[81alum]

Stanford wins again on the strength of its defense after its offense started slowly, and Amber and Taylor have excellent games.  Nneka struggled until deep in the second half and missed a double/double for a rare game.  Chiney outdid her sister for a change and collected the double/double.

Following the game Amy Tucker and Tara talked and used almost the same phrase:  in some ways this game felt like a step back, but they were pleased with the development of their young players and they were pleased with the defense.

In particular, they (and the crowd) thought Amber Orrange played a great game.  She had 9 assists and only 1 turnover and took over the Pac-12 assist/turnover ratio for point guards today.  She played close defense on Washington's top scorer and helped hold her to 5/16 shooting, and snagged 4 steals along the way

Washington did what every team is going to do until Stanford becomes known for more than the Ogwumikes--it played mostly zone and sagged inside and double and triple-teamed Nneka and Chiney.  Nneka in particular looked "off" and frustrated for the first 3/4 of the game.  She did a good job defending Regina Rogers, who led the nation in FG% earlier this week.  Rogers got just 5 points for the game.  At times it looked like Nneka must have been practicing last week with the football team's blocking dummies--it took that kind of leverage to keep Rogers out of the paint.  (If you have not seen Washington the last few years, Rogers is a redshirt senior with the body of an offensive tackle, but with a surprisingly good touch for the ball.)  But on offense Nneka did not get lots of opportunities and wound up 5/14 with just 7 rebounds.  Washington was daring us to shoot the three and we did not take advantage of that in the first half, passing up numerous open looks or simply missing.

Tara says that at halftime she told the team that if Washington was going to sag off that way, that anyone who had an open look should take it.  Anyone who passed up an open look would come out.  Taylor Greenfield heard the message and promptly went 4/5 from three point range to blow the game open in the second half. 

There was a scary moment when Nneka went down under the baseline with what looked like an ankle injury and had to come out.  She limped off the court.  But a few minutes later she came back in the game.  Amy Tucker says she got kicked in the shin and it hurt, but fortunately it was not an ankle or knee.

In reflecting on her team's play, Tara seemed philosophical about things.  She seemed very upbeat about the development of her younger players, but she was clearly not happy with the lack of aggressiveness about taking open shots in the first half.  She reminisced about former players (Chisty Hedgepath) who got super excited about games in which the interior players were doubled, because it meant great open opportunities for her.  "She would come out with her hand like this" said Tara, holding her hand up in shooting position.  I think she was saying that our young players have been almost too polite, too dedicated to feeding the ball inside when the better option was an open outside shot. 

Taylor bailed us out with her 3s, but as a team we shot the three very poorly.  Everyone besides Taylor went 3-19, two of those by Lindy early in the game, and so it felt like a horrible three point drought when Taylor finally started to connect.

Free throw shooting continues to be mediocre--59%. 

Chiney probably had the best all around game today, going 6/11 with 11 rebounds--7 of them offensive.  Nneka fought through a rough start.  Amber and Taylor played very well.  Toni continued her slump with 2-11 shooting.  Lindy looked great at the start of the game, hitting two threes, but then missed the next 5 and had a couple of awful turnovers along the way.  Tara praised her, though, saying she was a very smart player, she knows the tendencies of the players on the other team, and she is teaching the younger players as she goes.

[81alum]

Stanford wins again on the strength of its defense after its offense started slowly, and Amber and Taylor have excellent games.  Nneka struggled until deep in the second half and missed a double/double for a rare game.  Chiney outdid her sister for a change and collected the double/double.

Following the game Amy Tucker and Tara talked and used almost the same phrase:  in some ways this game felt like a step back, but they were pleased with the development of their young players and they were pleased with the defense.

In particular, they (and the crowd) thought Amber Orrange played a great game.  She had 9 assists and only 1 turnover and took over the Pac-12 assist/turnover ratio for point guards today.  She played close defense on Washington's top scorer and helped hold her to 5/16 shooting, and snagged 4 steals along the way

Washington did what every team is going to do until Stanford becomes known for more than the Ogwumikes--it played mostly zone and sagged inside and double and triple-teamed Nneka and Chiney.  Nneka in particular looked "off" and frustrated for the first 3/4 of the game.  She did a good job defending Regina Rogers, who led the nation in FG% earlier this week.  Rogers got just 5 points for the game.  At times it looked like Nneka must have been practicing last week with the football team's blocking dummies--it took that kind of leverage to keep Rogers out of the paint.  (If you have not seen Washington the last few years, Rogers is a redshirt senior with the body of an offensive tackle, but with a surprisingly good touch for the ball.)  But on offense Nneka did not get lots of opportunities and wound up 5/14 with just 7 rebounds.  Washington was daring us to shoot the three and we did not take advantage of that in the first half, passing up numerous open looks or simply missing.

Tara says that at halftime she told the team that if Washington was going to sag off that way, that anyone who had an open look should take it.  Anyone who passed up an open look would come out.  Taylor Greenfield heard the message and promptly went 4/5 from three point range to blow the game open in the second half. 

There was a scary moment when Nneka went down under the baseline with what looked like an ankle injury and had to come out.  She limped off the court.  But a few minutes later she came back in the game.  Amy Tucker says she got kicked in the shin and it hurt, but fortunately it was not an ankle or knee.

In reflecting on her team's play, Tara seemed philosophical about things.  She seemed very upbeat about the development of her younger players, but she was clearly not happy with the lack of aggressiveness about taking open shots in the first half.  She reminisced about former players (Chisty Hedgepath) who got super excited about games in which the interior players were doubled, because it meant great open opportunities for her.  "She would come out with her hand like this" said Tara, holding her hand up in shooting position.  I think she was saying that our young players have been almost too polite, too dedicated to feeding the ball inside when the better option was an open outside shot. 

Taylor bailed us out with her 3s, but as a team we shot the three very poorly.  Everyone besides Taylor went 3-19, two of those by Lindy early in the game, and so it felt like a horrible three point drought when Taylor finally started to connect.

Free throw shooting continues to be mediocre--59%. 

Chiney probably had the best all around game today, going 6/11 with 11 rebounds--7 of them offensive.  Nneka fought through a rough start.  Amber and Taylor played very well.  Toni continued her slump with 2-11 shooting.  Lindy looked great at the start of the game, hitting two threes, but then missed the next 5 and had a couple of awful turnovers along the way.  Tara praised her, though, saying she was a very smart player, she knows the tendencies of the players on the other team, and she is teaching the younger players as she goes.