Women’s basketball: Jones’ season-high 21 points carries Cardinal past scrappy UC Davis

Haley Jones kept No. 5 Stanford in the game in the first half and then helped carry the Cardinal with a big second half.

Jones scored a season-high 21 points and had 11 rebounds to help Stanford beat UC Davis 67-55 on Saturday and avoid an upset.

Freshman Haley Jones’ double-double vaults Cardinal to win over Aggies

“We still didn’t box out well enough in the first half and our O-pace was not fast enough,” Jones said. “We came out in the second half with a lot of defensive intensity. Anna (Wilson) came out with a lot of fire and heart and when she gets going, we all feed off her energy.”

Lexie Hull hit two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 14 points for Stanford (11-1), which was coming off its first loss of the season. Nadia Fingall added 11 points.

“This will get everyone’s attention on playing better defense,” Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. “We stepped up in the second half and Haley made some nice plays. She came to play. Defense was the difference.”

Freshman Evanne Turner made her first career start, replacing the injured Sophia Song, and scored 15 points to lead the Aggies (4-8), who lost their 14th straight to the Cardinal.

“She’s been playing with a lot of confidence, so we went with her,” Aggies coach Jenny Gross said of Turner. “It paid off. I’m proud of her. I think this game will give us confidence that we can play with anyone in the country.”

Katie Toole added 13 points and Mackenzie Trpcic had 10. Cierra Hall added a team-high eight rebounds and scored six points.

Stanford ended the third quarter on a 10-1 run to take a 46-41 edge into the fourth. Jones scored five points, including a driving layup with 26 seconds left in the third.

“She is well beyond her years in terms of understanding the game,” VanDerveer said of Jones. “She’s very intelligent.”

Anna Wilson, the younger sister of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, hit a layup that gave Stanford a 17-7 advantage midway through the first quarter.

The Aggies outscored the Cardinal 21-5 over the next 8:41 to open a 28-22 lead and carry a 32-30 edge into halftime.

Turner sparked the run with three consecutive 3-pointers over the final 1:34 of the first quarter.

“I’m proud of the kids for stepping up and staying focused,” Gross said. “We executed our game plan.”

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Women’s basketball: No. 1 Stanford hooked by unranked Longhorns, cold-shooting Cardinal upset in Austin

Texas became the first unranked women’s team to beat the No. 1 squad since January, getting 20 points and a career-best 19 rebounds from Charli Collier to knock off Stanford 69-64 on Sunday.

The Longhorns (7-4) beat the No. 1 team for the first time since 2004, snapping a string of 13 defeats. Stanford (10-1) became the second top-ranked team to lose this season, after then-No. 1 Oregon fell to Louisville on Nov. 30.

The last unranked team to beat the No. 1 team was North Carolina, which topped Notre Dame on Jan. 27.

Joyner Holmes had 13 points and eight rebounds for Texas. Holmes missed more than four minutes of the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. After returning, she stole an inbounds pass by Alyssa Jerome with less than 5 seconds left and dribbled end to end for the final basket.

Sug Sutton scored 12 points for Texas, including two free throws with 4 seconds remaining, and Celeste Taylor added 10. Jada Underwood snagged 10 rebounds, including seven of Texas’ 19 offensive boards.

The 6-foot-5 Collier made a putback and a free throw to give Texas a 61-60 lead with 3:09 left. Then she made a shot in the lane with 2:28 remaining for a three-point lead. Holmes added two more free throws at the 1:38 mark.

Lexie Hull led Stanford with 17 points, including 13 in the second half. Kiana Williams scored 15, including two free throws with 48 seconds left. Francesca Belibi made a layup with 5 seconds left before Sutton was fouled.

Stanford fell behind 35-26 at halftime after trailing the entire first two quarters.

The Cardinal began the second half with a 7-0 push, but Collier responded with a pair of 3-pointers.

BIG PICTURE

Stanford: The Cardinal’s 31.7 percent field goal accuracy was by far its worst of the season. Stanford continued to play good defense. The Cardinal began the game ranked No. 6 nationally in field goal defense, limiting opponents to 31.1 percent. Every team that faced Stanford shot less than 40 percent. Texas hit 38.6 percent, including 22.2 percent in the second half.

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Women’s volleyball: Pure dominance! Cardinal whips Wisconsin to win third NCAA title in four years

– No. 3 Stanford swept No. 4 Wisconsin to win its second straight national championship, third in four seasons and ninth in program history on Saturday night. The Cardinal swept the Badgers, 25-16, 25-17, 25-20, to repeat as national champions for the first time since 1996-97.

Kathryn Plummer once again led the way, totaling 22 kills on a dominating .459 hitting percentage. She added 10 digs and three blocks. Graduate transfer Madeleine Gates hit .529 with 10 kills, finishing six NCAA Tournament matches with just one attack error. Morgan Hentz had 17 digs and Meghan McClure added 13, while Jenna Gray led the way with 39 assists. As a team, the Cardinal hit .358 to Wisconsin’s .152.

“I think the overwhelming feeling I have right now is I’m kind of sad that this time with these great young women to my right and the rest of the seniors is over,” said head coach Kevin Hambly. “I’m certainly glad that we can go out the way that we did. For them, it’s amazing. And they played amazing, all three of them, and all the seniors played great tonight, as well as the rest of the team. Going to miss them as people.”

The Cardinal were dominant all night, and all tournament long. After going to five sets with Utah in the Sweet 16, Stanford proceeded to sweep three straight Big Ten programs, Penn State, Minnesota and Wisconsin, en route to the championship.

Stanford went up 10-4 early in the first set on Saturday night and cruised to a 25-16 victory. In the second set, the Cardinal dominated with a 25-17 win. The third set was much more competitive, as Wisconsin took an early 8-6 lead before Stanford scored six straight to lead 12-8. The Badgers battled back to tie the score at 17-17, but the Cardinal closed it out by scoring eight of the final 11 points to win the match.

The senior class became the second in program history to win three national titles in their four seasons. This year’s senior class finished their careers with a record of 121-16, including a 22-1 record in the NCAA Tournament.

“Obviously it feels incredible,” said Gray during the postmatch press conference. “I feel it’s a whirlwind of emotions. We took a different path than I was expecting. The season didn’t go really how I expected it to go at all, but I think the ending is all that matters. So perfect ending for us.”

Plummer was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player for the second straight season. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Gray and Hentz. Baylor’s Yossiana Pressley, Minnesota’s Alexis Hart and Wisconsin’s Molly Haggerty and Dana Rettke were also named all-tournament.

Hambly becomes the seventh head coach all-time to lead a school to back-to-back titles, joining Russ Rose (Penn State), Mick Haley (USC), Don Shaw (Stanford), Andy Banachowski (UCLA), John Dunning (Pacific) and Dave Shoji (Hawai’i).

Women’s volleyball’s title was Stanford’s third NCAA crown this fall, as they joined men’s water polo and women’s soccer to claim the championship. Stanford has now won 126 NCAA Championships (67 men, 59 women) and 152 national championships overall.

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Women’s volleyball: Cardinal sweeps its way into NCAA title match vs. Wisconsin

No. 3 Stanford swept No. 7 Minnesota 25-19, 25-22, 25-22 on Thursday night in the national semifinals, paving the way for a second straight NCAA title.

Making its fourth straight national semifinal appearance and fifth in six years, Stanford (29-4, 18-2 Pac-12) will chase its ninth NCAA crown in school history on Saturday against Wisconsin (5 p.m. PT, ESPN2). The Cardinal is undefeated in four meetings against the Badgers, most recently prevailing 3-1 in the 2017 regional semifinal.

Avenging a 3-1 loss to Minnesota back on Sept. 14, the Cardinal was led by Kathryn Plummer’s game-high 26 kills on a .353 hitting percentage. Plummer also came up with nine digs.

