[81alum]

Preview:

We will play 3 games in 3 days, after being off for more than a week due to the Ohio State cancellation.  My write-ups of all three games will be embedded lower in this thread.

Only the third game (Sunday 4:30) will be streamed when we play Hawaii--on the Bigwest streaming site:

http://bigwest.sidearmstreaming.com/watch/?Live=1564

The audio broadcast for all three nights is here:

https://gostanford.com/watch/?Live=1174&type=Live

***
Friday's game should be the toughest: vs. Florida Gulf Coast who is a great three point shooting team that we defeated in the second round of the NCAAs last year.  They have lost some starters but I imagine their offensive philosophy remains unchanged.   So far this year they lost to perennial mid-major leader South Dakota State and have beaten a couple of Florida schools.  They just scored 100 against Florida International where they were 14/36 of their three point shots.  11 players had more than 10 minutes--clearly the coach is trying out a deep bench.  

Saturday features American.  They are 3-1 and easily beat Hawaii last night.  They will probably beat us at the free throw line where they are shooting 82%, but their rebounding has been mediocre even against mid major competition.  They have a big senior 6'3" forward who is their leading scorer and who also shoots and makes treys, and a 5'8" junior card who is shooting at a very high percentage and made 13/14 free throws last night--meaning she must be driving on the basket a lot.

Sunday features the home team, Hawaii.  Hawaii is 1-6 this year, although 2 of those losses were by 1 point and today they came within 6 of FGCU.  They have a 5'10" junior forward shooting 44% of her treys, and a 6'2" forward who is their leading scorer at 12 points a game.

Results:

Full game write-ups are embedded in the thread below.

Anna Wilson:

Anna Wilson fell out of bounds with a minute left in the final game against Hawaii, hit her head on a chair on the way down, and stayed on the floor for 20 minutes before being removed by stretcher to the hospital for evaluation.  The game  was called off with 48 seconds left, the awards were cancelled, and Schwarz (the announcer) left early without doing the expected post-game interview.   Fortunately this came out on the twitter feed a few hours later:  "Scan clear.  Anna is okay and will be with the team on the flight home."  We are all grateful that this scary event seems to have a fortunate ending.

[81alum]

Preview:

We will play 3 games in 3 days, after being off for more than a week due to the Ohio State cancellation.  My write-ups of all three games will be embedded lower in this thread.

Only the third game (Sunday 4:30) will be streamed when we play Hawaii--on the Bigwest streaming site:

http://bigwest.sidearmstreaming.com/watch/?Live=1564

The audio broadcast for all three nights is here:

https://gostanford.com/watch/?Live=1174&type=Live

***
Friday's game should be the toughest: vs. Florida Gulf Coast who is a great three point shooting team that we defeated in the second round of the NCAAs last year.  They have lost some starters but I imagine their offensive philosophy remains unchanged.   So far this year they lost to perennial mid-major leader South Dakota State and have beaten a couple of Florida schools.  They just scored 100 against Florida International where they were 14/36 of their three point shots.  11 players had more than 10 minutes--clearly the coach is trying out a deep bench.  

Saturday features American.  They are 3-1 and easily beat Hawaii last night.  They will probably beat us at the free throw line where they are shooting 82%, but their rebounding has been mediocre even against mid major competition.  They have a big senior 6'3" forward who is their leading scorer and who also shoots and makes treys, and a 5'8" junior card who is shooting at a very high percentage and made 13/14 free throws last night--meaning she must be driving on the basket a lot.

Sunday features the home team, Hawaii.  Hawaii is 1-6 this year, although 2 of those losses were by 1 point and today they came within 6 of FGCU.  They have a 5'10" junior forward shooting 44% of her treys, and a 6'2" forward who is their leading scorer at 12 points a game.

Results:

Full game write-ups are embedded in the thread below.

Anna Wilson:

Anna Wilson fell out of bounds with a minute left in the final game against Hawaii, hit her head on a chair on the way down, and stayed on the floor for 20 minutes before being removed by stretcher to the hospital for evaluation.  The game  was called off with 48 seconds left, the awards were cancelled, and Schwarz (the announcer) left early without doing the expected post-game interview.   Fortunately this came out on the twitter feed a few hours later:  "Scan clear.  Anna is okay and will be with the team on the flight home."  We are all grateful that this scary event seems to have a fortunate ending.

[81alum]

Stanford 88 FGCU 65

Overview:

A career night for Nadia and a superb effort from Dijonai led us over scrappy FGCU, which kept the game close into well into the second half.  Our defense against speedy guard still seems suspect to me--FGCU had 10 fast break points to our 0.  Foul trouble for Alanna and an injury to Lexie definitely affected our play.

First Quarter:

Starting lineup:  Williams Carrington Wilson Fingall Smith with Anna Wilson getting the start in place of Lexie.

Announcer Schwarz noted before the game that Lexie "will be out for a while now."  "At least a couple of weeks."  A stress reaction in her foot.  Very bad news indeed.

