Stanford senior Nnemkadi Ogwumike was named to the AP women’s basketball preseason All-American team Tuesday, receiving 37 of a possible 40 votes. Baylor’s 6-8 center Brittney Griner became the eighth player to become an unanimous choice, receiving 40 votes.
Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins (37 votes), Miami’s Shenise Johnson (25) and Tennessee’s Shekinna Stricklen (21) were also voted onto the team.
“Nneka has the best hands in the country,” Diggins said. “She can jump with the best of them and can catch 10 of 10 balls thrown her way. Her timing is great. Strick is one of the best pure shooters in the country. She also is a guard who gets in and rebounds, too. Not a lot of guards can rebound as well as she can.”
Ogwumike led Stanford to the Final Four for the fourth straight season before the Cardinal lost to Texas A&M in the semifinals. She averaged 17.5 points and shot 59 percent from the field. It’s the second straight season Ogwumike made the preseason team. She is only the third Stanford player to accomplish that, joining Candice Wiggins and Nicole Powell.
“It’s an honor to be considered and included alongside the nation’s best players,” Ogwumike said.
Griner was the only returning member of the postseason All-America team. Ogwumike earned second-team honors while Diggins, Johnson and Stricklen were on the third team.
Men’s golf
Stanford is currently seventh after two rounds of the Gifford Collegiate at the CordeValle Golf Course in San Martin.
Freshman Patrick Rodgers is tied for ninth with a two-round total of 143. He shot a two-over 73 on Tuesday. Among those tied with Rodgers is Gunn grad Martin Trainer of USC.
Field hockey
Sixth-ranked Stanford (15-2) hopes to continue making noise on the national scene as it opens the NorPac tournament Thursday against visiting Appalachian State at 1:30 p.m.
All games of the tournament will be played at Stanford’s Varsity Turf, with Davidson and UC Davis kicking things off at 11 a.m. Longwood and Pacific follow Stanford’s match while California and Radford end the proceedings on the first day with a 6:30 p.m. start.
Stanford swept the Player of the Week awards this weekend in the NorPac’s West Division. Hope Burke was named the Offensive Player of the Week, Ale Moss earned the Defensive Player of the Week honor and Shannon Herold was selected as the Rookie of the Week.
Stanford has emerged as one of the best programs in the country. Ranked among the nation’s top-10 for all but two weeks, the Cardinal is the West Division’s top seed. Stanford is three wins shy of surpassing the school record (17) of two years ago. Riding a five-game winning streak, Stanford has won eight consecutive home games.
Appalachian State (2-16) is the No. 4 seed in the East Division. The Mountaineers have lost 10 of their last 11 games, and are 1-8 on the road, 0-4 in neutral site contests this season.
Appalachian State has drawn Stanford in the first round of each of the last two NorPac Championships, losing 10-3 last season and 9-0 two years ago.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports