Now the Conference Season Begins

 

Has This Young Team Grown Up?

 

            The 2024-25 Stanford Women's Basketball team will end one of the longest holiday breaks in Stanford history with a very long road trip as ACC play starts in earnest. The Cardinal stands at 8-4, ranked 40th in the net, having lost all three of their games against ranked teams.  The team currently has zero wins against teams ranked higher in the NET -- the tool used to help select teams for the NCAA tournament. That's the bad news. 

 

                  The good news is that this is a young team -- and young teams have the potential to end the year a lot better than they were in the beginning of the season.  Stanford has three players averaging over ten points per game, led by sophomore Nunu Agara at 17.3 and seniors Elena Bosgana and Brooke Demetre at a tad over 12.   The team currently stands third in the country on 3-point percentage, not surprising since six players average 40% or better from three and two more are hitting above two-thirds of their threes. 

 

                  Nunu Agara is having a bit of a breakout season.  She currently leads the team not only in scoring average, but also in rebounds and assists!  Unfortunately, Nunu also leads the team in turnovers -- partly due to offensive fouls that are scored as turnovers. Perhaps the most important aspect of Nunu's stats is her improvement over last year.  Her scoring is up over 12 points from last year and her rebounding and assists are also improved.

 

                  The overall improvement from the sophomore class is quite encouraging.  Chloe Clardy, a defensive star last year has significantly improved her offense.  Despite not starting any games, Chloe is the team's fifth leading scorer, third in assists and averaging a respectable 44% from the floor.  Her quick hands are still part of her game.  Chloe is second on the team in steals.  The other two members of the sophomore class, Courtney Ogden and transfer Mary Ashley (MA) Stevenson have great upside but haven't come close to their potential.  

 

Point Guard?

 

                  

                  Two years ago it looked like Stanford's point guard situation was settled when Talana Lepolo laid claim to the position after the third game in her freshman season. Talana began her career with 11 assists and zero turnovers off the bench in her first game.  She was slowed last season by a nagging knee injury that showed up in her defense and required surgery in the off season.  So far this season, Talana has been largely absent, playing in only five of Stanford's 12 games.  In her absence other players are getting a chance to develop their point guard skills -- most notably Clardy, transfer Tess Heal, and freshman Shay Ijiwoye.  Unfortunately, all three of these talented women need to DEVELOP their point guard skills - especially their skills in this movement heavy offense.  Too often an offense predicated on ball movement seems stuck.  It doesn't help that this year's Cardinal team lacks size -- that makes the task of passing into the post a lot more difficult.  If freshman Kennedy Umeh can develop her conditioning and her comfort with college level defense assists may get easier -- but for now that is an if.  One begins to wonder if we will see Talana this year -- or will she end up redshirting for the season?  

                The point guard position will be particularly important in the ACC, a conference that features quick guards and pressing defenses.  So for Stanford has not done well when faced with pressing defenses -- hopefully they are learning but the lessons have been painful.  Additionally, many ACC teams switch defenses frequently.  That makes it even more important to have a point guard who can adjust the offense to the defensive changes.

 

Up NEXT

 

                  Stanford's next game is in Dallas against Southern Methodist University on Thursday evening.  That contest will be followed by a game on Sunday morning in South Carolina against Clemson. Neither of those teams are among seven ACC teams above Stanford -- winning will be important.

 

 

Questions

 

1. How will we do in the ACC?

The ACC is a strong conference.  As of December 29, there were seven ACC teams with a higher NET ranking than Stanford.  This will be a rough conference season -- but the season record only matters in terms of making the NCAA field and getting a good seeding.  It's how much the young team develops that will determine how this season ends.

 

2.  How many Stanford WBB fans will step up to join Lifetime Cardinal?

In this strange new world of college athletics fan financial support matters.  Will Stanford fans step up. 

 

 

 

Five Seconds Too Long

 

A Tough Loss 

 

            Thursday night's game against undefeated LSU in Baton Rouge was Stanford's first game against a Top 10/Top 5 team this season.  It was a chance to get a measure of where this CARD team is and where it might go. It was also five seconds too long. LSU last game was a 131-44 win over NC Central and they are particularly difficult on their home floor.  If somebody had told me in advance of the game that Stanford would fall to LSU by six points IN OVERTIME, I would have been pleased and relieved.  Instead, when that happened, I was disappointed but proud.  