FGCU opened with a 2-3 zone and pushed the tempo and got out to a 4 point lead, then it was all Stanford on a 12-0 run with Wilson, Carrington, Fingall and Williams scoring.  Then the game slowed in a flurry of fouls and FGCU got its bearings, hit a trey and a three point play, and closed the margin.  We began to use our size inside against a team with no player over 6' and pushed the lead out to 21-10. Carrington sank 5/5 free throws in the early going.  Alanna, however, rapidly picked up 2 fouls in 4 minutes of play and sat.  A 14-4 rebounding advantage helped us secure a 21-12 first quarter, with Carrington and Fingall leading our scoring.  Schwarz noted that FGCU all retreats on defense as soon as a three point shot goes up--intentionally forgoing any chance for an O-board in order to get their defense set.

Second Quarter:

The second quarter started badly as we gave up several treys, but Anna Wilson canned a three to stem the bleeding, Dodson made a move from the elbow to the basket, and Wilson made a second trey to get us back to a 31-21 lead.  But FGCU was not intimidated, and continued to find ways to drain treys and narrowed the score to 33-29--Anna Wilson and Alanna Smith both sitting with 2 fouls each.  Our chief culprit--9 turnovers to FGCU's 2 by midway through the quarter.  Fingall kept us in the game going 5/6, and putting back several of her teammates' misses.  FGCU closed to within three on yet another trey, but Alexa Romano answered with her own trey to get it back to a 38-32 Stanford lead.  Lacy Hull also went out with 2 fouls and our offense continued to be a bit disjointed.  The half ended 38-34 after a quarter in which they turned the ball over 6 times and had three players sitting out with fouls.   

Not at all a good half defensively, and a mediocre quarter offensively.  The turnovers, fouls, and injury to Lexie have somewhat discombobulated us.  Fingall had a great half, however, with 11 points and 5 rebound, and Wilson acquitted herself well until she picked up her second foul.

Here is an interesting first have stat--points in the paint: Stanford 16 FGCU 14.  Their pack-it-in zone and the absence of Smith have limited our inside game.  We have as many threes as they have and scored them more efficiently--but we certainly are not dominating this scrappy team.

Third Quarter

The third quarter opened with the original five and FGCU narrowed it to 39-38 as we opened with cold 0-3 shooting, and to make it worse Alanna picked up her 3rd foul.  We actually went to a 2-3 zone.  At the other end Carrington took it to the basket for a three point play to recapture a 5 point lead.  In fact, by midway through the quarter she was 8/8 free throw shooting.  Fingall also was showing a strong offensive force, staking out the shot from the elbow--reminiscent of some of her best games last fall when she developed that shot, going 10/12 shooting for a career high of 22 points through the quarter.  But we seemed to be not stopping FGCU on the other end with fast breaks--not getting in front of their drivers cutting to the basket, which is how they racked up points-in-the-paint against a much taller team.  Lessons to be learned about controlling speedy guards in the future!   We outscored FGCU 29-18 in the third quarter, mainly on the strength of Fingall and Carrington--Fingall with a mid range jumper from the elbow and Carrington with oodles of free throw attempts, leading to a 67-53 lead.

Fourth quarter

Smith was clearly out of sorts in this game.  Finally coming back into the game in the 4th she rapidly picked up her 4th foul on an offensive scramble, and Tara decided to leave her in.  Finally Kiana, who had been relatively quiet since early in the game, hit a trey and we were up 70-45, and she repeated it a couple of minutes later for a 76-55 lead.  According to the announcer, Tara used an aggressive 2-3 trapping zone.  Gradually we pulled away.  Smith finally got a basket on a feed from Nadia, and Nadia converted yet another basket on an inbounds play for a 23 point lead.  Then there were wholesale substitutions and our offense fell off until Moschkau knocked down a three, and the game ended Stanford 88 FGCU 65.

Performances

Nadia went 11/14 for a career high 24 points, to go with 8 rebounds and a whopping 5 assists.  The best offensive game of her career.

Dijonai's aggression generate a lot of FGCU fouls.  She scored 16 points and 12 of them were from the free throw line on 12/14 free throw shooting.  She also had 9 rebounds and 3 assists.

Kiana wound up with 15 points and continued her torrid three point shooting at 5/8.  

Anna Wilson and Maya Dodson played will with minutes in the high teens.  Alanna's constant foul trouble limited her to 14 minutes and she never got into gear, but her free throw shooting continues to be significantly improved over a year ago--4/5.

Conclusion:

Our offense this year looks quite good against inferior teams.  Our defense continues to trouble me.  We did hold FGCU to 37% shooting, but they got way too many layups.  Our guards just don't seem to be able to stay in front of their marks, which may be why Tara is experimenting with a zone.

[81alum]

Stanford 88 FGCU 65

Overview:

A career night for Nadia and a superb effort from Dijonai led us over scrappy FGCU, which kept the game close into well into the second half.  Our defense against speedy guard still seems suspect to me--FGCU had 10 fast break points to our 0.  Foul trouble for Alanna and an injury to Lexie definitely affected our play.

First Quarter:

Starting lineup:  Williams Carrington Wilson Fingall Smith with Anna Wilson getting the start in place of Lexie.

Announcer Schwarz noted before the game that Lexie "will be out for a while now."  "At least a couple of weeks."  A stress reaction in her foot.  Very bad news indeed.

FGCU opened with a 2-3 zone and pushed the tempo and got out to a 4 point lead, then it was all Stanford on a 12-0 run with Wilson, Carrington, Fingall and Williams scoring.  Then the game slowed in a flurry of fouls and FGCU got its bearings, hit a trey and a three point play, and closed the margin.  We began to use our size inside against a team with no player over 6' and pushed the lead out to 21-10. Carrington sank 5/5 free throws in the early going.  Alanna, however, rapidly picked up 2 fouls in 4 minutes of play and sat.  A 14-4 rebounding advantage helped us secure a 21-12 first quarter, with Carrington and Fingall leading our scoring.  Schwarz noted that FGCU all retreats on defense as soon as a three point shot goes up--intentionally forgoing any chance for an O-board in order to get their defense set.

Second Quarter:

The second quarter started badly as we gave up several treys, but Anna Wilson canned a three to stem the bleeding, Dodson made a move from the elbow to the basket, and Wilson made a second trey to get us back to a 31-21 lead.  But FGCU was not intimidated, and continued to find ways to drain treys and narrowed the score to 33-29--Anna Wilson and Alanna Smith both sitting with 2 fouls each.  Our chief culprit--9 turnovers to FGCU's 2 by midway through the quarter.  Fingall kept us in the game going 5/6, and putting back several of her teammates' misses.  FGCU closed to within three on yet another trey, but Alexa Romano answered with her own trey to get it back to a 38-32 Stanford lead.  Lacy Hull also went out with 2 fouls and our offense continued to be a bit disjointed.  The half ended 38-34 after a quarter in which they turned the ball over 6 times and had three players sitting out with fouls.   

Not at all a good half defensively, and a mediocre quarter offensively.  The turnovers, fouls, and injury to Lexie have somewhat discombobulated us.  Fingall had a great half, however, with 11 points and 5 rebound, and Wilson acquitted herself well until she picked up her second foul.

Here is an interesting first have stat--points in the paint: Stanford 16 FGCU 14.  Their pack-it-in zone and the absence of Smith have limited our inside game.  We have as many threes as they have and scored them more efficiently--but we certainly are not dominating this scrappy team.

Third Quarter

The third quarter opened with the original five and FGCU narrowed it to 39-38 as we opened with cold 0-3 shooting, and to make it worse Alanna picked up her 3rd foul.  We actually went to a 2-3 zone.  At the other end Carrington took it to the basket for a three point play to recapture a 5 point lead.  In fact, by midway through the quarter she was 8/8 free throw shooting.  Fingall also was showing a strong offensive force, staking out the shot from the elbow--reminiscent of some of her best games last fall when she developed that shot, going 10/12 shooting for a career high of 22 points through the quarter.  But we seemed to be not stopping FGCU on the other end with fast breaks--not getting in front of their drivers cutting to the basket, which is how they racked up points-in-the-paint against a much taller team.  Lessons to be learned about controlling speedy guards in the future!   We outscored FGCU 29-18 in the third quarter, mainly on the strength of Fingall and Carrington--Fingall with a mid range jumper from the elbow and Carrington with oodles of free throw attempts, leading to a 67-53 lead.

Fourth quarter

Smith was clearly out of sorts in this game.  Finally coming back into the game in the 4th she rapidly picked up her 4th foul on an offensive scramble, and Tara decided to leave her in.  Finally Kiana, who had been relatively quiet since early in the game, hit a trey and we were up 70-45, and she repeated it a couple of minutes later for a 76-55 lead.  According to the announcer, Tara used an aggressive 2-3 trapping zone.  Gradually we pulled away.  Smith finally got a basket on a feed from Nadia, and Nadia converted yet another basket on an inbounds play for a 23 point lead.  Then there were wholesale substitutions and our offense fell off until Moschkau knocked down a three, and the game ended Stanford 88 FGCU 65.

Performances

Nadia went 11/14 for a career high 24 points, to go with 8 rebounds and a whopping 5 assists.  The best offensive game of her career.

Dijonai's aggression generate a lot of FGCU fouls.  She scored 16 points and 12 of them were from the free throw line on 12/14 free throw shooting.  She also had 9 rebounds and 3 assists.

Kiana wound up with 15 points and continued her torrid three point shooting at 5/8.  

Anna Wilson and Maya Dodson played will with minutes in the high teens.  Alanna's constant foul trouble limited her to 14 minutes and she never got into gear, but her free throw shooting continues to be significantly improved over a year ago--4/5.

Conclusion:

Our offense this year looks quite good against inferior teams.  Our defense continues to trouble me.  We did hold FGCU to 37% shooting, but they got way too many layups.  Our guards just don't seem to be able to stay in front of their marks, which may be why Tara is experimenting with a zone.

[JJJ]

I guess they're not wearing turquoise today. I wouldn't have minded. And it would have suited Honolulu.

[JJJ]

I guess they're not wearing turquoise today. I wouldn't have minded. And it would have suited Honolulu.

[BostonCard]

21-12 after the first quarter; we lead 31-23 in the second quarter.

BC

---

38-34 at the half.

BC

[BostonCard]

21-12 after the first quarter; we lead 31-23 in the second quarter.

BC

---

38-34 at the half.

BC

[M T]

(Hmmm... when I compose, I  can enter a title, but it seems not to be shown) 
TITLE:   Halftime 38-34

FGCU has a 4 more shots, 7 more 3pt attempts.
Stanford leads 47% to 35% on FGA and  38% to 25% on  3PT attempts, but only leads by 4.
Stanford leads in rebounds 25(19D, 6O)-12(10D,2O)
but has given up more turnovers (9-3) and fouls(8-7).  (I didn't hear the full half, but I guess we gave up more offensive fouls.)

[M T]

(Hmmm... when I compose, I  can enter a title, but it seems not to be shown) 
TITLE:   Halftime 38-34

FGCU has a 4 more shots, 7 more 3pt attempts.
Stanford leads 47% to 35% on FGA and  38% to 25% on  3PT attempts, but only leads by 4.
Stanford leads in rebounds 25(19D, 6O)-12(10D,2O)
but has given up more turnovers (9-3) and fouls(8-7).  (I didn't hear the full half, but I guess we gave up more offensive fouls.)

[81alum]

Write up of the FGCU game is in the second post up top. I'll keep this thread active for the American game Saturday and the Hawaii game on Sunday.

[81alum]

Write up of the FGCU game is in the second post up top. I'll keep this thread active for the American game Saturday and the Hawaii game on Sunday.

[TheFarm07]

The audio is now up on the Gostanford site, announced by Tim Schwarz.  He teased that there will be a new starting lineup.  He's interviewing Tara now.  

Lexie "will be out for a while now."  "At least a couple of weeks."  A stress reaction in her foot.  Very bad news.

Starting lineup:  Williams Carrington Wilson Fingall Smith with Anna Wilson getting the start in place of Lexie.

Obviously, it's never good to have a key player injured and there is never an ideal time for someone to be out, but considering our schedule, we'll miss Lexie the least at this point in the season 

Florida Gulf Coast is likely the most difficult of the three opponents we will face in Hawaii and we still won by 20+ points even with Smith in foul trouble most of the game.

Though playing in Spokane against Gonzaga won't be a cakewalk, we should still be able to beat them without Lexie

Then it's our fall finals break when we won't play again for nearly 2 weeks.

It will be nice to have Lexie back for our matchup against Baylor and at Tennessee, but that's 3 weeks away.

[TheFarm07]

The audio is now up on the Gostanford site, announced by Tim Schwarz.  He teased that there will be a new starting lineup.  He's interviewing Tara now.  

Lexie "will be out for a while now."  "At least a couple of weeks."  A stress reaction in her foot.  Very bad news.

Starting lineup:  Williams Carrington Wilson Fingall Smith with Anna Wilson getting the start in place of Lexie.

Obviously, it's never good to have a key player injured and there is never an ideal time for someone to be out, but considering our schedule, we'll miss Lexie the least at this point in the season 

Florida Gulf Coast is likely the most difficult of the three opponents we will face in Hawaii and we still won by 20+ points even with Smith in foul trouble most of the game.

Though playing in Spokane against Gonzaga won't be a cakewalk, we should still be able to beat them without Lexie

Then it's our fall finals break when we won't play again for nearly 2 weeks.

It will be nice to have Lexie back for our matchup against Baylor and at Tennessee, but that's 3 weeks away.

[BobK]

A nice win. Shot 50% from three and outrebounded them by 27. However FGC shot about 50% from Two and that isn’t a good stat

Suspect Lexie out until league but hoping you are right 07

Congrats to Fingall for her great game

[BobK]

A nice win. Shot 50% from three and outrebounded them by 27. However FGC shot about 50% from Two and that isn’t a good stat

Suspect Lexie out until league but hoping you are right 07

Congrats to Fingall for her great game

[M T]

A nice win. Shot 50% from three and outrebounded them by 27.  However FGC shot about 50% from Two and that isn’t a good stat

OTOH, having your opponent choose to or be forced to put up 60% of their shots be from beyond the arc might suggest they didn't have many open 2PT attempts.
Stanford: 2PT/2PTA  19/36  (53%)  3PT/3PTA 11/22 (50%)
FGCU:  2PT/2PTA  13/25 (52%)    3PT/3PTA  10/38 (26%)


I guess that's a result of a height difference.

[M T]

A nice win. Shot 50% from three and outrebounded them by 27.  However FGC shot about 50% from Two and that isn’t a good stat

OTOH, having your opponent choose to or be forced to put up 60% of their shots be from beyond the arc might suggest they didn't have many open 2PT attempts.
Stanford: 2PT/2PTA  19/36  (53%)  3PT/3PTA 11/22 (50%)
FGCU:  2PT/2PTA  13/25 (52%)    3PT/3PTA  10/38 (26%)


I guess that's a result of a height difference.

[81alum]

A nice win. Shot 50% from three and outrebounded them by 27.  However FGC shot about 50% from Two and that isn’t a good stat

OTOH, having your opponent choose to or be forced to put up 60% of their shots be from beyond the arc might suggest they didn't have many open 2PT attempts.
Stanford: 2PT/2PTA  19/36  (53%)  3PT/3PTA 11/22 (50%)
FGCU:  2PT/2PTA  13/25 (52%)    3PT/3PTA  10/38 (26%)


I guess that's a result of a height difference.

FGCU made 13 layups in the game, despite the height difference.  They had a total of 26 points in the paint and 10 fast break points.  We had 30 points in the paint and 0 fast break points.  Basically, our guards were probably trying to stay tight on their three point shooters on the perimeter, and their short speedy guards frequently went around their defenders and made unmolested layups.

That is a danger sign, and Tara seemed to know it when she went to zone. 

