[BBGuru]

I just had a chance to watch the game so I'm late with this, but I really enjoyed it.

The whole team seemed a bit off in the beginning, and Chiney definitely had trouble early on, but I like the way she recovered. 21 points against tough competition is nothing to sneeze at, even though we have become accustomed to getting more from her. I think her subdued scoring forced others to step up and show what they are made of. McCall did a wonderful job and she looked very confident and aggressive on the boards, and more coordinated in her shots, the way I have become accustomed to seeing her play. 12 points and 8 rebounds is a great contribution from her, and I predict she will get better and better as she gets more playing time. Thompson is a stellar frosh who has a multi-faceted game. She can nail 3s, drive for layups, and efficiently dish. And her defense is always energetic and intense. Ruef is sometimes a double-edged sword. We need her in there for the intangibles that don't show up on the stat lines, but she is scary when she pretends to be a point guard or forces her way to the basket against two or three defenders. I value her passes and the smart way she uses her body. I don't think anyone else on the team can do what she does. I really enjoyed James' performance. She stepped up in a big way and hit her shots, and her defense was very solid. She seems to be a very hard worker, and always stays very intense and focused on the court. I didn't understand why Tara took her out and forgot about her, when the other 3pt shooters were limited on defense and ineffective offensively. I believe James and Thompson got 3 and 2 outside shots respectively, and all other 3pt shooters were pretty much cuffed. Greenfield has her strengths, but we desperately needed points so I thought James should have been in the game down the stretch. Amber did a great job with her 8 assists. She was responsible for getting the ball to McCall at least twice and allowing her to score. However, at times I was concerned by Amber's sluggish defense. I wonder if something is going on with her. She had a few moments when she looked good, but overall I thought she needed to hustle much more and show much more defensive intensity.

I'm hoping to see improvement in our overall rebounding. We should have done better in that regard against this team. Our turnovers were alarming. Some looked like mental lapses, others were just telegraphed passes that alert players can pick off.

As for the refs, they were inept and the tv commentators weren't much better. 

I watched the replay of that shot to Samuelson a couple of times and it looked like a push off to the chest with some shoulder involvement to me. It didn't look "brutal" and especially not hostile or malicious. There was no punch, no swing, and no elbow to warrant throwing a player out of game, as some have suggested elsewhere. Samuelson is not muscular or sturdy, and she flew backwards under the force of the push off and hit the ground pretty hard. I've read so much shocked outrage from fans regarding something that happens all the time in basketball, along with moving screens and arm bars. Stanford players don't typically employ those techniques, perhaps because they do not resort to such aggressive play, but that push off is a common offensive technique that many players are accustomed to getting away with in order to create space, and it needs to be immediately called as an offensive foul.  The refs definitely got the call wrong, which is part of what fuels the outrage. Thankfully Samuelson wasn't hurt and was able to come back in the game and play somewhat effectively.

[BBGuru]

I just had a chance to watch the game so I'm late with this, but I really enjoyed it.

The whole team seemed a bit off in the beginning, and Chiney definitely had trouble early on, but I like the way she recovered. 21 points against tough competition is nothing to sneeze at, even though we have become accustomed to getting more from her. I think her subdued scoring forced others to step up and show what they are made of. McCall did a wonderful job and she looked very confident and aggressive on the boards, and more coordinated in her shots, the way I have become accustomed to seeing her play. 12 points and 8 rebounds is a great contribution from her, and I predict she will get better and better as she gets more playing time. Thompson is a stellar frosh who has a multi-faceted game. She can nail 3s, drive for layups, and efficiently dish. And her defense is always energetic and intense. Ruef is sometimes a double-edged sword. We need her in there for the intangibles that don't show up on the stat lines, but she is scary when she pretends to be a point guard or forces her way to the basket against two or three defenders. I value her passes and the smart way she uses her body. I don't think anyone else on the team can do what she does. I really enjoyed James' performance. She stepped up in a big way and hit her shots, and her defense was very solid. She seems to be a very hard worker, and always stays very intense and focused on the court. I didn't understand why Tara took her out and forgot about her, when the other 3pt shooters were limited on defense and ineffective offensively. I believe James and Thompson got 3 and 2 outside shots respectively, and all other 3pt shooters were pretty much cuffed. Greenfield has her strengths, but we desperately needed points so I thought James should have been in the game down the stretch. Amber did a great job with her 8 assists. She was responsible for getting the ball to McCall at least twice and allowing her to score. However, at times I was concerned by Amber's sluggish defense. I wonder if something is going on with her. She had a few moments when she looked good, but overall I thought she needed to hustle much more and show much more defensive intensity.

I'm hoping to see improvement in our overall rebounding. We should have done better in that regard against this team. Our turnovers were alarming. Some looked like mental lapses, others were just telegraphed passes that alert players can pick off.

As for the refs, they were inept and the tv commentators weren't much better. 

I watched the replay of that shot to Samuelson a couple of times and it looked like a push off to the chest with some shoulder involvement to me. It didn't look "brutal" and especially not hostile or malicious. There was no punch, no swing, and no elbow to warrant throwing a player out of game, as some have suggested elsewhere. Samuelson is not muscular or sturdy, and she flew backwards under the force of the push off and hit the ground pretty hard. I've read so much shocked outrage from fans regarding something that happens all the time in basketball, along with moving screens and arm bars. Stanford players don't typically employ those techniques, perhaps because they do not resort to such aggressive play, but that push off is a common offensive technique that many players are accustomed to getting away with in order to create space, and it needs to be immediately called as an offensive foul.  The refs definitely got the call wrong, which is part of what fuels the outrage. Thankfully Samuelson wasn't hurt and was able to come back in the game and play somewhat effectively.