunday everybody contributed with their intensity and their defense.  Brooke Demetre showed up big in her first career start.  Harriel had five critical steals while playing strong  defense. But the biggest story was Kiki Iriafen, Stanford's angelic annihilator! 

 

Kiki Iriafen -- A Star Shines Bright

An angel on fire!

 

                  The final important story of the weekend is what Tara called the "blast off" of Stanford's emerging All-American. Opening the PAC-12 broadcast Mary Murphy said that Kiki Iriafen needed a career game if Stanford was going to defeat a strong Oregon State team.  Kiki had that and more. By the end of the game Murphy said Kiki wasn't just good, she was great. Iriafen obliterated her previous career high, scoring 36 points, including the first three pointers of her career, while collecting 12 rebounds and playing strong defense against an All-American candidate. For the two games, Kiki scored 57 points, collected 27 rebounds, spent 72 minutes on the floor, nailed the first three-pointers of her college career, while displaying impressive efficiency (hitting over 60% of her shots), great defense, and terrific leadership. Not surprisingly, for the weekend's performance Kiki was named the PAC-12 Player of the Week.  

                   Earlier in the year Iriafen was most impressive powering the ball to the rim, finishing strong through contact.  More recently, particularly in these two games, Kiki showed more of her face-up game. Despite shooting from mid-range and even the three point line, Kiki continued to be a high percentage scorer.  

 

                  The Stanford game opening video ends with Kiki smiling as she blows a kiss to the camera with her hand which then dissolves into a crumbling wall.  That is Kiki -- sweet, smiling destruction!  In interviews she smiles and deflects praise to her teammates and coaches. On the sidelines Kiki giggles and smiles. After her second three pointer she ran up the floor with a huge grin.  At the same time, she is incredibly strong, fierce, and fearless on the floor.  That was obvious against Oregon State's Raegan Beers -- a beefy player who generally pushes opposing players out of her way.  Kiki didn't completely shut Beers down, but the Wade Trophy Watch List candidate was held to below her average in both rebounds and points and obviously struggled in her battle against Iriafen.  Kiki wasn't on the mid-season list for the Wade Trophy, Beers was.  After watching this game one thinks perhaps the committee needs to add Iriafen's name. 

 

Going Forward

 

                  One last thing that stands out about the weekend victories was Cameron Brink's continued leadership. It's not a new story, but it should be mentioned. Some stars might have focused on their own disappointment about missing out on this historic game.  Not Cam. She was a cheerleader for Kiki and the rest of the team.  She was confident in her teammates and encouraging of their success.  That positivity from the team's Player-of-the-Year candidate can help a team go far.  

 

                  At one point Tara noted that the last time she broke a record for career wins, the team followed it with a National Championship.  That is, of course, always the players' goal.  The first steps toward that goal are winning the PAC-12 Championship and the PAC-12 Tournament.  The emergence of a new star, the continued improvement of all the players, the team's new found commitment to being aggressive, and the leadership from Brink and Jump make those achievements seem quite reachable. 

The Mountain Trip

1201....

                The trip to the mountains has been the toughest road trip for the last several years.  This two-game gauntlet requires playing both games at altitude with a plane flight in between. It was always a difficult challenge and now that both Utah and Colorado have excellent teams it is extremely rough - especially for the second game. Last year the CARD beat Colorado in double overtime, then lost a tough game to Utah. This year the CARD won a tough game against Utah then lost to Colorado.  

                  Colorado has what is probably their best team ever this year and was highly motivated to beat Stanford.  Last year's loss to the CARD was one of several heartbreaking defeats in recent years including the miracle win several years ago when Kiana Williams led a surreal comeback win in the final 30 seconds of the game.  The combination of Colorado's talent and motivation along with the physical demands of the trip was too much for the CARD.  They lost 59-71.

 

Thoughts

 

                  Given the lateness of this column, there have been more than enough descriptions of both games.  Rather than adding yet another, here are some thoughts about the games, the lessons, and the recurring themes for the season.

 

# 1:  Kiki is for REAL!!!

This road trip provided yet another opportunity for Kiki Iriafen to demonstrate her amazing talent. Against Utah Kiki had 25 points and 16 rebounds - along with five assists, a block and a steal. Against Colorado she had 19 points and 19 rebounds - along with three assists, a block and two steals.  Those are All-American stat lines, especially against nationally ranked teams. Kiki attributes her improvement to her increased confidence --but her physical strength is also a factor in her performance.  Kiki plays through contact that would leave many other players on the floor. Cameron Brink is rightfully in the conversation for National Player of the Year, but Kiki definitely belongs in the All-American conversation.  When the two are on the court together it is tough for any team to beat the Cardinal.