When we last played them in the 2nd round it was just the same.  FGCU scored a lot of their points on layups--more than on treys.

[81alum]

A nice win. Shot 50% from three and outrebounded them by 27.  However FGC shot about 50% from Two and that isn’t a good stat

OTOH, having your opponent choose to or be forced to put up 60% of their shots be from beyond the arc might suggest they didn't have many open 2PT attempts.
Stanford: 2PT/2PTA  19/36  (53%)  3PT/3PTA 11/22 (50%)
FGCU:  2PT/2PTA  13/25 (52%)    3PT/3PTA  10/38 (26%)


I guess that's a result of a height difference.

FGCU made 13 layups in the game, despite the height difference.  They had a total of 26 points in the paint and 10 fast break points.  We had 30 points in the paint and 0 fast break points.  Basically, our guards were probably trying to stay tight on their three point shooters on the perimeter, and their short speedy guards frequently went around their defenders and made unmolested layups.

That is a danger sign, and Tara seemed to know it when she went to zone. 

When we last played them in the 2nd round it was just the same.  FGCU scored a lot of their points on layups--more than on treys.

[2006alum]

Thanks for the recap, 81. Hard to know how much to worry about their inside scoring given that it sounds like Tara was taking away their Plan A (treys) so they went to Plan B, which, once it started to work fairly well, necessitated us also mixing it up. As is often the case with a Tara team, we came back after the half making adjustments and with a much better executed game plan. Based on both our scoring and your description, our offense is up from last year, and our defense is down. But that makes a lot of sense, since both Sniezek and Johnson are much stronger defensive players than offensive players, and McPhee was always one of our best defensive assignments. And one classic Taraism is that you can coach defense much more than you can coach offense, so I'd rather start with the higher ceiling on the offensive end and then assume, as the season progresses, our coaches will develop our players' defensive abilities.  

Speaking of McPhee, what is it with 6' Gatorade POYs from Washington and stress reactions/fractures in November? We had the exact same problem last year with McPhee, if you recall - she was out after our third game until conference play. I don't quite know the difference in nomenclature between a stress fracture and a stress reaction, but McPhee didn't play between our UConn game on 11/12 and our Tennessee game on 12/21, so she was out about 5-6 weeks. If Lexie's on a similar trajectory, that would mean she'd return around the start of conference play. But since it's a "reaction" rather than a "fracture," maybe she'll be back sooner?

BTW- I know we haven't had the steepest competition so far, but as of now, Fingall has a .700 FG rate, Williams is at .634 and .615 from 3PT, and Dodson is at .607. Those are the best shooting percentages I can remember seeing from any Stanford player since Chiney graduated. Even at their best, I don't remember Bird or Orrange ever cracking .600. If they can keep close to that pace, we will have so many more strong offensive threats than we had last year. (And speaking of offensive threats, I really hope the coaches can develop Moschkau's defense, because she's a perfect 4-4 on shooting so far, 3-3 3PT, and has such a beautiful release. It'd be wonderful if she could be able to get into some non-junk minutes.)

All in all, I'm encouraged. We were down two starters (Lexie and Sniezek) with a third in major foul trouble (Smith), and that gave our juniors an opportunity to shine. It's kind of now or never for Fingall to develop into a reliable post presence, so I'm really hopeful this was her coming out party and we will see many more games like this in the future. OTOH- Smith has got to figure out how to avoid fouls, because she was picking them up at a rate of one foul per two minutes until Tara left her in at the end.

[2006alum]

Thanks for the recap, 81. Hard to know how much to worry about their inside scoring given that it sounds like Tara was taking away their Plan A (treys) so they went to Plan B, which, once it started to work fairly well, necessitated us also mixing it up. As is often the case with a Tara team, we came back after the half making adjustments and with a much better executed game plan. Based on both our scoring and your description, our offense is up from last year, and our defense is down. But that makes a lot of sense, since both Sniezek and Johnson are much stronger defensive players than offensive players, and McPhee was always one of our best defensive assignments. And one classic Taraism is that you can coach defense much more than you can coach offense, so I'd rather start with the higher ceiling on the offensive end and then assume, as the season progresses, our coaches will develop our players' defensive abilities.  

Speaking of McPhee, what is it with 6' Gatorade POYs from Washington and stress reactions/fractures in November? We had the exact same problem last year with McPhee, if you recall - she was out after our third game until conference play. I don't quite know the difference in nomenclature between a stress fracture and a stress reaction, but McPhee didn't play between our UConn game on 11/12 and our Tennessee game on 12/21, so she was out about 5-6 weeks. If Lexie's on a similar trajectory, that would mean she'd return around the start of conference play. But since it's a "reaction" rather than a "fracture," maybe she'll be back sooner?

BTW- I know we haven't had the steepest competition so far, but as of now, Fingall has a .700 FG rate, Williams is at .634 and .615 from 3PT, and Dodson is at .607. Those are the best shooting percentages I can remember seeing from any Stanford player since Chiney graduated. Even at their best, I don't remember Bird or Orrange ever cracking .600. If they can keep close to that pace, we will have so many more strong offensive threats than we had last year. (And speaking of offensive threats, I really hope the coaches can develop Moschkau's defense, because she's a perfect 4-4 on shooting so far, 3-3 3PT, and has such a beautiful release. It'd be wonderful if she could be able to get into some non-junk minutes.)

