Regular-Season Finale

What's Next

No. 13 Stanford (23-6, 13-4) closes out its regular season when it hosts Oregon (20-8, 9-8) on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 11 a.m. Kate Scott, Tammy Blackburn and Kyndra de St. Aubin have the call on Pac-12 Networks.

Senior Day

Following the game, the Cardinal will honor its three departing seniors - Alex Green, Kiran Lakhian and Tess Picknell.

Against Oregon

Stanford is 49-9 all-time against Oregon dating back to Feb. 13, 1981, 27-1 against the Ducks at home and has won 19 of the last 20 in the series. Oregon’s only win on The Farm came on March 5, 1987, 63-54.

On Jan. 15 in Eugene, Lili Thompson hit a layup with 34.3 seconds left and another to push Stanford ahead with 2.4 to go, and the No. 11 Cardinal rallied for a 64-62 victory.

Each of Stanford’s last 11 wins against the Ducks at home have been decided by double-digits and those victories have come by an average of 28.6 points.

Catching You Up

Stanford moved to 4-1 at home against ranked teams with Friday’s 76-54 rout of No. 7 Oregon State.

Erica McCall led the way with a career-high 25 points on 11-of-23 shooting. The junior even stepped out and nailed the first 3-pointers of her career, going 3-of-5 from behind the arc.

Brittany McPhee, starting in place of Lili Thompson, scored 15 on 6-of-7 shooting to go with career highs in assists (4) and blocks (3), while Karlie Samuelson notched the first double-double of her career with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

Stanford led by as many as 30 and handed the Beavers their worst loss since a Jan. 5, 2014 defeat to the Cardinal in Maples, 89-67.

Stanford shot a season-best 57.7 percent against the nation’s No. 1 team in terms of field goal percentage defense and also hit 8-of-14 from deep (.571). The Cardinal’s clip from the floor was its best since making 64.9 percent in last year’s season opener against Boston College and its best in a conference game since hitting 63.5 percent at Arizona on Jan. 17, 2014.

The Cardinal’s defense, led by Brittany McPhee, limited the usually-potent Jamie Weisner, who came into Friday’s game averaging 17.7 points per contest. After hitting the game’s first basket, Weisner did not score again until late in the fourth, finishing with a season-low four points on 1-of-8 shooting.

Oregon State entered the game holding opponents to 30.9 percent from the floor and Stanford was second at 32.1 percent. That gap was whittled down and now the Beavers lead the nation at 31.8 percent and the Cardinal is close behind at 32.2 percent.

The result snapped Oregon State’s 14-game winning streak and moved the Beavers to 0-29 all-time in Maples Pavilion.

1K Conquered

Friday night’s victory was the 1,000th in Cardinal program history. Stanford is the seventh Division I institution to reach the 1,000-win plateau, joining Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, James Madison, Old Dominion, Texas and Stephen F. Austin. The Cardinal’s overall record since its first varsity season in 1975 is 1,000-310 (.763) and 824-172 (.827) with Tara VanDerveer at the helm.

Stanford, which reached the milestone in 1,310 total games, is the third-fastest to the mark, behind Louisiana Tech (1,210) and Tennessee (1,232).

Entering this season, the Cardinal was fourth in the NCAA over the last five years by both wins and percentage. From 2011-15, Stanford went 160-22 (.879). Connecticut was 182-12 (.938), Baylor was 173-14 (.925) and Notre Dame was 174-18 (.906).

Setting The Stage

Lili Thompson scored nine of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, including a layup to tie the game with 34.3 seconds left and another to push Stanford ahead with 2.4 to go, and the No. 11 Cardinal rallied for a 64-62 victory over Oregon in Eugene on Jan. 15.

Once more » pic.twitter.com/VH05qtp6fI

— Stanford WBB (@StanfordWBB) January 16, 2016

Starting in place of Erica McCall, who did not play due to injury, Kaylee Johnson added 16 points, six rebounds and five blocks. Karlie Samuelson led all scorers with 18 points, including 12 from deep, and Kailee Johnson chipped in a career-high 10 rebounds.

