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by Keith Peters
IImagine for a moment that Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer has this list that she carries around with her. Every time her team accomplishes something on this "Things to Do" list, she takes out a heavy black marker and scratches off the line.
At the top of this list is: Win NCAA title. Just underneath is: Win NCAA West Regional. Under that is: Win Pac-10 title. And under that is, well, that one's already been marked off.
Beat defending national champion Tennessee on its home court.
VanDerveer scratched that task off with with the ease of erasing an item on one's Christmas list shopping list as her top-ranked Cardinal (9-0) dispatched the Lady Volunteers, 82-65, Sunday before 12,282 Orange-and-White clad Tennessee fans in Knoxville, Tenn.
"Our team can be proud, on this particular day we outplayed an excellent team," VanDerveer said. "This is the first time a Stanford club has ever won in Knoxville. The players have accepted the challenge of being ranked No. 1 and shown competitiveness every time out."
Stanford actually has won twice before on the Lady Volunteers' court, in 1990 when the Cardinal defeated Virginia in the NCAA semifinals and Auburn in the national championship game. Since then, however, Stanford had lost four straight times in Thompson-Boling Arena.
The last time the teams met in Knoxville, Tennessee crushed Stanford, 105-69, two seasons ago.
"We didn't want to walk out of here like that again," said Stanford senior Kate Starbird, who made sure that didn't happen as she scored a season-high 29 points and had four steals to lead the way.
"This is one of Tara VanDerveer's best teams," said Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. "It probably is comparable to the team she won the title with here in 1990. They have three-point shooters, they have penetrators, and they have post players who want the ball and who finish. They are relentless on the boards. I thought they had the best team last year . . . but they didn't finish first."
But that is the goal this year, one the players constantly remind each other every time they step on to the court. They believe they are every bit as good as their No. 1 ranking. On Sunday, they proved it convincingly. And quickly.
Stanford hit 11 of its first 13 shots in racing to a 46-39 halftime lead.
"There is no perfect game," VanDerveer said, "but I think the first half is about as well as I've seen us play. We were the aggressor, and I like that."
Said Summitt: "They just jumped on us and we didn't handle it well."
Stanford scored on the perimeter, where Vanessa Nygaard made four of her seven three-point attempts and finished with 21 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds. And the Cardinal scored inside, where center Olympia Scott made eight of 10 shots and grabbed six boards.
Stanford also scored on in transition game, where senior guard Jamila Wideman accounted for 26 points--18 on her nine assists. Starbird did a little bit of everything, sinking three treys and grabbing six rebounds.
Tennessee threatened only once in the second half, but Stanford repelled the threat. Holding a 61-56 lead, Nygaard missed a three-pointer but Heather Owen grabbed the rebound and scored. At that point, Starbird sparked a 10-2 run with a four-point play. She followed with a steal on the fullcourt press and another basket for a 71-58 lead with 6:18 left.
Fifth-ranked Tennessee (7-3) simply had no answer.
With that accomplished, Stanford moved on to No. 6 Old Dominion on Tuesday night. Then it's back home, sort of, where the Cardinal will play in the Santa Clara Tournament beginning Friday at 5 p.m. The championship game is Saturday in Toso Pavilion.
Stanford will close out 1996 at nationally ranked Colorado on Dec. 28, then head into the Pac-10 season beginning Jan. 2 against visiting Arizona State.
VanDerveer will be ready, with black marking pen in hand.1
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