Stanford women must focus on Pac-10 Stanford women must focus on Pac-10 (December 24, 2004)after last-second hoop loss to Tennessee

by Rick Eymer

The Stanford women's basketball team will have to find a way to push that gut-wrenching, heart-stopping 70-67 defeat to host Tennessee on Tuesday into the background and focus on the Pac-10 season, which starts with a visit to Oregon State on Monday night.

For the fourth straight year the Stanford women's basketball team took an undefeated record into its game with Tennessee, and for the fourth consecutive season, the Lady Vols ended Stanford's unblemished season.

But as they have done in the past, the second-ranked Cardinal (8-1) will be looking to rebound with a victory for the fourth straight season.

Stanford is at Oregon on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

"Sometimes it's good to feel a little hurt. You don't want that feeling again," Stanford forward Sebnem Kimyacioglu said. "You want to work; you want to play, for the sake of redemption. This team will turn it into a positive."

The Cardinal were picked to finish first (in a tie with Arizona) in the Pac-10. They are the four-time defending conference champions. Establishing their superiority on the road would go a long way toward winning a fifth straight title.

Stanford last won five titles in a row between 1988-89 and 1992-93, and that run included two national championships.

Last year, the Cardinal lost four conference games on the road.

Stanford has beaten the Beavers in 19 of the past 20 games and is 32-6 overall against them. Oregon State last beat the Cardinal in 2001, and that was in Corvallis. In fact, all six losses in the series have occurred at Oregon State.

The Beavers (4-5) won their last two games and senior guard Shannon Howell was leading the nation in scoring earlier this week.

Oregon State gave Stanford everything it could handle in last year's game at Gill Coliseum. Nicole Powell hit a jumper with less than six seconds to play to give the Cardinal a 67-66 win.

Stanford lost, 67-66, at Oregon last year. The Ducks (7-2) are also coming off an emotional loss on the road at Arkansas but are a vastly improved team over last year when they finished 6-12 in conference play, 14-15 overall. Senior Catherine Kraayeveld, who sat out last year with a torn ACL in her right knee, is back with a vengeance. The 6-foot-4 former all-Pac-10 pick averages 16.6 points and 7.8 rebounds a game.

Oregon, which hosts California on Monday, began the year with seven wins before losing its last two games.

While Tennessee, which reached the NCAA championship game last year, has won 17 of its 21 meetings with Stanford, including the last nine in succession, five of the last six meetings have been decided by six points or less. The Lady Vols margin of victory in the last three meetings is a combined seven points.

All of which leads to one conclusion this time around: Stanford (8-1) played with courage and, despite losing, can consider itself among the elite teams in the nation.

The Cardinal rallied from a nine-point deficit in the first half to take a two-point lead at halftime. They came back from 11 points down in the second half to tie the game with less than six seconds remaining on a 3-pointer by Kelley Suminski, only to watch a desperation 35-foot shot launched by Shanna Zolman fall through the net for the final points of the hotly-contested, physical contest.

"They had a run, and then we had a run and it came down to a last second shot," Kimyacioglu said. "Kelley hit an amazing shot to tie it up but when we look back there are things we could have done differently. It was emotional game and we laid it all out there."

Suminski scored 15 of her season-high 21 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer that finished off the first half comeback.

What Stanford showed was an ability to face down adversity and still make itself a contender. In a hostile environment, the Cardinal were almost able to shake off 21 turnovers, missed free throws at critical times, giving up 19 offensive rebounds, and a pressure defense.

Stanford is taking that trip into last year's Elite Eight and is using it as a stepping stone. Getting close doesn't seem like an option this year, not the way the Cardinal played against Tennessee, and not the way they responded to the tough loss.

"It was a heart-breaker, and it was tough on the whole team," Kimyacioglu said. "I think we're still a better team. We have a lot of improving to do. We're not a finished product."
Men's basketball

Stanford is feeling a lot better about itself these days and that's a good thing since the Pac-10 season is just around the corner.

After winning three in a row heading into Thursday night's game against Montana, the Cardinal (5-4) think they are back on track.

"We were really beaten up coming off the road," Stanford coach Trent Johnson said after Wednesday night's 71-54 victory over visiting Dartmouth. "We seem to be playing better and our energy level has been much better."

With 10 players getting significant playing time against the Big Green, there was a lot to feel good about.

Senior forward Nick Robinson hit his first 3-pointer of the season, senior center Rob Little, junior forward Matt Haryasz and freshman center Peter Prowitt put on a blocking exhibition and redshirt freshman Tim Morris flew through the air for two slam dunks on the night. Junior Dan Grunfeld and sophomore Fred Washington also joined the dunking party.

"Nick and Chris (Hernandez) stepped up, Fred came off the bench and gave us some good minutes and Jason (Haas) was able to play a lot," Johnson said. "I have sensed that all this talk about comparing this year to last year was getting to the kids."

So Johnson told the team to lighten up.

"He talked to us about having fun and still working hard," Robinson said. "We tried to do that. We've got to continue to improve on both sides of the ball."

Morris' second slam resulted in one of the more unusual turn of events. He was fouled on the play, but then he was assessed a technical foul for taunting, which was his fifth foul.

After a short discussion, Morris left the floor and Dartmouth took the technical fouls shots. The ball came back to the other end of the court and Mark Bradford, who subbed in for Morris, made the free throw.

"I just reacted; maybe I screamed a little," Morris said. "I had a big adrenaline rush and I was just letting it out. I love dunking. It was a big part of my game in high school and in AAU."

Haryasz blocked three shots to move into a 10th place tie with Eric Reveno (61) on the career. Reveno, a Menlo School grad, is Stanford's associate head coach. Little blocked two and has 74 in his career, good for seventh. Prowitt blocked four, and has five on the year.

Grunfeld scored 15 points to lead Stanford. Hernandez added 14.

"We haven't had a solid win like this all year," Hernandez said. "It was pretty nice."

Stanford opens Pac-10 play next Friday with a trip to Washington State.

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