Stanford’s defense limited Oregon to just 26.9 percent shooting in the second half and a 23.1 clip in the fourth quarter after the Ducks went 13-of-24 (.542) from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The Cardinal held UO without a field goal in the game’s final five minutes and Oregon went 1-of-10 to close the game as Stanford eliminated what was a nine-point deficit late in the third.

Thompson scored on a drive to her left to tie the game at 62 with 34.3 seconds left, but failed to convert the 3-point play. Then Kailee Johnson blocked Lexi Petersen’s shot on the other end with 11 seconds remaining. Thompson scored again going to her left with 2.4 seconds left, but missed the ensuing free throw. After a timeout that allowed Oregon to move the ball to the frontcourt, the Ducks didn’t get off a final shot in time.

Oregon assistant coach Nicole Powell starred at Stanford in the early 2000s. She was a Kodak First Team All-American and a finalist for the James Naismith Player of the Year for three straight years (2002-04).

Powell began her career as Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 2000 and was named Conference Player of the Year in 2002 and 2004. She helped Stanford accumulate a 105-26 record over her four years, as she averaged 17.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Cardinal.

Introduced by teammate @sebnemkimyacioglu, @goducksnp took her place among @gostanford legends last night when she was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Oct 17, 2015 at 11:58am PDT

She ended her collegiate career as Stanford’s all-time leader in career rebounds (1,143) and third all-time leading scorer (2,062 points). On Oct. 16, Powell was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame and introduced by Cardinal teammate Şebnem Kimyacıoğlu.

Since 2007-08, the Cardinal sports a conference road record of 71-9, a Pac-12 home record of 76-4 and is 66-6 in the month of February. Stanford is 132-7 (.950) in Maples Pavilion since 2007-08.

Stanford has reached 20 overall wins for the 15th straight year and double-digit conference wins for the 29th consecutive season.

The Cardinal’s win on Feb. 21 at Utah clinched a top-four seed and first-round bye at the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament in Seattle.

Notes entering the weekend

Against Oregon State

Stanford is 53-7 all-time against Oregon State dating back to Feb. 14, 1981 and 28-0 against the Beavers at home. Friday will mark the sixth meeting with both schools ranked in the AP top 25.

Stanford led by as many as 15 and was up 11 early in the fourth quarter, but OSU closed the game on a 23-4 run to come away with a 58-50 victory in Gill Coliseum on Jan. 17. The win was the Beavers’ first against the Cardinal since 2001 and snapped Stanford’s 29-game winning streak in the series.

Catching You Up

Stanford swept its final Pac-12 road weekend of 2016 with wins at Colorado (80-49) and Utah (72-54) last Friday and Sunday, its first 2-0 league road trip this season. The Cardinal shot 44.4 percent from the floor in the wins and held the Buffs and Utes to a combined 29.4 percent shooting.

Erica McCall averaged 15.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in the two games to lead Stanford. Kaylee Johnson and Lili Thompson each contributed 12.5 points, Brittany McPhee added 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds and Marta Sniezek averaged 5.0 assists.

McCall had 18 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven blocks in the win at Utah. Her seven rejections set a new personal best and are tied for second in Stanford single-game history with Joslyn Tinkle, who had that many in games at UC Davis and South Carolina early in the 2012-13 season. Kristen Newlin holds the top mark with eight at Washington State on Jan. 2, 2004.

Kaylee Johnson scored in double figures for the fifth time in the last six games with 13 points and eight rebounds. Sniezek tied a career high with six assists against just one turnover.

Stanford was up eight, 48-40, late in the third when Tanaeya Boclair hit a jumper for Utah, but the Cardinal would go on a 17-1 run over the next eight minutes. The Utes missed 13 straight shots during the run and turned the ball over four times, while Stanford went 6-of-15 during the spurt.

Brittany McPhee led the Cardinal at Colorado on Friday night with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. Lili Thompson had 15 and a career-high four steals, Erica McCall added 13 points to go with her seven rebounds and Kaylee Johnson filled her line with 12 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Stanford moved to 9-0 this season when four players score in double figures.

Stanford led 37-29 at halftime and grabbed a stranglehold on the game with a 17-1 third-quarter run. In the first half, the Cardinal took a 28-13 lead with a 15-0 spurt spanning the first and second quarters. Stanford closed the victory with a 21-1, fourth-quarter stretch.

