Weekend Ends in Westwood

What's Next

No. 12/14 Stanford (15-4, 5-2) goes for its 22nd straight win over No. 20/25 UCLA (13-5, 5-2) when it meets the Bruins in Pauley Pavilion on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. Krista Blunk, Mary Murphy and Kyndra de St Aubin have the call on Pac-12 Networks.

Against UCLA

Stanford is 59-22 all-time against UCLA dating back to Feb. 11, 1978, is 23-11 against the Bruins in Los Angeles and has won the last 21 in the series. UCLA’s most recent win came on Jan. 4, 2008 in Pauley Pavilion (69-56).

Stanford won three meetings last season by an average of 11 points, shot 42.7 percent from the floor and 39.7 percent from behind the arc. Briana Roberson averaged 11.0 points in the three victories and Karlie Samuelson 10.0 on 6-of-11 shooting from deep. Kaylee Johnson pulled down an average of 11.7 rebounds.

Catching You Up

Erica McCall had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Karlie Samuelson added 14, Lili Thompson put in 11 and Kaylee Johnson had 13 rebounds to help Stanford to a 57-47 win at USC on Friday night.

The double-double was McCall’s team-leading 11th of the season to go along with a career-high five blocks. Stanford’s 13 total blocks tied a single-game school record from Feb. 3, 1989 against Arizona State. It was the Cadinal’s fourth time this season in double figures in rejections.

Stanford pulled away in the fourth quarter, getting Samuelson’s fourth 3-pointer of the game for a 51-38 lead. The Cardinal outscored USC 15-10 in the third quarter to extend its lead to 43-34. Samuelson scored eight points, hitting 3-pointers to open and close the period, when Stanford took its first double-digit lead of the game.

Samuelson was 4-of-6 from behind the arc, her fourth game this season with at least four makes from behind the arc. In the last five games, the junior is 12-of-19 on 3-pointers (.632) and has moved up to seventh in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.455).

Stanford shot 50 percent in the first half when the Cardinal led 28-24 at the break. After falling behind by four to start the game, the Cardinal outscored the Trojans 14-2, including 11 in a row, to take an eight-point lead, its largest of the half. Thompson had seven points in the spurt.

Setting The Stage

Since 2007-08, the Cardinal sports a conference road record of 68-8 and a Pac-12 home record of 71-3.

Over the past seven seasons, the Cardinal is 63-5 in the month of January.

In Pauley last season on Jan. 23, the Cardinal won 79-70 behind 21 points from Briana Roberson, 21 from Bonnie Samuelson and 20 from Amber Orrange.

It was the first time Stanford had three 20-point scorers in a single game since Feb. 17, 1991 when the Cardinal won at UCLA, 91-77, behind 32 points from Julie Zeilstra, 26 from Val Whiting and 20 from Sonja Henning.

Stanford also won in Maples on Feb. 15, 68-50, behind eight 3-pointers from Bonnie Samuelson and four from Karlie. The duo combined to score 38 of Stanford’s 68 points on 13-of-23 shooting, including converting 12-of-20 of their 3-point attempts.

Amber Orrange scored 13 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, Lili Thompson added 14 and Stanford held off a late charge from UCLA for a 67-62 win over the Bruins in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament on March 6.

The Rundown

Stanford is No. 5 in the country in RPI and has played the nation’s fourth-toughest schedule.

Stanford is without a senior starter for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

Last Sunday, three of Stanford’s incoming freshmen were named McDonald’s All Americans, tying a program record for a single year.

The Cardinal is second in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.319), 17th in scoring defense (53.3) and fourth in blocks per game (6.7).

Stanford has four games with double-digit blocks in a single season for the second time in program history.

Stanford’s opponents have put up 15.6 points less than their season scoring average when facing the Cardinal.

On Jan. 10, Lili Thompson became the 36th Stanford player to reach 1,000 points in her career.

Erica McCall is seventh in the nation with 11 double-doubles.

Karlie Samuelson is seventh in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.455) and has made 12 of her last 19 from behind the arc.

Tara VanDerveer is 32 victories away from joining Pat Summitt as the only NCAA women’s basketball coaches with 1,000 career wins.

The Cardinal is 992-308 all-time and is eight wins shy of the exclusive 1,000-victory club.

Notes entering the weekend »

Against USC

Stanford is 55-20 all-time against USC dating back to Feb. 2, 1979, 23-13 against the Trojans in Los Angeles and has won 16 of the teams’ last 17 meetings.

In the Galen Center last season, Lili Thompson scored 21 and No. 11 Stanford eased past USC, 71-60. The Cardinal shot 50 percent from the field, including 41.7 percent from 3-point range, and made 20-of-24 free throws. Thompson was 12-of-14 from the line.

In the second game on The Farm, eleven players scored, four in double figures, and Stanford shot over 55 percent from the floor to beat the Trojans, 79-60.

Catching You Up

Stanford split road games last weekend at Oregon (W, 64-62) and No. 12 Oregon State (L, 58-50).

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 Friday night.

Starting in place of Erica McCall, 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.

Once more » pic.twitter.com/VH05qtp6fI

— Stanford WBB (@StanfordWBB) January 16, 2016

In Corvallis on Sunday, Kailee Johnson poured in a career-high 14 points and Stanford led by 11 early in the fourth quarter, but Oregon State closed the game on a 23-4 run to come away with a 58-50 victory in Gill Coliseum, its first win over the Cardinal since 2001.

Stanford had won 13 straight games when leading at halftime. It was the fourth time since 2007-08 the Cardinal had surrendered a double-digit lead. Stanford was up 15 midway through the third quarter, 38-23.

Stanford lost a 12-point second-half lead at ASU and a 14-point second-half lead at Arizona last February. The only other such game in the past nine seasons came against Texas A&M in the Final Four on April 3, 2011. It was up 10 with 15:07 to go in that one before losing 63-62.

Setting The Stage

Since 2007-08, the Cardinal sports a conference road record of 67-8 and a Pac-12 home record of 71-3.

Over the past seven seasons, the Cardinal is 62-5 in the month of January.

Stanford has won seven straight against USC on the road.

In two meetings last season, the Cardinal shot 52.9 percent (55-of-104) against the Trojans and outscored USC by an average of 15 points per game (75-60).

Lili Thompson averaged 17.5 points in the two wins over USC in 2015, shooting 52.6 percent from the floor (10-of-19) and 82.4 percent from the line (14-of-17).

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.

McDonald’s All Americans

On Sunday, 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.

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.

Schedule Strength

In the official NCAA RPI released on Jan. 20 Stanford sits at No. 5 and has played the nation’s fourth-toughest schedule.

Through games as of Jan. 19, Stanford’s 18 opponents this year have the fourth-highest combined winning percentage in the country of .690 (200-90). Tennessee leads that category with opponents that have gone 194-77 (.716), Dayton is second (187-75; .714) and Ohio State is third (193-82; .702).

The Cardinal is 9-4 against the RPI top 100. Only Baylor (9), Connecticut (10), Notre Dame (9) and South Carolina (9) have as many RPI top 100 wins. No team has played more RPI top 100 opponents than Stanford (13).

The average RPI of Stanford’s opponents is 80. Nine other schools, including three from the Pac-12, have played a schedule in which its opponents average RPI is in the top 100 - California (99), Connecticut (97), Dayton (76), Notre Dame (88), Ohio State (87), Rutgers (87), Tennessee (93), UCLA (90) and Washington (98).

Applying Pressure

The Cardinal has held 14 of 18 opponents below 40 percent shooting, six below 30 percent and one below 20 percent. Stanford is third in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.319) and 19th in scoring defense (53.6).

Each of Stanford’s 17 opponents (not counting the season opener at UC Davis) have been held below their season shooting average. Those foes have also put up 15.1 points less than their scoring average when facing Stanford.

In its last 10 games, the Cardinal has surrendered 47.5 points on 30.1 percent shooting (169-of-561).

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. Stanford had never before held back-to-back opponents to less than 35 points.

At Arizona on January 2, Stanford held that program to lows for a Pac-12 game in both points and field goal percentage (.208). The 34 points allowed also tied a Stanford record for fewest allowed in a Pac-12 game, matching the same total from a 60-34 win against Washington State on Feb. 8, 2007.

Stanford has held its opponent below 10 points 19 times in 72 quarters, or 26.4 percent of the time this season. It did so in eight straight over games against CSU Bakersfield, Chattanooga and Arizona.

Stanford is also sixth in the country in blocked shots per game (6.3) and has tallied seven or more blocks in a game seven times this season after doing it five times all of last year. The Cardinal is on pace for 195 rejections this season, which would be one shy of the school record of 196 set in 2001-02.

The Cardinal’s 12 blocks against CSU Bakersfield on Dec. 22 are tied for second in Cardinal single-game history. The school record of 13 was set on Feb. 3, 1989 against Arizona State. Stanford’s 11 blocks at Oregon on Jan. 15 are tied for sixth in school history and its 10 in the season opener at UC Davis are tied for 11th.

Stanford has had three games with double-digit blocks in a single season for the fourth time. The Cardinal did it a school-record four times in 2000-01 and three times each in 2012-13 and 2001-02.

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 7-1 at home and 4-3 on the road, with all three of those losses coming to ranked teams. The Cardinal is scoring 75.4 points per game in Maples on 44.7 percent shooting and has a +10.6 rebounding margin. On the road, Stanford is averaging 58.9 points per game on 38.4 percent shooting and has a -1.3 rebounding margin.

Opponents shoot 28.8 percent against Stanford on The Farm and 33.1 percent in their home gyms.

The Cardinal is 2-3 against the AP Top 25 this season, with both wins coming at home.

Stanford started the year shooting 38.9 percent from 3-point range in its first 10 games. The Cardinal went 8-2 and averaged 8.6 makes from deep, including draining at least 10 on four different occasions. Its percentage from behind the arc was 17th and its makes ranked 19th.

In its last eight games, Stanford’s 3-point field goal percentage has dipped to 29.0 percent and its makes per game has dropped to 4.8, but the Cardinal has gone 6-2 by asserting itself in other ways. During that period Stanford has upped its average margin of points in the paint to +15.2 after only posting a +5.6 clip in its first 10. It has also turned around its points off turnovers from -2.0 to +5.0.

Tracking Thompson

Against Colorado on Jan. 10, Lili Thompson became the 36th Stanford player to surpass 1,000 career points. Now at 1,036 she is 34th all-time at Stanford, between Molly Goodenbour (1,040; 1989-93) and Angie Paccione (1,013; 1978-83).

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 five times this season. She’s had 10 career 20-point efforts, with eight coming in the month of November. The only non-November 20-point efforts came at USC on Jan. 25, 2015 (21) and on Dec. 13 at Texas (21).

In 21 career November games, Thompson is averaging 15.0 points. The junior scores 10.6 points per game in her 68 other career games in December, January, February, March and April.

At 15.0 points per game, Thompson is 10th in the Pac-12 in scoring to go along with ninth in the league in assists (4.2).

On Nov. 17, she was named to the John R. Wooden Award Women’s Preseason Top 30 and she was part of the Naismith Trophy Women’s Watch List released on Dec. 9.

She has also won a pair of Pac-12 Player of the Week awards this season (Nov. 24 and Dec. 21). Her most recent nod came after averaging 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in Stanford’s wins over then-No. 14 Tennessee and Cornell.

Flying High

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

McCall has 10 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 10 double-doubles are tied for 12th 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 13.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per outing.

Good Stretches

Brittany McPhee has made 11 of her last 26 attempts from 3-point range (.423) 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 10 games, averaging 8.3 points on 68.8 percent shooting (33-of-48) to go along with 5.7 rebounds.

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+ five times in those 10 games after doing it all of six times as a freshman.

Kailee Johnson averaged 11.0 points on 53.8 percent shooting and 7.5 rebounds in last weekend’s road split. Since entering the starting lineup against Texas, the junior has averaged 3.9 points and 5.2 rebounds after putting up 1.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in her first 58 career games.

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 36-of-82 from behind the arc this season and is 17th in the nation (min. two made per game) in 3-point field goal percentage (.439). A career 39.4 percent 3-point shooter, Samuelson has made 109 from deep in her career and 6 away from setting a new personal best for a single season after draining 41 a year ago.

When you leave Karlie open.... pic.twitter.com/klFOrYfIkJ

— Stanford WBB (@StanfordWBB) November 27, 2015

Seventy-eight percent (407-of-519) of her career points have come on 3-pointers (327) and free throws (80). The junior captain has almost made twice as many field goals from behind the arc as she has from inside, converting 56 2-point attempts. She is 18-of-32 (.563) on such shots this season.

Among The Best Ever

The Cardinal is 991-308 (.763) all-time since its first varsity season in 1975. Stanford would join an exclusive list with nine more wins. Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, James Madison and Old Dominion are currently the only Division I institutions with 1,000 victories. Stanford is seventh on that list, also behind Stephen F. Austin and Texas.

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).

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 967-221 (.814) record in her 36 years as a collegiate head coach and an 815-170 (.827) on The Farm.

In November 2013, she became just the fifth college women’s basketball coach to win 900 career games. This past 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, Pat Summitt (Tennessee), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Dean Smith (North Carolina), Adolph Rupp (Kentucky), Andy Landers (Georgia), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Robin Selvig (Montana) and Jim 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 33 victories away from joining Pat Summitt as the only coaches with 1,000 career wins.

Off the court and on the gridiron, 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.

"Do whatever is necessary to win. Play as hard as you can, as fast as you can, as long as you can." » @CoachJim4UM

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jan 8, 2016 at 6:45pm PST

Prognostications

Stanford is No. 12 in the AP top 25 and No. 14 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

Stanford has appeared in the AP rankings a possible 487 times out of 702 total polls since 1977 (69.4 percent), with an average positioning of 6.9. It’s been in the past 278 polls, the third-longest active streak behind Tennessee (561) and Connecticut (423). Stanford has also been in 285 consecutive coaches polls.

The Cardinal’s 487 all-time appearances in the AP top 25 are fourth behind Tennessee (688), Georgia (522) and Texas (493).

Stanford was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 when the conference released the results of the preseason coaches’ poll on Oct. 14. Those results snapped Stanford’s 15-year streak at the top of the league’s preseason rankings. Before that announcement, UCLA was the last team to finish atop the preseason poll, receiving the honor two straight years in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.

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.”