#2:  Officiating Continues to be an Issue 

In both games the calls and non-calls by the officials both altered the game and left people scratching their heads in confusion.  It wasn't always a case of calls favoring one team or another, just of officials impacting the outcome.  We continue to hope that somebody will figure out how to improve the overall quality of the officiating.  

 

 #3:  The End of the PAC-12 

One of the sad aspects of this weekend is the realization that this was almost certainly the last "mountain road trip" for Stanford.  With the end of the PAC-12, it isn't at all certain that the rivalry with Utah and Colorado will continue.  As long as her mother continues to live in Boulder, Tara may want to continue scheduling Colorado.  But, putting Stanford's players through the mountain trip two game gauntlet is not necessarily something one would want to continue. 

#4:  Tara is Amazing!

This is really the #1 thought -- but it is also a good place to wrap up.  With a split of the two games, Coach Vanderveer is one win away from tying Coach K's record for college basketball wins and two away from breaking it.  Both of those victories could come during this week's homestand.  We are so privileged to have the opportunity to watch this awesome coach and the incredible teams she builds.  It has been interesting to watch the various news outlets write stories about Tara recently as she reaches this milestone.  In honor of this moment in history here is a link to the interview with Tara posted last year.  The first six minutes are the most interesting as they deal with her career and philosophy more generally. The last four minutes deal mostly with last year's team and are somewhat sad given how things turned out.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9eVqmS5xUE

Wins 1199 and 1200!

Wins Against the Washington Schools

            The Washington schools came to Maples this weekend for their final PAC-12 trip. Both teams had been ranked in the nation's Top 25 during this young season. Washington State arrived as the defending PAC-12 tournament champions - hoping to get their first ever win against Stanford. Washington arrived as the team with the nation's best scoring defense, holding teams to 48.5 points per game, and hoping to do the same to Stanford. Both left disappointed.  Washington State going down 74 to 65.  Washington losing 71 to 59.  

 

Washington State and the Tale of Three Pointers

 

            Kiki Iriafen and Cameron Brink were impressive -- as usual.  Brink had a 20 point, 18 rebound double-double (with 5 blocks, 2 steals, and three assists to fill the stat sheet). Iriafen had 17 points, 8 rebounds, and three assists.  One, and usually both, of these players leads the CARD in scoring regularly.  They are, arguably, the most dynamic frontline duo in the country. The key for Stanford going forward against PAC-12 and NCAA Tournament competition will be to have a strong complementary cast. 

 

            The stories of the Washington State game -- good and bad -- really centered around guards who got hot from three.  Coming into the game, Washington State's outstanding guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, normally a three-point machine, was hitting less than 20% of her threes (11 of 59).  Against the CARD, she found her three-point stroke -- hitting 5 of 10.  Some of that was due to defensive lapses by Stanford, but much of it was likely due to Leger-Walker getting past an emotional Christmas back in New Zealand after losing her beloved grandfather last season. For the Cardinal, it was Talana Lepolo's 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.  Those five attempts combined with Lepolo's 10 three point attempts against Cal represent over 40% of Lepolo's three point attempts for the first 13 games of the season.  Hopefully this shows that Lepolo realizes that for Stanford to win against good teams, she needs to make opposing teams view her an somebody they need to guard.  If they don't, she needs to make them pay. The third "guard" who got hot was Brooke Demetre, with an efficient 12 points on four of seven shooting.  Brooke is another vital part of the Stanford rotation and a great shooter. Her scoring filled a void left by Hannah Jump's mini-slump (0 for 2 from three).

 

            The other story from this game was, unfortunately again, the officiating.  Cameron Brink got hammered over and over.  On one play it seemed as if she was fouled five different times without getting a call.  But the worst was a play where Brink was soaring towards the basket and got taken down, flattened. The refs did manage to notice that it was a foul -- but they called it a common foul -- not a flagrant foul and not a shooting foul. It was so bad that even the normally calm Tara VanDerveer stormed towards the court and had to be held back by her assistants.

 

 

Washington -- The Immovable Object and the Irresistible Force

 

            Washington came in with the best scoring defense in the country -- holding teams under 50 points while the Cardinal came into the game with one of it's highest offensive averages in decades.  The victory went to the offense, although Washington held Stanford to it's lowest total score of the season -- 71 points.  The good news is that 71 points was enough for a double-digit victory.  

 

            Washington kept it close in the first half, with multiple ties and lead changes, mostly in the first quarter.  One of the big reasons was that Cam and Kiki spent too much of the first half on the bench due to foul trouble. Drawing fouls is a big part of Washington's game plan, they are good at falling down and running in front of people -- although to be fair they are also good at standing their ground.  In the second half the officials appeared to be less impressed by Huskies hitting the deck.  To be fair to the officials, perhaps Stanford players were also a bit more careful.