The Cardinal had its best performance from behind the arc in the win, making at least half of its 3-point attempts (7-of-14) for the first time this season.

Stanford reached the 80-point plateau in a Pac-12 road game for the first time since scoring 86 in an overtime win at Washington State on Jan. 11, 2015. It hadn’t scored that many in a conference road game in regulation since an 87-82 loss at Washington on Feb. 9, 2014.

Setting The Stage

Friday’s game will feature the nation’s top two defenses in terms of opponent field goal percentage. Oregon State leads that category, holding opponents to 30.9 percent from the floor. Stanford is second in the country in field goal percentage defense at 32.1 percent.

Since 2007-08, the Cardinal sports a conference road record of 71-9, a Pac-12 home record of 75-4 and is 65-6 in the month of February. Stanford is 131-7 (.949) in Maples Pavilion since 2007-08.

Stanford, 999-310 all-time, is one win away from 1,000 in program history.

Stanford has reached 20 overall wins for the 15th straight year and double-digit conference wins for the 29th consecutive season.

The Cardinal’s win at Utah clinched a top-four seed and first-round bye at the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament in Seattle.

Among The Best Ever

The Cardinal is 999-310 (.763) all-time since its first varsity season in 1975. Stanford would join an exclusive list with one more win. Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, James Madison, Old Dominion, Texas and Stephen F. Austin are currently the only Division I institutions with 1,000 victories. Stanford will be the third-fastest to that mark, behind Louisiana Tech (1,210) and Tennessee (1,232). The Cardinal has reached 999 wins in 1,309 games.

Entering this season, the Cardinal was fourth in the NCAA over the last five years by both wins and percentage. From 2011-15, Stanford went 160-22 (.879). Connecticut was 182-12 (.938), Baylor was 173-14 (.925) and Notre Dame was 174-18 (.906).

Starting Lineup

In 2015-16, Stanford is without a senior starter for the first time in 13 seasons. The 2002-03 campaign was the last time the Cardinal didn’t have a senior in its first five. That 13-player roster featured two juniors and 11 underclassmen.

Schedule Perspective

Five of Stanford’s six losses this season have to teams ranked in the AP top 20 at the time of the game and four have come on the road. All five of those squads are currently in the top 14 of the AP poll.

Texas (RPI No. 6), Arizona State (RPI No. 8), Oregon State (RPI No. 7) and UCLA (RPI No. 9) are all also in the top 10 of the RPI and are a combined 52-5 at home this season.

In the most recent in-depth NCAA RPI report, Stanford sits at No. 10 and has played the nation’s eighth-toughest schedule.

Through games as of Feb. 23, Stanford’s 28 opponents this year have the third-highest combined winning percentage in the country of .641 (375-210). Tennessee leads that category with opponents that have gone 432-203 (.680) and Notre Dame is second (449-227; .664).

The Cardinal is 14-6 against the RPI top 100. Only Notre Dame (18), Baylor (16), South Carolina (16) Arizona State (15) and Oregon State (15) have more RPI top 100 wins.

Stanford’s 20 games against RPI top 100 foes are also second in the nation behind UCLA’s 21.

Past and Future

On Jan. 25, former Stanford All-American sisters Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike were named as two of 25 finalists for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team. The 25 finalists were chosen by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee, which will select the official 12-member U.S. Olympic Team later this year.

Go America. Go Chiney. Go Nneka. Go Stanford. @chiney321 and @nnemkadi named two of 25 finalists for the 2016 @usabasketball Olympic Team. 🌲🇺🇸 #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jan 25, 2016 at 12:28pm PST

On Jan. 17, incoming freshmen DiJonai Carrington, Nadia Fingall and Anna Wilson were named to the West roster for the 15th annual McDonald’s All American Game on March 30 in Chicago.

Of the 24 girls selected to be McDonald’s All Americans, Stanford and Maryland have the most players suiting up next fall with three commits each.

They will be the 16th, 17th and 18th Cardinal signees featured in the nation’s premier high school basketball all-star event. Stanford most recently had a pair of McDonald’s All Americans in 2013 in current juniors Kailee Johnson and Erica McCall.

