Turkey Hangover or Reason to Worry

Escaping Las Vegas

 

            When the 7-0 Cardinal arrived in Las Vegas Wednesday the team was riding high -- Lara Somfai had just been named National Freshman-of-the-Week and Nunu Agara, having been named ACC Player-of-the-Week was runner-up for National Player of the week.  Looming a week away was a nationally televised game against #14 Tennessee at Maples.  But first there was the Resorts World Classic with games against the 1-2 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles followed by a showdown with the undefeated Colorado State Rams.  

 

 

Turkey Hangover

            On paper the Florida Gulf Coast game looked to be a blowout.  The Eagles had won one game, a blowout over Ava Maria, and lost by big margins to Davidson and George Mason.  Unfortunately, games aren't decided on paper.  Stanford began by scoring the first four points.  But in the next four minutes, the CARD were called for three fouls and scored zero points.  The first quarter ended with Stanford up by one point -15 to 14.  The second quarter was a disjointed low scoring affair.  Stanford scored ten points on four baskets and two free throws. The Eagles scored 14 again.  The Cardinal went into half-time trailing by three, 28 to 25.  Cardinal fans expected the team to come out from half-time with intensity.  But if anything, it was the Eagles that came out with fire. By three minutes gone in the 3rd, Stanford was down by seven points and had only scored four.  As the 3rd quarter wound down, FGCU was up by 11, 52-41!  At that point it seemed to dawn on the CARD players that they might actually lose the game and their intensity, which had been lacking, ramped up. Stanford outscored FGCU seven to two in the last minute and thirty-five seconds of the quarter. FGCU responded with their own burst of intensity and Stanford did not score again until almost four minutes were gone in the fourth quarter and the CARD was down by 11 again!  Once again Stanford ramped it up and outscored the Eagles but could not get closer than three points. Chloe Clardy made two layups and a three-pointer in the last 22 seconds of the game, but the Eagles hit enough of their free throws to win the game by four points.

 

            It is hard to know how much the outcome of the game was due to the Cardinal's lack of intensity.  However, the quickness of the small FGCU players did expose some defensive weaknesses in the Cardinal lineup. Help wasn't always there when it seems likely it was supposed to be.  Although some of FGCU's threes were good shooters making contested shots, too many FGCU players got free easy three-point opportunities. For the game Stanford had nearly twice as many turnovers (18) as assists (10). It was also a low scoring affair with over 60% of Stanford's scoring coming from Nunu (22 pts, nine rebounds) and Chloe (16 points, 5 steals).  Hailee Swain was the next highest scorer with 7 points on an inefficient 2-of-12 shooting night. Lara Somfai was limited by foul trouble, only scoring 6 points and collecting 8 rebounds. Overall the Cardinal looked disjointed.

 

Another Close Call

            Stanford's second game in Las Vegas was expected to be a battle. Instead of a matchup between two undefeated teams it was a game between the seven-and-one Cardinal and the seven-and-zero CSU Rams.  This was another low scoring game.  The Stanford led 14 to 10 at the end of the first quarter but was behind 23 to 25 at the half. The deficit would have been even greater, but Carly Amborn hit a three with forty-one seconds left in the half to pull the CARD within two. 

 

            The Cardinal players appeared to be thinking too much and trying too hard not to make a mistake.  The ball moved well but players kept passing up decent shots, going deep into the shot clock before throwing up a less than good shot or, on several occasions committing a shot clock violation! Stanford managed to tie the game several times during the 3rd quarter, but never was able to take the lead. The 4th quarter was much the same with CSU going up by eight points by the middle of the 4th.  Then the CARD got going.  Mary Ashley hit two free throws to cut the lead to six, followed by a block by Chloe.  Courtney Ogden did a mini-game take-over scoring the next seven points facilitated by a Clardy steal, a Somfai rebound, and an Agara assist.  It was as if the CARD decided to play instead of thinking about playing.  Ogden's three pointer with 3:10 to play gave the CARD its first lead of the second half, 54 to 53.  Somfai and Clardy added to that lead with layups, putting the Cardinal ahead by five with 1:38 to play.  But CSU wasn't done.  They tied the game at 60 with seven seconds remaining.  Following a time out to advance the ball, Stanford inbounded the ball to Clardy who drove to the basket for a game winning layup with .2 seconds left on the clock.  

