December 15, 2004

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Stanford women take No. 2 ranking, unbeaten basketball record on the road

by Rick Eymer

Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer has mentioned the need for her team to be "road warriors" on more than one occasion.

The second-ranked Cardinal have a chance to show just how tough they are away from home when they travel to Missouri on Saturday and No. 9 Tennessee on Tuesday.

So far, it has been business as usual.

After beating Pepperdine, 85-49, in its first official home game on Friday night, Stanford went up to USF and beat the Dons, 80-51, on Sunday.

The Cardinal (7-0) now have a chance to show VanDerveer that tough road games won't be as problematic as they have been the past two years.

"We talked about that as a team," senior guard Kelley Suminski said after her 15-point performance against the Dons. "We definitely did struggle last year and that's not who we are. Sometimes on the road we didn't come out with the same intensity."

That hasn't been the case this season. Stanford has beaten its seven opponents by an average of 27 points. That includes a three-point win over nationally-ranked Texas Tech at Santa Clara.

Last year, six of Stanford's seven losses came away from Maples Pavilion. Two years ago, all five losses were on the road. But Suminski makes a good point about the level of intensity.

The Cardinal are a combined 16-9 during the regular season away from home the past two years, and 10-2 during the postseason, which includes the Pac-10 tournament in San Jose.

"We do need to come out with the same feeling of urgency as we did in the tournament," Suminski said. "When you lose there, you're done. We have to play each game like it's our last. We have to come out strong at the beginning and not dig ourselves into a hole."

In Missouri and Tennessee, Stanford will be facing two teams it played in last year's NCAA tournament. The Cardinal dominated the Tigers in the first round, and dropped a frustrating two-point decision to Tennessee in the Elite Eight.

"Sometimes the road can be a little tiring but you have to push through that," Suminski said. "It will be tough but we're excited about this road trip. We're not the only team that's been traveling and we're doing a great job of dealing with it. It's been enjoyable so far."

Missouri (4-4) has struggled this season and brings a two-game losing streak into Saturday's meeting, but will be out for revenge following its lopsided defeat to the Cardinal last year. Tennessee (5-2) has lost to No. 3 Duke at home and at No. 4 Texas. The Lady Vols consistently play one of the toughest schedules in the nation and always seem to be there at the end.

Tennessee has dominated its series with Stanford, winning 16 of their previous 20 meetings. The Cardinal have beaten the Lady Vols once in Tennessee, in 1996. Stanford hasn't won since, losing eight straight, including an overtime loss during the regular season last year.

This year's team already has set about establishing its own identity. Freshman Candice Wiggins, one of the more dynamic players in the nation, has spearheaded Stanford's sparkling new personality as a pressure defense-minded team that creates offensive opportunities.

Stanford is on pace to shatter team records for steals, opponents' scoring average, and opponents' shooting average. The Cardinal already have swiped the ball 93 times, with Wiggins leading the way with 22. Pinewood grad Sebnem Kimyacioglu has 14 and Azella Perryman has 11. Perryman had two in 30 games last year.

At the current pace, Stanford would have 372 steals by game 28. The school mark is 358 set by the 1994-95 Final Four team that played 33 games.

Last year's team allowed just 58.4 points a game. This year, that has been reduced to 48.3. The 2001-02 team allowed foes to shoot .346; as compared to .339 this season. There's also more diversity on offense. While Wiggins leads the team with an 17.1 scoring average, she's just one of four players who average in double figures. Junior transfer Brooke Smith (11.7), Suminski (11.3) and sophomore Kristin Newlin (10.0) are also on the list. Last year, only Suminski and Nicole Powell averaged in double figures.

It's also important to note that Wiggins and Suminski are guards. Smith and Newlin are post players.

"A lot of that starts on defense," Suminski said. "Candice creates a lot for us and Kristin can dominate in there. When she's playing well there's no way any other post player can stop her."

Newlin's toughest opponent has proven to be Smith - during practice.

"They only way I can stop her is if she misses," Newlin said. "She's a great player."

Stanford is also sharing the load in other ways. Smith, Newlin, Kimyacioglu and Perryman all average at least five rebounds a game, and nine players are averaging at least 12 minutes a game. Eastside Prep grad Markisha Coleman averages 9.5 minutes a game.

Wiggins led Stanford with 21 points against Pepperdine in the first athletic contest played in the renovated Maples Pavilion. The Waves are coached by former Stanford assistant Julie Rousseau and her staff includes former Cardinal players Kate Paye and Vanessa Nygaard.

Wiggins scored 22 points in the victory over USF. She played in front of her brother, Alan Jr., who plays for the Dons' men's basketball team, and uncle. Tara's younger sister Heidi is an assistant coach for the women's team.

Men's basketball

It's official: this is not last year's Stanford team. The Cardinal already have doubled their loss total from their record-setting season.

In what might have been a signature game, Stanford dropped a 78-53 decision to host Michigan State, ranked 20th in the nation. Despite bouncing back Monday night with a 56-52 win over host Denver, the Cardinal (3-4) find themselves off to their worst start since 1979-80, a team that finished 7-19.

A lot of that has to do with playing away from Maples, where Stanford will finally get a chance to visit on Saturday against UC Davis at 7 p.m. to kick off a three-game homestand.

Stanford opened the season with seven games away from home. That's the longest stretch to start a season since the 1934-35 team was away for 11 straight games.

A lot of it also has to do with coming to terms with first-year coach Trent Johnson's system.

The season is far from over though, and the Cardinal figure to improve as they begin to assimilate the new system.

"We're struggling to adjust to our new roles," Johnson said. "Our margin of error is very small."

Stanford nearly let Monday's game get away. Denver overcame a 23-9 first-half lead and led by 50-49 before the Cardinal put the game away by hitting 5 of 6 free throws in the final 20.8 seconds.

"If we don't make those, we don't win," Johnson said.

Chris Hernandez scored 14 points and Dan Grunfeld added 13 points and 10 rebounds against the Pioneers.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.