All in all, I'm encouraged. We were down two starters (Lexie and Sniezek) with a third in major foul trouble (Smith), and that gave our juniors an opportunity to shine. It's kind of now or never for Fingall to develop into a reliable post presence, so I'm really hopeful this was her coming out party and we will see many more games like this in the future. OTOH- Smith has got to figure out how to avoid fouls, because she was picking them up at a rate of one foul per two minutes until Tara left her in at the end.

[81alum]

All in all, I'm encouraged. We were down two starters (Lexie and Sniezek) with a third in major foul trouble (Smith), and that gave our juniors an opportunity to shine. It's kind of now or never for Fingall to develop into a reliable post presence, so I'm really hopeful this was her coming out party and we will see many more games like this in the future. OTOH- Smith has got to figure out how to avoid fouls, because she was picking them up at a rate of one foul per two minutes until Tara left her in at the end.

(I've revised the preview at the top for American, coming up pretty early today.)

I am also highly encouraged.  If nothing else, it is much more fun to watch a more offensive team like the one we seem to have this year.  Having depth means that not absolutely everything depends upon 2-3 key players staying hot, healthy, and out of foul trouble.  There is a much bigger margin for error, as we saw last night that with Lexie going out and 3 players sitting on the bench with 2 fouls in the first half we managed to stay ahead.  There have been years past in which we would not have been so resilient.

I also agree that our defense absolutely must improve or else we will be at risk against certain kinds of teams with a couple of speedy take-it-to-the-basket guards.  I think that might be why Tara is giving us some practice with a zone.  The normal way we would defend those types of guards in our sagging man is to have one guard not sagging and to have someone else help by cutting off the lane.  Last night it sounds as if we didn't get help soon enough.  When help comes late it results in fouls.  (I don't think that was the main issue with Alanna since I think at least of couple of her fouls were on offense.) 

As for the disparity in fast break points:  FGCU sacrificed all hope of offensive rebounds to get back on defense and prevent any fast break points from us.  In our case, I think FGCU's fast break points mostly came off turnovers and were not a function of our defense not running the floor fast enough.  To our credit, we cut back on turnovers in the second half--after 10 in the first we had 6 in the second.  So we seemed to be learning, also an encouraging sign.

[81alum]

All in all, I'm encouraged. We were down two starters (Lexie and Sniezek) with a third in major foul trouble (Smith), and that gave our juniors an opportunity to shine. It's kind of now or never for Fingall to develop into a reliable post presence, so I'm really hopeful this was her coming out party and we will see many more games like this in the future. OTOH- Smith has got to figure out how to avoid fouls, because she was picking them up at a rate of one foul per two minutes until Tara left her in at the end.

(I've revised the preview at the top for American, coming up pretty early today.)

I am also highly encouraged.  If nothing else, it is much more fun to watch a more offensive team like the one we seem to have this year.  Having depth means that not absolutely everything depends upon 2-3 key players staying hot, healthy, and out of foul trouble.  There is a much bigger margin for error, as we saw last night that with Lexie going out and 3 players sitting on the bench with 2 fouls in the first half we managed to stay ahead.  There have been years past in which we would not have been so resilient.

I also agree that our defense absolutely must improve or else we will be at risk against certain kinds of teams with a couple of speedy take-it-to-the-basket guards.  I think that might be why Tara is giving us some practice with a zone.  The normal way we would defend those types of guards in our sagging man is to have one guard not sagging and to have someone else help by cutting off the lane.  Last night it sounds as if we didn't get help soon enough.  When help comes late it results in fouls.  (I don't think that was the main issue with Alanna since I think at least of couple of her fouls were on offense.) 

As for the disparity in fast break points:  FGCU sacrificed all hope of offensive rebounds to get back on defense and prevent any fast break points from us.  In our case, I think FGCU's fast break points mostly came off turnovers and were not a function of our defense not running the floor fast enough.  To our credit, we cut back on turnovers in the second half--after 10 in the first we had 6 in the second.  So we seemed to be learning, also an encouraging sign.

[2006alum]

I am also highly encouraged.  If nothing else, it is much more fun to watch a more offensive team like the one we seem to have this year.  Having depth means that not absolutely everything depends upon 2-3 key players staying hot, healthy, and out of foul trouble.  There is a much bigger margin for error, as we saw last night that with Lexie going out and 3 players sitting on the bench with 2 fouls in the first half we managed to stay ahead.  There have been years past in which we would not have been so resilient.

Absolutely. The difference between what happened when we had to sit McPhee last year versus Lexie last night is tremendous. Of course, we'll see once we take on the Baylors and Tennessees, but as you say, so many more options and offensive choices this year. I'm starting to feel more excitement rather than anxiousness when anticipating matchups like those against the Bears and Lady Vols. It's been a few years since I've gone in expecting we could actually win.

I also agree that our defense absolutely must improve or else we will be at risk against certain kinds of teams with a couple of speedy take-it-to-the-basket guards.  I think that might be why Tara is giving us some practice with a zone.  The normal way we would defend those types of guards in our sagging man is to have one guard not sagging and to have someone else help by cutting off the lane.  Last night it sounds as if we didn't get help soon enough.  When help comes late it results in fouls.  (I don't think that was the main issue with Alanna since I think at least of couple of her fouls were on offense.) 