 

 

Not the Play We Expected

 

            Stanford players played well -- just not as well as we expected. For the two games Nunu was her usual impressive self, scoring 40 points (22 and 18). Somfai was limited by foul trouble against FGCU but pulled down 16 rebounds to go with 9 points, an assist, and two blocks against CSU. Courtney Ogden only scored five points (on 2 of 4 shooting) against FGCU, but her 15 against CSU were game changing. Carly Amborn continued to be perfect from the floor with a made three and a running flip shot against CSU -- although she proved that she is human when she missed her two free throws.  Chloe Clardy's 16 points against FGCU made her the Cardinals' second leading scorer.  Chloe also had five assists and only one turnover in the two games. Against CSU she only hit 3 of her 10 shot attempts but none was bigger than her game winning layup.  

 

            While CSU is no slouch and a win is a win, overall Stanford's play in this Las Vegas event was not up to the standard the Cardinal had set in the first seven games of the season.  The officiating in the FGCU game didn't help.  Several calls against Stanford were charges that appeared, at least to this biased observer, to be blocking fouls. The venue also didn't help.  Games were played in a tent on a floor laid over carpet. Players and coaches sat on banquet chairs, spectators across the floor on banquet chairs placed on risers.  The marginally adequate setting may have contributed to the players' tentativeness.  However, it appeared that they were over-thinking their moves, playing not to make a mistake rather than the joyful "going for it" mood of other Stanford games.  It's important to remember that the goal of "running offense" is to score, not just "run offense." Stanford will be playing Tennessee on Wednesday night.  The Volunteers will be coming in motivated as they lost to UCLA by 22 points on Sunday.  A loss to us might even knock Tennessee out of the top 25! A win for us, despite the disappointing loss to FGCU, would probably put Stanford back in the top 25. 

 

Questions:

1. Will the comfortable confines of Maples allow the CARD to get back to playing to win instead of playing not to make a mistake?  

There is no need to worry about Stanford's intensity against Tennessee, but the tentativeness and overthinking the team demonstrated against CSU would be deadly against Tennessee.  

 

2. How much will the loss to the now 2 and 4 FGCU team hurt the CARD in the eyes of the pollsters? 

Stanford was on the cusp of breaking into the top 25 before that loss. Will the win over CSU redeem the CARD or will we still be "outside looking in?"

SEVEN and 0!!!

Back in the Conversation

 

            When the 7-0 Stanford Women's Basketball team takes the floor against Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Las Vegas on Friday, the starting lineup will almost certainly include the newly minted ACC Player-of-the-Week, Nunu Agara.  This honor was clearly deserved.  Despite battling a cold, Nunu scored 40 points and grabbed 21 rebounds in Stanford's two games.  Against UC Davis Nunu was Stanford's leading scorer (16) and leading rebounder (16).  Against Lehigh Nunu's 24 points led all scorers, and she was prefect from the floor and the charity stripe!  For the week Agara shot 75% from the floor and over 90% at the free throw line!  Those are gaudy stats!  Of course, the entire team recorded an impressive stat line -- especially against Lehigh where the Cardinal shot 66.7 % from the floor, including 53.8 % from three while hitting 100% of their 15 free throws!  

 

            What is, perhaps, the most exciting aspect of Agara's earning Stanford's first ACC Player-of-the-Week honor is that it suggests that Stanford is beginning to be "back in the conversation." The consequence of Stanford's disappointing season last year was that, despite having the 3rd ranked recruiting class in the country and returning a strong collection of experienced upperclassmen, Stanford was not ranked in any of the preseason polls. The CARD was also predicted to finish 6th in the ACC by the ACC coaches' poll. Stanford is still not nationally ranked, although they are at the top of the "others receiving votes" list in the newest AP Poll. Despite being undefeated the CARD is not mentioned at all in the National Coaches Poll. What is missing from Stanford's current resume is a "signature win." The Cardinal's 55-point blow-out win over Lehigh comes close, but it wasn't against a ranked team.  Stanford's first chance for a statement win will come against Tennessee on Dec. 3.  That game at Maples has a 6:15 tip-off. Be there!

 

The Good and The Better

 

            For Stanford a game against UC Davis is almost like practice -- only better.  Both teams run basically the same offense - the UC Davis coaches taught it to Stanford!  Playing Davis gave Stanford's freshmen a chance to learn Stanford's offense in a new way -- by playing against it!  The biggest difference is that Stanford has the better athletes. The game was never close.  Stanford had a seven-point lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back. The CARD had a bit of a lapse in the fourth quarter, only out scoring Davis by two points.  However, that was also the quarter when Coach Kate emptied the bench.  Freshman standout Lara Somfai joined Agara in recording a double-double (14pts, 12 rebounds).  Unfortunately, after hitting her first two three-pointers, Lara appeared to have fallen-in-love with distances shots and put up five additional threes without success.  Chloe Clardy continued her impressive play, scoring in double figures yet again. Clardy is averaging over 12 points a game. Just as impressive, in seven games Chloe has 21 assists, 13 steals, and two blocks against only 6 turnovers! Davis had come into Palo Alto as a hot shooting club -- but the Cardinal held them to below 25% on field goals and three-pointers.

 

            Stanford's biggest margin of victory thus far came in the game against Lehigh, an East Coast school the CARD had never played before.  It was basically a rout.  Stanford scored 98 points while holding Lehigh to 43! Five Cardinals scored in double figures including freshman Carly Amborn with 10 points in seven minutes!  Amborn, who reminds some longtime fans of Kate Starbird, continued to be perfect!  She has scored 21 points in 17 minutes of play -- hitting 5 of 5 from three and six of six from the free throw line! In general, the play of the freshmen was extremely encouraging.  Hailee Swain and Lara Somfai both scored in double figures on highly efficient 6 of 8 shooting.  Unlike some earlier games where it appeared that only their significant talent got them past not knowing the offense, against Lehigh these freshmen executed offense smoothly!  Needless to say, Stanford's defense was impressive against Lehigh, holding them to just over 30% shooting overall and just under 20% from three. 

 

Questions:

1.  How will Stanford do on a neutral court?

The two games with the lowest margins of victory were Stanford's two away games.  Gonzaga is a notoriously difficult arena for visiting teams and, not surprisingly, the freshmen struggled a bit.  How will the team do in a truly neutral arena?  Will the freshmen continue to display comfort in the Stanford offense or will it become a bit harder.  These are two games the CARD should win -- let's hope they do.

 

 

Ugly can be Good!

First Road Trip Yields 2 Wins!

 

            After finishing their three-game season opening home stand with a blowout win 35-point win over Cal Poly Pomona, the CARD traveled to Eastern Washington for two road games.  During the first three games at home Stanford and the team’s highly touted freshmen dominated.  Although it was clear that the star freshmen were still learning the plays and adjusting to the college game, their talent was more than enough. But, not surprisingly, a team starting two freshmen faced challenges on its first road trip against two teams with tournament aspirations.

 

Defense In the Luggage

 

            Coach Paye has frequently said that she wants this team to hang its hat on defense and luckily that defense got included in the luggage for the team’s first trip. Both games were grind-it-out defensive battles, and the CARD had the better defense. Stanford held Washington State to 30.2% from the floor and Gonzaga to 37.5%.  The was the good news.  The bad news was that Stanford apparently failed to pack a lot of the CARD's offense, especially their three-point shooting.  The CARDINAL shot only 40.7% against the Cougars, upping that to a slightly more respectable 44.6% against Gonzaga.  However, Stanford went two-of-eighteen (11.2%) from three against Washington State and an only slightly better two-of-ten (20%) against Gonzaga. 