Teammates a little sooner than expected. @dijonai__, @nadia.fingall and @aplusw3 named to the @mcdaag West Team. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jan 20, 2016 at 9:00am PST

The three commits to earn roster spots ties a program record from 2007 when Ashley Cimino, Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen were each named McDonald’s All Americans.

Applying Pressure

The Cardinal has held 22 of 28 opponents below 40 percent shooting, nine below 30 percent and one below 20 percent. Stanford is second in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.321) and 18th in scoring defense (53.5).

Says Tara Vanderveer » Our defense is what we’ve been hanging our hat on...This is one of the most committed defensive teams we’ve had.

Opponents have put up 15.2 points less than their season scoring average when facing Stanford.

In its last 20 games (beginning with Tennessee), the Cardinal has surrendered 50.4 points on 31.3 percent shooting (359-of-1,146) and has surrendered more than 60 points just twice, including one overtime affair. In its first eight games of the season, Stanford gave up 61.2 points on 33.8 percent shooting (179-of-529) and allowed more than 60 points six times.

Stanford’s defensive pressure comes without fouling. The Cardinal is called for an average of 14.6 fouls per game, the 22nd fewest in the country.

One game after holding Chattanooga to 30 points on Dec. 28, the sixth-fewest for an opponent in program history, the Cardinal only surrendered 34 on Jan. 2 at Arizona, a total now tied for 10th in its record books and for the fewest allowed by the program in a Pac-12 game. Stanford had never before held back-to-back opponents to less than 35 points.

Stanford has held its opponent below 10 points 27 times in 112 regulation quarters, or 24 percent of the time this season. It did so in eight straight over games against CSU Bakersfield, Chattanooga and Arizona.

Stanford is also seventh in the country in blocked shots per game (6.3) and has tallied seven or more blocks in a game 12 times this season after doing it five times all of last year. Its 176 total blocks are tied for seventh in school history. The program record is 196 (2001-02).

The Cardinal’s 13 blocks against USC on Jan. 22 tied the school record from Feb. 3, 1989 against Arizona State. Stanford also had 12 against CSU Bakersfield, 11 against Utah, 11 against Oregon and 10 against UC Davis. Stanford has had a school-record five games with double-digit blocks in a single season. Its 2000-01 squad had four games with at least 10 blocks.

Its defensive prowess this season is a return to normal for the Cardinal. Last year’s 37.0 percent field goal percentage defense mark was 43rd and the lowest in some time. Stanford hadn’t surrendered a better percentage since 2005-06 (36th; .373) and hadn’t finished a season ranked lower in that category since 2002-03 (57th; .384).

From 2006-07 to 2013-14, the Cardinal did not finish outside the nation’s top 15 in field goal percentage defense, capping that stretch with a 35.7 percent mark to check in 14th in the country in 2013-14.

Stanford was the nation’s best with a school record field goal percentage defense in 2012-13 (.316). The Cardinal was seventh in 2011-12 (.339), fifth in 2010-11 (.336), third in 2009-10 (.339), 13th in 2008-09 (.352), 11th in 2007-08 (.355) and sixth in 2006-07 (.346).

Splits

Stanford is 11-2 at home and 8-4 on the road, with all four of those losses coming to ranked teams. The Cardinal is scoring 72.1 points per game in Maples on 44.4 percent shooting, including 35.8 percent from deep, and has a +9.8 rebounding margin. On the road, Stanford is averaging 59.8 points per game on 38.5 percent shooting, 30.1 percent on 3-pointers, and has a +1.3 rebounding margin.

The Cardinal is 3-5 against the AP Top 25 this season, with all three wins coming at home.

Tracking Thompson

Against Colorado on Jan. 10, Lili Thompson became the 36th Stanford player to surpass 1,000 career points. Now at 1,170 she is 29th all-time at Stanford between Maggie Nelson (1,180; 1974-78) and Kami Anderson (1,141; 1984-88).

Stanford up 28-21 on Colorado at the half. @_li_squared just became the 36th Cardinal to surpass 1,000 career points. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jan 10, 2016 at 12:57pm PST

Thompson has scored 20 or more seven times this season, including in recent wins against Washington and Washington State. In those two, she averaged 28.5 points per game and shot 63 percent from the field (22-of-35) and 71 percent from the 3-point line (10-of-14). Thompson scored 41 percent of Stanford’s points (57) and was named both espnW National Player of the Week and Pac-12 Player of the Week for her efforts.