 

                  It was a fast-paced high scoring game. Stanford led from 94 seconds into the first quarter until the final four seconds of the last quarter when LSU's Mikaylah Williams tied the game at 80 all.  As disappointing as that was, there was no quit in this team.  The CARD trailed for the entire overtime period but had the game within two points with a minute left in OT.  The Cardinal showed that they are a team -- and a team that can play with anybody.  They also showed that they had learned from the Indiana loss and are a better team than they were in mid-November.  When Indiana aggressively ran the CARD off the 3point line, Stanford had trouble scoring.  When LSU did the same thing, Stanford responded by driving to the rim. The CARD outscored the taller LSU squad in the paint 42-22.  Lesson learned. We can anticipate that the CARD will continue to get better -- including some better performance on Sideline Out of Bounds plays (SLOB). The failure to get the ball inbounds cleanly with 16 seconds left provided the opportunity for LSU's game tying goal. The decision not to apply even token pressure on the inbounds play after Stanford's last two scores, allowing LSU to roll the ball all the way to the front court without the clock starting, may have given LSU those extra five seconds.

 

A Shorter Rotation

 

                  With Talana unavailable (and not on the trip), Coach Paye only played eight women.   The CARD's talented freshmen did not see any action.  Four of those eight players scored in double figures (Agara 29, Demetre 19, Bosgana 16, and Harriel 15).  Nunu showed the national audience her star power with a double-double (29-13) adding two assists and a block.  Brooke's importance to the team was also on display, but perhaps more subtly.  When Brooke begam to struggle with muscle cramps, the CARD lost some of their flow and intensity.  One of the announcers commented that she believed Brooke's limited minutes due to foul trouble was the critical factor in Stanford's loss to Indiana.  Brooke is a three-level scorer and her presence on the floor creates challenges for defenses. Nunu is a breakout star, but Brooke is the team's breakout leader.

 

Stanford Basketball

 

                  Kate Paye is the coach, but Stanford basketball is still Stanford basketball.  Coach Paye, like the head coach before her, structures her offense around the strengths of her players.  This year's team lacks a dominate post presence but has excellent shooters.  The ball movement offense stresses three-point shooting and drives to the basket when the defense gets aggressive at the three-point line.  It is an offense based on taking advantage of what the defense allows.  Coach Paye also continues the Stanford tradition of scouting report defense -- defense designed to take away the things the other team is best at doing.  In her press conference after the game, Coach Paye seemed to suggest that she should have put more pressure on LSU's Mikaylah Williams whose game high 32points were also her season high.  But, of course, with LSU as with Stanford, teams must "pick their poison." The best news of the night was that a national audience got to see that Stanford is Stanford.  That is to say, the CARD play disciplined, unselfish, movement heavy team basketball.  They also got to see that despite the departure of Brink, Iriafen, and Jump, this team has talented players who can play with anybody.  

 

Next UP

 

                  Stanford opens ACC play early with a game next Friday, December 13 against CAL at Berkeley.  The CARD's only home game for the rest of the year, UT San Antonio, follows the following Monday.  Then Stanford closes out play for the year with a game at Chase Center against Ohio State, currently undefeated and ranked 12th in the country. 

 

Questions:

 

1.  Will the basketball world stop sleeping on Nunu?

One can only hope that Agara's impressive play against LSU will get her some of the attention that the play we have seen all season deserves.  It is, after all, more impressive to have a 29 point-13 rebound performance against LSU than a 25 point-13 rebound performance in an exhibition against Cal State LA.  

 

2. Will a loss be enough to get Stanford back into the Top 25?

A loss to Indiana allowed pundits to discount Stanford's 5-1 record.  Will a close loss the #5 LSU cause them to give some respect to the CARD's 7-2 record?

3. Was that a foul?

On the critical inbounds play at the end of regulation, the LSU player threw her arm over Harriel's shoulder preventing her from catching the ball cleanly, then hooked her arm preventing her from retrieving the ball.  How is that not a foul? If Jzaniya gets two free throws instead of it being a turnover, the game ends differently.  If it hadn't been played in Baton Rouge might the call have been different?

 

4. What will happen at CAL? 

Coach Smith has CAL playing some very good basketball.  They currently rank higher in the ACC standings that the CARD and beat Alabama in their ACC-SEC Challenge game.