 

Washington State

            In Pulman the Stanford team never ran away with the game. Washington St. was behind by at least two scores virtually the entire game, but never by more than 13 points. Most of the game Stanford's lead was in the 5-to-7-point range - ahead but not really comfortably ahead.  One had the feeling that it might have been even closer if WSU's 6'6 junior center Alex Covill had been on the floor and not on the bench wearing a boot. Without her the Cougars only lost the rebounding battle by 3 -- 37 to 34.  It was basically an ugly game.  Both teams had more turnovers than assists.  Stanford had 11 assists and 15 turnovers while WSU recorded only 6 assists to go with their 16 turnovers. Hailee Swain led Stanford's scoring with 10 points.  Agara scored 9 while Somfai and Clardy both added 8.  Courtney Ogden continued to show the talent we have long know her to possess, scoring five points and grabbing five rebounds to go with an assist, a steal and a block.  

 

Gonzaga

            If the WSU game was ugly, it is hard to come up with a word to describe the opening quarter of Stanford's game against Gonzaga.  Stanford scored the game's first basket and then didn't score again for over three minutes, when Stevenson hit one of two free throws to make the score 11-3. Gonzaga outscored Stanford by nine in the quarter. That was the only quarter the ZAGs won -- but it took a while for Stanford to overcome that 9 point deficit. For most of the first half the game was consisted of a push from the CARD and a response from the ZAGS. Stanford finally pulled to within one point (33-31) on a three-pointer from Clardy in the waning seconds of the first half.  Courtney Ogden was particularly impressive during Stanford's second quarter play.  She is one of the Cardinal's players who can create her own offensive and she did.  

 

            Stanford won the third and fourth quarters by 8 and 7 points. The CARD tied the game in the opening minute of the third and took their first lead after just over a minute of play. Gonzaga kept it close, but the CARD never trailed again.  Stanford's junior class were the story of the game.  Clardy (20), Agara (16), and Ogden (14) all scored in double figures. Stanford’s fourth junior, transfer Stevenson scored four points but also pulled down six rebounds as did fellow junior Ogden.  Nunu Agara's team high 11 rebounds gave her another double-double.  

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The Game has Changed

 

            During the WSU game one of the ESPN announcers noted that it is hard for coaches to plan appropriate schedules because they never know what players they will have "next year." The days of recruiting a team and being able to count on watching those players develop over four years are gone.  She went on to say, now it's all about having the money to pay them.  That's how teams get players and how they keep them.  People may not like it, but that's the name of the game. 

 

            The current Stanford team is exciting.  The thought of having these freshmen around for four years AND having the strong junior class back as seniors next year -- along with Shay and Kennedy is enough get me starting to think about National Championship banners.  But keeping those players and recruiting more requires money -- and that means that Stanford fans need to step up.  I'll be talking about this more in future blogs.  But, for now, as you think about your end-of-year giving -- don't forget the CARDINAL.

 

Questions:

1.  How will the freshmen respond to a return to Maples?

Our star freshman played like freshmen in Eastern Washington. Even Hailee Swain, who was the high scorer for Stanford against WSU was only 3 of 14 against Gonzaga.  Learning to be an efficient scorer will be important for all of the freshmen.  Will the fab five return to their star ways in Maples?

Now it's for real!

 

 

The Season Has Begun!

         

            The Stanford Cardinal began the official 2025-26 season with two games in the first full week of November.  The first game was against a University of North Carolina, Greensboro team that went 25-7 last year, ending their season in NCAA tournament, but lost most of their players to graduation and transfer. The second was against a fellow Bay Area team Santa Clara, a team with a new coach and a talented lineup that is expected to do well this season. The Stanford Women won both; defeating UNCG by 45 points and Santa Clara by 21.  The first game was a romp, the second game was close until Stanford blew it open late in the 3rd quarter. As with the exhibition game the prior week, these games opened both a new season and a new era.