Yeah - that's where losing McPhee and Sniezek has hurt us the most. Those two plus Carrington were the three Tara would usually use to take away an opposing guard. I think Williams plays decent D but my sense is that now that she's running the point and also our leading scorer, her mentality hasn't been quite as focused on D - believe it or not, she's actually 7th in steals on our team right now, with Lexie first (8) and Wilson and Smith (5 each) tied for second (which may in part explain Smith's high foul rate). I have only been able to watch part of one our games so it's hard to tell whether the stats bear this out, but if Wilson is becoming a strong defensive presence, that would also be a big help, at least while Sniezek is out.

[2006alum]

I am also highly encouraged.  If nothing else, it is much more fun to watch a more offensive team like the one we seem to have this year.  Having depth means that not absolutely everything depends upon 2-3 key players staying hot, healthy, and out of foul trouble.  There is a much bigger margin for error, as we saw last night that with Lexie going out and 3 players sitting on the bench with 2 fouls in the first half we managed to stay ahead.  There have been years past in which we would not have been so resilient.

Absolutely. The difference between what happened when we had to sit McPhee last year versus Lexie last night is tremendous. Of course, we'll see once we take on the Baylors and Tennessees, but as you say, so many more options and offensive choices this year. I'm starting to feel more excitement rather than anxiousness when anticipating matchups like those against the Bears and Lady Vols. It's been a few years since I've gone in expecting we could actually win.

I also agree that our defense absolutely must improve or else we will be at risk against certain kinds of teams with a couple of speedy take-it-to-the-basket guards.  I think that might be why Tara is giving us some practice with a zone.  The normal way we would defend those types of guards in our sagging man is to have one guard not sagging and to have someone else help by cutting off the lane.  Last night it sounds as if we didn't get help soon enough.  When help comes late it results in fouls.  (I don't think that was the main issue with Alanna since I think at least of couple of her fouls were on offense.) 

Yeah - that's where losing McPhee and Sniezek has hurt us the most. Those two plus Carrington were the three Tara would usually use to take away an opposing guard. I think Williams plays decent D but my sense is that now that she's running the point and also our leading scorer, her mentality hasn't been quite as focused on D - believe it or not, she's actually 7th in steals on our team right now, with Lexie first (8) and Wilson and Smith (5 each) tied for second (which may in part explain Smith's high foul rate). I have only been able to watch part of one our games so it's hard to tell whether the stats bear this out, but if Wilson is becoming a strong defensive presence, that would also be a big help, at least while Sniezek is out.

[BostonCard]

A stress fracture is a fracture (broken bone) that occurs due to the accumulation of repertitive stresses which individually would not be enough to cause the bone to fail, but cumulatively are enough to cause a fracture.

Before the bone actually breaks, the bone starts to microfracture, which is when you start to have symptoms.  This is a stress reaction.  As the micro fractures coalesce into a frank fracture, where there is a separation in the cortical bone, you get a stress fracture.  So you can think of a stress reaction as being a precursor of a stress fracture.  The good news is that the recovery for a stress reaction is faster than for a stress fracture.  The bad news is that many players try to play through the pain or try to come back too quickly and are not at 100%. The really good news is that unlike ligament or joint injuries, typically the stress/fracture process eventually produces cortical thickening and strengthens the bone following recovery.

I’ve had a stress fracture, and it is not fun, but also wasn’t the end of the world (of course I was not a collegiate athlete). I quit running for a while and switched to swimming, but was otherwise ok, aside from the fact my leg hurt for longer than I thought it should. Fun fact, I injured myself because I was running on a treadmill during the Stanford-Maryland game that took us to the final four, some ten years ago. Because I was so engrossed in the game, I totally ignored the pain in my leg until it was too late.

BC

[BostonCard]

A stress fracture is a fracture (broken bone) that occurs due to the accumulation of repertitive stresses which individually would not be enough to cause the bone to fail, but cumulatively are enough to cause a fracture.

Before the bone actually breaks, the bone starts to microfracture, which is when you start to have symptoms.  This is a stress reaction.  As the micro fractures coalesce into a frank fracture, where there is a separation in the cortical bone, you get a stress fracture.  So you can think of a stress reaction as being a precursor of a stress fracture.  The good news is that the recovery for a stress reaction is faster than for a stress fracture.  The bad news is that many players try to play through the pain or try to come back too quickly and are not at 100%. The really good news is that unlike ligament or joint injuries, typically the stress/fracture process eventually produces cortical thickening and strengthens the bone following recovery.

I’ve had a stress fracture, and it is not fun, but also wasn’t the end of the world (of course I was not a collegiate athlete). I quit running for a while and switched to swimming, but was otherwise ok, aside from the fact my leg hurt for longer than I thought it should. Fun fact, I injured myself because I was running on a treadmill during the Stanford-Maryland game that took us to the final four, some ten years ago. Because I was so engrossed in the game, I totally ignored the pain in my leg until it was too late.

BC

[mbdude]

Another item that may be of note is that Alexa came off the bench before Jenna. IMHO  Jenna is still unsure of herself with the offense and is not as quick as Williams or Wilson.

[mbdude]

Another item that may be of note is that Alexa came off the bench before Jenna. IMHO  Jenna is still unsure of herself with the offense and is not as quick as Williams or Wilson.