It was the second espnW National Player of the Week award of Thompson’s career. Last November, she was honored after averaging 26.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in Stanford’s games against No. 1 Connecticut and No. 10 Texas. Her conference accolade was her league-leading third of the season and the fourth of her career.

In the six games since those performances, Thompson is averaging 10.2 points on 26.7 percent shooting (20-of-75), but is second on the team in assists and leads Stanford in steals.

Flying High

Erica McCall, who entered 2015-16 with just two career double-doubles, has septupled that total in her junior season.

McCall has 14 this season, including four straight to open the year. In the past decade, only Chiney Ogwumike has had a better start to a year for the Cardinal. Ogwumike also had four straight double-doubles to start the 2013-14 campaign. McCall’s 14 double-doubles are tied for 13th in the NCAA.

Only five Stanford players have ever averaged a double-double for an entire season: Chiney Ogwumike (2012, 2013, 2014), Nnemkadi Ogwumike (2012), Nicole Powell (2004), Jeanne Ruark Hoff (1980) and Kathy Murphy (1978). McCall is currently averaging 13.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per outing.

In her last eight games, McCall is shooting 55.4 percent from the floor (51-of-92).

She also has a career-high 56 blocks this season and is now 10th in school single-season history in that category. Only Jayne Appel, Chiney Ogwumike and Joslyn Tinkle have ever had more than 60 in a year for the Cardinal.

A psychology major with a 3.53 cumulative GPA, McCall was selected to the 2015-16 CoSIDA Academic All-District Women’s Basketball Team on Feb. 11. Her honor continued a run of five straight years with a Cardinal receiving academic all-district accolades, the longest streak in the Pac-12.

.@birdstheword_24, smart and good at basketball. Earns CoSIDA Academic All-District distinction on Thursday. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Feb 11, 2016 at 1:28pm PST

Good Stretches

Brittany McPhee has made 18 of her last 42 attempts from 3-point range (.429) after starting her career going 9-of-48 (.188) in her first 37 career games.

Kaylee Johnson has come on strong in Stanford’s last 20 games, averaging 7.6 points on 56.2 percent shooting (59-of-105) to go along with 7.7 rebounds.

The nation’s third-best freshman rebounder a season ago, she has grabbed 9.9 boards in the Cardinal’s last eight outings.

The sophomore opened the year averaging 1.1 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting just 22.2 percent from the floor in the Cardinal’s first eight games. Johnson has scored 10+ nine times in those 20 games after doing it all of six times as a freshman.

Marta Sniezek is averaging 4.0 assists in Stanford’s last eight games with a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio. In the first 20 games of the year, the freshman was handing out 1.8 assists and owned an assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.9.

Different Samuelson, Same Story

Stanford lost Bonnie Samuelson to graduation after a career in which she finished third in school history and 10th in Pac-12 history in 3-point makes (237), but younger sister Karlie Samuelson has stepped in to keep up the family’s sharpshooting legacy.

Karlie is 57-of-126 from behind the arc this season and is fifth in the nation (min. two made per game) in 3-point field goal percentage (.452). A career 40.5 percent 3-point shooter, Samuelson has made 130 from deep in her career.

Eighty percent (483-of-607) of her career points have come on 3-pointers (390) and free throws (93). The junior captain has made more than twice as many field goals from behind the arc as she has from inside, converting 62 2-point attempts. She is 24-of-53 (.453) on such shots this season.

Eleven of her 25 career games in double figures scoring have come in Stanford’s last 19 outings and in her last 14 games, Samuelson is 29-of-57 on 3-pointers (.509).

More Milestones On The Horizon For Tara

Entering her 30th season on the bench at Stanford, Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women’s Basketball Tara VanDerveer has accumulated a 975-223 (.814) record in her 37 years as a collegiate head coach and an 823-172 (.827) on The Farm.

In November 2013, she became just the fifth college women’s basketball coach to win 900 career games. Last March she won her 800th game at Stanford, becoming the 10th college basketball coach – men’s or women’s – with that many victories at a single Division I school, P. Summitt (Tennessee), M. Krzyzewski (Duke), G. Auriemma (Connecticut), D. Smith (North Carolina), A. Rupp (Kentucky), A. Landers (Georgia), J. Boeheim (Syracuse), R. Selvig (Montana) and J. Phelan (Mount St. Mary’s).

One of the greatest leaders in any sport at any level, VanDerveer enters the 2015-16 season as the third-winningest coach in NCAA women’s basketball history and is 25 victories away from joining Pat Summitt as the only coaches with 1,000 career wins.

Off the court, she served as Stanford football’s honorary captain for its Oct. 3 home win over Arizona. In another football connection, former Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh and one of Tara’s coaching confidants delivered a pregame address to the team before its win over Utah on Jan. 8.

On Jan. 26, VanDerveer was honored with the 2016 Coaching Corps Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization’s 2nd Annual Game Changer Awards at The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. VanDerveer’s award was presented by former Stanford All-American and current San Francisco head coach Jennifer Azzi. The event supported Coaching Corps’ mission to provide youth from under-resourced communities access to trained coaches and the benefits of sports activities and team-based learning.

Game changers. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jan 27, 2016 at 8:50am PST

Checking The Polls

Stanford is No. 13 in the AP top 25 and No. 13 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

Stanford has appeared in the AP rankings 492 times out of 707 total polls since 1977 (69.6 percent), with an average positioning of 7.0. It’s been in the past 283 polls, the second-longest active streak behind Connecticut (428). Stanford has also been in 290 consecutive coaches polls.

The Cardinal’s 492 all-time appearances in the AP top 25 are fourth behind Tennessee (692), Georgia (522) and Texas (498).

So International

Stanford forward Erica McCall won her fourth gold medal representing the United States at the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea in July.

A United States co-captain, McCall finished the event tied for eighth overall in scoring (15.2), was eighth in rebounds (8.5), tied for third in blocks (1.8) and led all players in South Korea in field goal percentage, converting 37 of her 62 attempts from the floor (.597). Team USA went a perfect 6-0 and defeated its opponents by an average of nearly 22 points per game.

Champ. 🏆🇺🇸 @birdstheword_24 @gostanford @usabasketball #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jul 13, 2015 at 12:20pm PDT

In July, freshman Alanna Smith led Australia to a third-place finish and was named to the All-Star Five at the FIBA U19 Women’s World Championship in Chekhov, Russia.

The first international recruit in Stanford women’s basketball history, Smith tied for 12th in the entire tournament in points per game (12.6), tied for 15th in rebounds (7.0), tied for third in blocks (2.7), tied for 23rd in steals (1.3) and led Australia in each of those categories.

.@alannas96 » @gostanford freshman and one of the best at the @fiba U19 Women's World Championship. #GoStanford #FIBAU19 @basketballaus

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jul 27, 2015 at 10:22am PDT

Always Learning

Last year it was Mike D’Antoni, Joe Prunty, Jenny Boucek and others who helped Tara VanDerveer and her staff learn the intricacies of a more guard-oriented, fast-paced, pick-and-roll offense as Stanford moved away from the triangle for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

This year it has been a give-and-take with the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors. The Warriors practiced at Stanford on Oct. 5 before preseason game in San Jose and assistant coach Kate Paye attended another Golden State practice in the East Bay. When the Warriors were on the road in San Diego, VanDerveer’s sister and UCSD women’s coach, Heidi VanDerveer, attended a practice.

Solid start to the first day of practice. Warriors warmed up the court for the Cardinal. #GoStanford #Warriors pic.twitter.com/JyPwgPlEHo

— Stanford WBB (@StanfordWBB) October 5, 2015

Warriors assistant coach and former Stanford star Jarron Collins » “It goes back to, men’s team or women’s team, basketball’s basketball and we’re all trying to improve. There’s this synergy of just talking shop. We’ve had a level of success, obviously, and you just want to borrow from those that have achieved a certain level. Our practices are very open to coaches who want to come and watch and observe. It’s pretty cool for us getting to interact with Coach VanDerveer.”

VanDerveer, who also asks former Stanford guard and now-Warriors sideline reporter Rosalyn Gold-Onwude of her observations on what Golden State is doing, says “it’s kind of a little clinic happening every two or three nights on television.”