 

The New Era

         For the first time in a quarter of a century the opening lineup for Stanford Women's Basketball included two freshmen, Hailee Swain and Lara Somfai. None of the current Cardinal players had been born when freshmen Nicole Powell and Susan King (now King Borchardt) took the court as starters for the 2000-2001 season opener.  Although the presence of two freshmen in the opening lineup is in part a reflection of the Cardinal's hugely talented freshman class, it is also a reflection of the new realities in college hoops. Young players in search of social media followers and NIL money want the opportunity to learn in the game not just in practice.  Some may be able to recognize that their development will be facilitated by the opportunity to work their way into the college game, but many including the most experienced want to play now. It is worth noting that the last time Stanford brought in a freshman class with this much talent, three players transferred to other schools after the season. Those three players were all playing in last year's NCAA Sweet 16.

 

            It is hard to say how much Stanford's starting lineup reflects Coach Kate's awareness of the new world in college basketball and how much it simply reflects how darn good these freshmen are!  Lara Somfai led the team in scoring against UNCG with 15 and collected 8 rebounds.  She followed that up with her first career double-double against Santa Clara; scoring 15 points along with 13 rebounds. Our other freshman starter, Hailee Swain scored 12 in the season opener and 13 against Santa Clara. Hailee also led the team in "Plus/Minus" metric against UNCG.  Fellow freshman Alex Eschmeyer also impressed in the two opening games. She scored 13 points against UNCG (along with 5 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal and ZERO turnovers), then followed that up with her first career double-double against Santa Clara.  In addition to her 11 points and 12 rebounds, Alex contributed 4 blocks, 1 steal and again had ZERO turnovers! At this point the question is less, "why is Stanford starting two freshmen" and more "how long will it be before Stanford is starting three freshmen?" Of course, despite their obvious talent, it is clear that these three star freshmen are still learning the Stanford system.  There have been a number of moments when the offense wasn't flowing like it can and players didn't quite know where they were supposed to be. But at this level of competition, talent can make up for what they don't know.  Hopefully by the time that isn't true the youngsters will know where they need to be.

 

The "returners" are ready

            As impressive as Stanford's freshmen are, the returning players are demonstrating that they worked hard over the summer.  Last year's breakout player Nunu Agara scored double-digit points in both games. Nunu also flirted with double-digit rebounds and is doing a great job of taking care of the ball. Last year's offensive surprise, Chloe Clardy scored 12 points in each of the games, hitting 55% from three for the two games.  Chloe also has an impressive 3.5/1 assist-to-turnover-ratio.  Telana Lepolo IS BACK after missing almost all of last season with complications from her knee surgery from the prior year.  Telana looks like she really hit the gym.  Her assist-to-turnover ratio is a team high 4-1.  Especially impressive was Telana's willingness to shoot when the team needed it.  Against Santa Clara she went 4 of 6 from three-point land, helping to break open a tight game in the second half.  

 

            Mary Ashley Stevenson, Shay Ijwoye, and Courtney Ogden have had less time on the court but each has shown some positive moments.  Kennedy Umeh has been injured and unable to play in the official games. Freshman Nora Ezike is also nursing an injury.  Nora and fellow freshman Carly Amborn are both clearly still leaning the Stanford playbook -- a challenge for any newcomer. It is likely that eight or ten players will get the bulk of the minutes in anything like a close game. It's a long season and ultimately the CARD's success will likely depend on how well the entire team practices and plays -- basketball is, after all, a team sport. 

 

Questions:

1.  Stanford is looking great now, will the CARD still be undefeated when they play Tennessee Dec. 3?

Although in basketball any team can lose if they have a truly off night.  However, this schedule, like many pre-season schedules gets harder as it goes along.  The three games from Dec. 3 to Dec. 19 will be a real gauntlet and a real test of this year's squad.  Tennessee is currently ranked in the top 10, CAL is our rival, and Washington is ranked 26 in the AP with 79 points to Stanford's 3....Although pre-season polls have a strong resemblance to tea-leaf reading, it does suggest that those games in December may be rough. 

 

2.  Which statistic will come down first -- Stanford's gaudy shooting percentages or Stanford's turnover numbers?

Through the first two games the CARD are shooting just over 49% from the floor and just under 49% from the three-point line.  They are also turning the ball over an average of 13.5 times per game.  Which number will come down first -- the shooting percentages or the number of turnovers?