 

            Stanford's offense came alive in the 3rd Quarter. Hannah Jump hit three straight threes, finishing the game with four (4 of 13) after going 0 for seven in the first half.  Like all great shooters, she is capable of continuing to shoot even when a bunch of shots haven't fallen. The Stanford inside-out offense got into a flow, overwhelming the Washington defense. The Huskies didn't roll over and play dead despite falling 19 points behind, but Stanford maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

            Some of the best news for the day was solid evidence of continued development from Stanford's freshman and other less experienced team members. Sunday was Nunu Agara's day -- as it has been several other times. Nunu was the fourth CARD in double figures. But, Courtney Ogden and Chloe Clardy also played valuable minutes.  Elena Bosgana also had a few potential highlight reel moments.  On one she had an athletic steal and streaked down court towards the basket with a defender on her heels and Kiki Iriafen pushing to catch up on the wing. In past years one suspects that Bosgana would have attempted to make what would probably have been a contested layup.  This time, she made a perfect pass to Kiki who hit the layup in stride.

 

Burying the Lead

 

            In journalism one of the marks of a poorly written story is being paragraphs or even pages into the story before mentioning the most important news - "the lead" - is mentioned.  Perhaps this column is guilty since the biggest story of the day from the standpoint of history is that with these two wins, Tara VanDerveer notched the 1199th and 1200th wins of her career.  This leaves Tara just two short of tying Mike Krzyzewski's record of 1202 wins and three short of becoming the winningest coach in college basketball history. The only defense for this journalistic faux pau is that if you were to ask Tara what was more important - her team playing well and winning without getting injured or Tara winning her 1200th game - we are all pretty sure what her answer would be.

 

Question

 

1. What will it take for women's basketball to get the quality of officiating that the players deserve?

 

Last year's Final Four and many of the games leading up to the Final Four were marked by questionable and potentially game changing calls. It sometimes appears as if the officals want to "level the playing field" by allowing smaller players to maul and bang bigger players with impunity. The physical play in some of Stanford's games has reached levels where players' well being appears at risk. 

 

Being an official isn't easy.  This is especially true in our current society where civility has all too often given way to thuggery and violence.  We have political "leaders" who encourage people to threaten violence against those with whom they disagree.  There are incidents where coaches and officials have been assaulted by so-called fans who didn't like their decisions. So, it is hard to imagine people standing in line to get a position as a basketball ref. Many fans have seen the same faces officiating games for decades -- and we can't imagine those refs are as quick and fit as they were when they were decades younger. But, the game has gotten faster and more physical.  We hope those responsible for college sports will address this issue.  But, when is that going to happen?

The PAC-12 Season -- the Rubber Hits the Road

A December to Remember

        The Cardinal stuffed a break for finals, a holiday break, and six games — including an early PAC-12 opener against CAL — into December.  The team ended up with five blowout wins, one lopsided loss, and several entries into the record books.  Stanford had wins over San Diego State (85-44), University of Portland (81-52), UC Davis (92-52), CAL (78-51), and Morgan State (98-38).  In all five of the wins, Stanford was up by double digits by halftime.  In the lone loss at Gonzaga, the CARD trailed by four (41-45) at the half before suffering an 18 point defeat (78-96).

        It is tempting to consider the Gonzaga loss an aberration, and perhaps it was.  That game was played in Spokane less than 48 hours after the end of a game in San Diego — over 1000 miles away.  Cameron Brink was ill, playing only 11 minutes in the early part of the first half (but still scoring 10 points and grabbing 6 rebounds). However, it does remind us that, at a minimum, Cam will be an essential piece for Stanford going forward into the dog fight that will be the PAC-12’s final season.  

        The final two games were against two Bear teams.  On December 29th the team traveled to Cal for the PAC-12 opener against the Golden Bears.  It was  the 100th game between the two schools and a continuation of a rivalry that began college women’s basketball in the late 19th Century.  Last year Cal had made the game in their house uncomfortably close.  This year, not so much.  Charmin Smith decided that if Stanford was going to beat the Bears, Talana Lepolo would need to do it.  And, she did.  The Bears sagged of Talana (as many teams have this year), daring her to shoot the three.  She hit a career high six three pointers as part of a career high 20 point game — along with six assists, a nice stat line!!! Talana was joined in double figures by Iriafen and Brink, with five other players adding to the score. That situation underscores the importance of players taking their open shot when a better shot isn’t clearly available within the offense. 

        The last game of the preseason was on New Year’s Eve against a game but clearly overmatched Morgan State Bears team.  Morgan State had a number of California players on their roster — so hopefully they enjoyed their trip home because they can’t have enjoyed the game.  After Morgan State grabbed the opening tip and scored the first points, the game belonged to Stanford.  Morgan State scored 15 points in the first quarter to trail 29-15.  They scored six points in each of the next two quarters and only managed 11 in the fourth quarter while Stanford’s reserves scored 23.  As with other teams who lack the height to keep up with Stanford’s interior players, Morgan State found themselves shut down and dominated.  