[81alum]

The game today against American starts at 2:00, so the Stanford UCLA football game will not be over by then.  This may be the only time I'm ok with there not being video of the WBB game.  I'll watch the end of football with the sound off while listening to the audio from Hawaii.

Such a problem being a Stanford fan :)

[81alum]

The game today against American starts at 2:00, so the Stanford UCLA football game will not be over by then.  This may be the only time I'm ok with there not being video of the WBB game.  I'll watch the end of football with the sound off while listening to the audio from Hawaii.

Such a problem being a Stanford fan :)

[TheFarm07]

A few interesting results from last night:

#2 UConn was tied with St. John's heading into the fourth quarter before pulling away for a 10-pt win.

Az. State lost another heartbreaker against a top-5 team as #5 Louisville only beats them by 2, 68-66.

#4 Baylor had a tough game against S. Dakota State as well, winning 72-66

#9 Oregon State survived #13 South Carolina 70-68 in a Top-15 matchup

#10 Texas edges Quinnipiac by one point

So potentially five Top-10 teams could have lost last night, but all of them survived

[TheFarm07]

A few interesting results from last night:

#2 UConn was tied with St. John's heading into the fourth quarter before pulling away for a 10-pt win.

Az. State lost another heartbreaker against a top-5 team as #5 Louisville only beats them by 2, 68-66.

#4 Baylor had a tough game against S. Dakota State as well, winning 72-66

#9 Oregon State survived #13 South Carolina 70-68 in a Top-15 matchup

#10 Texas edges Quinnipiac by one point

So potentially five Top-10 teams could have lost last night, but all of them survived

[Jskass]

Yes on OSU game. Saw in person in Vancouver. Pivec still a stud and I wonder every time what would have been if she had chosen us. Once they solidify the C position they will be such a threat! They were way ahead of SC - who was neither playing team ball nor into the game at all- until the last few minutes. Coincided with Scott having Slocum sitting. He finally put her back in the game and she saved it with a pass to McWilliams, who hit free throws afterbeing fouled. Freshman C Morris learning quickly but starter C Grymke does not play like a senior.

---

Also Drake challenged Notre Dame for Q1 but succumbed to the Ogunbowale-Young show. Turner looked good and they need to better utilize her.

[Jskass]

Yes on OSU game. Saw in person in Vancouver. Pivec still a stud and I wonder every time what would have been if she had chosen us. Once they solidify the C position they will be such a threat! They were way ahead of SC - who was neither playing team ball nor into the game at all- until the last few minutes. Coincided with Scott having Slocum sitting. He finally put her back in the game and she saved it with a pass to McWilliams, who hit free throws afterbeing fouled. Freshman C Morris learning quickly but starter C Grymke does not play like a senior.

---

Also Drake challenged Notre Dame for Q1 but succumbed to the Ogunbowale-Young show. Turner looked good and they need to better utilize her.

[2006alum]

What, in particular, were you impressed by Jskass? (Nothing in the box score jumps out to me.) I have to admit- of the "ones who got away" (e.g., admitted and offered recruits who turned us down, such as KLS and Diggins), Pivec is not one I've ever really had serious regrets about. She's a very capable player, solid ball handler, and has very good fundamentals, but I guess I just haven't seen her be a game changer in the way others have been for other programs. Tara is very good at taking away the other team's best player, but I feel like the past two seasons we focused mostly on double-teaming Gulich, which if anything should open up more opportunities for Pivec. Yet I can't recall a single breakout game the way that Wiese, Weisner, and Hunter have all had against us over the past few seasons. And I remember one game in particular (last season?) where Carrington hounded her very effectively and essentially neutered her on offense. But maybe she's hit a new level this season?

[2006alum]

What, in particular, were you impressed by Jskass? (Nothing in the box score jumps out to me.) I have to admit- of the "ones who got away" (e.g., admitted and offered recruits who turned us down, such as KLS and Diggins), Pivec is not one I've ever really had serious regrets about. She's a very capable player, solid ball handler, and has very good fundamentals, but I guess I just haven't seen her be a game changer in the way others have been for other programs. Tara is very good at taking away the other team's best player, but I feel like the past two seasons we focused mostly on double-teaming Gulich, which if anything should open up more opportunities for Pivec. Yet I can't recall a single breakout game the way that Wiese, Weisner, and Hunter have all had against us over the past few seasons. And I remember one game in particular (last season?) where Carrington hounded her very effectively and essentially neutered her on offense. But maybe she's hit a new level this season?

[qwerty49]

 (And speaking of offensive threats, I really hope the coaches can develop Moschkau's defense, because she's a perfect 4-4 on shooting so far, 3-3 3PT, and has such a beautiful release. It'd be wonderful if she could be able to get into some non-junk minutes.)

Arguably the best 3-pt shooter we've ever had was Rapp, who didn't start until her senior year.  So Moschkau has some time.

[qwerty49]

 (And speaking of offensive threats, I really hope the coaches can develop Moschkau's defense, because she's a perfect 4-4 on shooting so far, 3-3 3PT, and has such a beautiful release. It'd be wonderful if she could be able to get into some non-junk minutes.)

Arguably the best 3-pt shooter we've ever had was Rapp, who didn't start until her senior year.  So Moschkau has some time.