[M T]

The USC team was pretty tough against C.al.  I'm going to try to watch it later to see what they did that was effective. I only caught the last 5 minutes + OT.  Even with a "neutral" game,  it seemed the officials & announcers were working in the favor of C.al.  So Sunday's game is likely to be tough as well.

From what I've seen of Tess and what Tara said after the last game (something to the effect that Tess has a long way to go, and it is a big adjustment from HS to college BB), I still don't see Tess playing too much.

It would be unthinkable if Stanford were to lose both games this weekend.  But if they did, I don't think I'd call the season over.  C.al has barely won their games against Utah, Colorado, and now USC.  They don't seem to be dominating the other teams.  Possibly, C.al will run the table from now on, but they could still lose a game or two when they see the teams the second time.

It is still possible that Stanford will have sole possession of 1st place in the conference after the weekend.  Should that come to be, the world will seem a lot brighter.  Stanford can make sure they are at least tied for 1st.


I'm not surprised at how tough USC is playing.  I do thing USC will be a top tier team soon.  No doubt about it, the PAC-12 WBB has some of the most successful coaches in the country:
Stanford:  Tara VanDerveer  870+ wins, 2 NCAA championships, 1 Olympic championship
USC: Michael Cooper, 2 WNBA championships
Oregon: Paul Westhead, 1 WNBA championship, 1 NBA championship.  I once tried to figure out whether he had more career wins than Tara but I couldn't figure out how many wins he had in a pro league in Japan.
[I believe those are accurate descriptions, but don't quote me!]

[M T]

The USC team was pretty tough against C.al.  I'm going to try to watch it later to see what they did that was effective. I only caught the last 5 minutes + OT.  Even with a "neutral" game,  it seemed the officials & announcers were working in the favor of C.al.  So Sunday's game is likely to be tough as well.

From what I've seen of Tess and what Tara said after the last game (something to the effect that Tess has a long way to go, and it is a big adjustment from HS to college BB), I still don't see Tess playing too much.

It would be unthinkable if Stanford were to lose both games this weekend.  But if they did, I don't think I'd call the season over.  C.al has barely won their games against Utah, Colorado, and now USC.  They don't seem to be dominating the other teams.  Possibly, C.al will run the table from now on, but they could still lose a game or two when they see the teams the second time.

It is still possible that Stanford will have sole possession of 1st place in the conference after the weekend.  Should that come to be, the world will seem a lot brighter.  Stanford can make sure they are at least tied for 1st.


I'm not surprised at how tough USC is playing.  I do thing USC will be a top tier team soon.  No doubt about it, the PAC-12 WBB has some of the most successful coaches in the country:
Stanford:  Tara VanDerveer  870+ wins, 2 NCAA championships, 1 Olympic championship
USC: Michael Cooper, 2 WNBA championships
Oregon: Paul Westhead, 1 WNBA championship, 1 NBA championship.  I once tried to figure out whether he had more career wins than Tara but I couldn't figure out how many wins he had in a pro league in Japan.
[I believe those are accurate descriptions, but don't quote me!]