Jump Sets the Record

        One “December to remember” moment came when Hannah Jump entered the Stanford record book as the career three-point leader against.  She hit her 312th shot from beyond the arc against UC Davis. At the first time out after her record setting shot, Hannah was congratulated in a video tribute from her former teammate Kiana Williams, the prior record holder.  Of course, Hannah isn’t done yet — she is already up to 316.  From now on, a new Stanford record gets set every time Hannah hits a three.

The Best Year Ever

        For Tara this must be a bittersweet moment. She said at the outset that she wanted this to be the “best year ever,” and for the PAC-12, it may well be.  After over 30 years of Tara working to build respect and national attention for West Coast basketball, it is finally here just as the PAC-12 is going away.  Five PAC-12 teams - UCLA, Colorado, Stanford, USC, and Utah - are currently ranked in the top 15 nationally with two more -Washington and Oregon State - in the “other’s receiving votes” group. Eight PAC-12 teams have been in the top 25 at some point this season and most pundits expect seven or eight teams to make the NCAA Tournament.This certainly means that the competition in the conference will be intense. There will be no easy games. 

What Have We learned from the Preseason?

        With the preseason over and the PAC-12 juggernaut getting underway it seems reasonable to ask what have we learned from the preseason and what we still need to know. Not surprisingly, there aren’t really too many surprises.  Before the season began, Tara told fans that she wanted to play with pace, shoot threes, and that our three freshmen would be valuable parts of the rotation.  Check, check, and check.

Playing with Pace

        This year’s team has been pushing it up the floor and running back hard on defense.  The team’s current 85.8 average points per game, if maintained would be the highest scoring average since 2002!  The CARD’s lowest scoring game for the season was a 74 point outing against defense minded Belmont on a neutral court. Now, it may be hard to keep that scoring level up against the higher level of competition that PAC-12 teams will likely represent, but it seems clear that Stanford will be running and running hard.  Fully utilizing a ten player rotation helps with pace because players can count on getting a breather. 

        The continued development of Jzaniya Harriel and Chloe Clardy as backup points guards should take some pressure off of Lepolo - allowing her to run the floor with abandon.  At this point, Harriel is holding a 2-to-one asist to turnover ratio along with 11 steals and 15 three pointers. Clardy’s points aren’t as prolific, but she is quick and tenacious on defense.  Her 10 steals include that critical play against Duke. 

Raining Threes

        Not only does this team have the most prolific three point shooter in Stanford history in Hannah Jump, but also this year’s Cardinal has a roster full of players who can hit from three.  Stanford is averaging 8.4 threes per game. Nine different players have hit from three in a game, with seven different players hitting threes in a single game against Indiana. Seven players have had games where they hit three or more shots from beyond the arc in a single game. We can expect to see the Cardinal continue to shoot from three as they force teams to “pick their poison,” either guard the three point line and let Cam and Kiki run wild or pack the paint and let the three point shooters go crazy.  

The TREE-O’s

        The three freshman are definitely an integral part of the Stanford rotation.  Each has had a “star turn” where their contribution was critical to the team’s success and each has shown both serious skills and great “upside” potential.  Nunu Agara’s strength around the rim allows her to “play bigger” than her 6’2” height, allowing her to help in the post rotation.  Courtney Ogden is an offensive talent hitting 44% of her shots from the floor while holding a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio. 

Improvement in Returning Players

        Cameron Brink has called Kiki Iriafen the most improved player in the country and that isn’t just hyperbole.  Last year Kiki 6.7 points per game and 3.8 rebounds, this year she is averaging 16.4. points and 9.7 rebounds. Beyond that, she is playing with a level of confidence she simply didn’t display last year.  If Kiki’s improvement wasn’t so dramatic, we would probably be talking about Elena Bosgana.  Elena spent the summer playing with the Greek National Team and that experience shows.  Always a good shooter, Elena has learned to be a passer as well - she has already recorded more assists this year (23) than she did in her first two seasons combined (21).  Her defense has improved as well.  The improvement of these juniors along with the addition of the freshmen is a big part of why Stanford has exceeded the preseason expectations of basketball pundits.  

The Road Ahead

        As we head into the rigors of the PAC-12 season it is clear that this is Cameron Brink’s team — but she has co-stars and coconspirators!  The biggest question is — how will Stanford fare against talented teams with talented posts?  The matchups against UCLA (Betts), USC (Marshal), and Utah (Pili) may be particularly challenging.  Get ready.