Meghan McClure added eight kills on a .364 hitting percentage to go along with 15 digs, Jenna Gray contributed 41 assists and Morgan Hentz finished with 23 digs.

Stanford hit .325 overall and produced 10 blocks, limiting Minnesota (27-6, 17-3 Big Ten) to a .164 hitting percentage. The Cardinal, which recorded its 18th sweep of the season, improved to 10-1 all-time against the Golden Gophers.

After a back-and-forth start to the first set, Stanford moved in front 13-9 after a kill from Plummer and pulled away late in the set.

Minnesota’s best chance came in the second set, when the Golden Gophers forced a 20-20 tie despite holding its biggest lead at 10-5.

Leading 4-3 in the third set, the Cardinal won eight of the next 11 points to take control.

Stanford has totaled more NCAA titles (8), NCAA Tournament matches (130), Final Four appearances (23) and national championship match appearances (17) than any other program in the nation.

Head coach Kevin Hambly is in his third season at the helm of the program. He is 93-9 in three seasons with the Cardinal and 271-95 overall (11 years).

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Card Reider column: No. 1 Cardinal can beat you in so many ways

By John Reid

Card Reider

Main Twitter @cardreider1; also @cardreider

STANFORD –  Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer has a lot of good players, but so do a lot of college basketball teams in the United States. Observing the Cardinal’s 71-52 thrashing of No. 23 Tennessee at Maples Pavilion Wednesday night, I figured out how the Cardinal – now 10-0 and No. 1 in the country – is doing it.

It can beat you in so many ways – team play and individual play.

Kiana Williams now has 1,002 career points, No. 41 on Stanford’s all-time list

Guard Kiana Williams, a junior, played like an All-American, scoring 19 points, with 7 assists, 4 boards and a steal. Williams was 3-for-3 from the line, leading Stanford’s 9-of-12 effort from the charity stripe.

It was a shame this game wasn’t televised nationally (Pac-12 Networks) for Williams needs to be seen by the powers who do the postseason voting.

Williams needed 17 points to achieve 1,000 for her career and she got two more points for good measure. Williams needs 8 points to tie Bethany Donaphin (No. 40/1010 pts/1999-02)), 11 points to tie Angie Paccione (No. 39/1,013 pts/1979-83).

Williams, handling the point, scored inside and out. Stanford had five players drain two 3-pointers with Williams 2-for-4 from beyond the circle. However, it was her blow-by layins that drew oohs and ahhhs from the healthy crowd, sans Stanford students on Xmas break.

Halfway through the third period, Williams drove down the lane, faked a pass to the corner, continued on to make the layin. Drawing a foul, Williams made the free throw for a 50-35 Cardinal lead.

It should have been one of ESPN’s highlights.

Remember, there were other ways the Cardinal can beat you, but it’s tough to know where to start. How about two freshman pivots – Fran Belibi and Ashten Prechtel? The duo may have the first pair of freshmen for VanDerveer to have 3 blocks in a game. Both Belibi and Prechtel had a pair of blocks in rapid-fire fashion.

The 6-foot-5 Prechtel had 2 treys on her way to 10 points, 3 assists and 8 rebounds. Belibi – listed at 6-1, but plays 6-5 – had 7 points with 3 boards.

Sophomore Lexie Hull continued her fine season with 11 points (2 treys) and a game-high 9 boards. What about 6-3 forward Nadia Fingall hitting a pair of 3-pointers, gathering 6 rebounds to boot, adding toughness in the interior?

OK, all those numbers are fine, but VanDerveer still has to pull the right swings. After Tennessee’s Rennia Davis hit some early shots (4-for-10 from beyond the arc/14 points), the Cardinal stiffened up, defensively.

VanDerveer kept rotating players in to keep fresh players on the floor. This is the deepest team CanDerveer has ever had and there is no DiJonai Carrington or Maya Dodson available as of yet. It was nice to see the return of Lacie Hull, who has been out with an injury.

When it comes to fighters on the perimeter, one can’t get any better than Carrington and the Hull twins. Stanford will need that as the season goes along.

Ballyhooed freshman Haley Jones was able to get in the flow of the offense late, ending with 8 points. Freshman Hannah Jump was 2-of-8 from trey-land, but even when she misses, she has the beat perimeter stroke on the floor.

Tennessee coach Kellie Harper was so frustrated with the officials, she drew a technical foul with 1:54 left in the third period. Jump calmly milked both tech foul shots. She can shoot it.

It must be frustrating for opposing coaches playing the Cardinal. It can beat you in so many ways with so many weapons. Right now, they can’t be stopped.

Women’s basketball: Stanford’s defense steps up in lopsided win over Lady Vols

When Tennessee hit some early shots, Hall of Fame Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer used the first timeout to provide a defensive reminder: “Tighten it up!”

Kiana Williams led the way on both ends, finishing with 19 points to surpass 1,000 for her career to go with seven assists as No. 1 Stanford beat 23rd-ranked Tennessee 78-51 on Wednesday night to improve to 10-0.

Lexie Hull added 11 points and nine rebounds to help the Cardinal move within a victory of the program’s best start since opening 11-0 in 2012-13. Freshman Francesca Belibi came off the bench to contribute seven points and three blocked shots before fouling out.

Rennia Davis scored 14 points to lead Tennessee (8-2), but shot just 5 for 20 and no other Lady Vols reached double figures.

The 27-point win was Stanford’s largest margin of victory in the rivalry and Tennessee scored its fewest points in any game against the Cardinal.

“People are really working hard at both ends of the court and they’re encouraging each other, which I think is so special,” VanDerveer said.

VanDerveer’s team, one of four Pac-12 programs ranked in the Top 10, played in-your-face, swarming defense to stymie the Lady Vols in the latest edition of a storied series that began in 1988 at Knoxville, Tennessee. That’s where the Cardinal captured the first of their two national championships in 1990.

Belibi and Stanford’s other posts made things tough on Tennessee in the paint, driving for short jumpers and layups and plugging the middle on defense by getting her hands up to contest and alter shots.

Davis scored eight of Tennessee’s initial 12 points with a pair of early 3-pointers but picked up her second foul at the 4:49 mark of the first quarter. Davis sat down and Stanford responded with a 10-0 run to finish the quarter to lead 20-12.

Tennessee missed its final 10 shots of the opening period then another four in the second before Jordan Horston’s layup at the 7:17 mark.

“We’ve got to take pride in our defense,” Williams said. “We have a lot of weapons on offense so I think it comes down to getting stops on defense and making sure we’re executing our game plan.”

Horston added nine points for the Lady Vols under first-year coach Kellie Harper, who had never coached against the top-ranked team. Harper picked up a technical late in the third as Stanford continued to pull away.

Tennessee couldn’t overcome shooting 25.6% in the first half and 28% overall.

“We weren’t getting a lot of easy looks even when we made those,” Harper said. “I think their defense is probably a little underrated.”

The Cardinal has won six of the last nine meetings but is 12-25 overall against the Lady Vols — and nine of Stanford’s 12 victories in the series have been at home. Tennessee won 83-71 at Stanford in its last visit to Maples Pavilion on Dec. 21, 2017, to snap the Cardinal’s five-game home winning streak in the rivalry.

Guard Lacie Hull returned for Stanford after sitting out Sunday’s 71-52 win over Ohio State with a foot injury.

ON THE BOARDS

Stanford held a 50-44 rebounding advantage, getting eight from freshman Ashten Prechtel to go along with her 10 points.

“To outrebound them is a feat in itself,” VanDerveer said.

BIG PICTURE

Stanford: The Cardinal got 32 points from their bench. … Stanford overcame 13 turnovers, seven in the first half. … The Cardinal faced Tennessee as the top-ranked team for the fourth time, also in 1992, ’96 and 2012. … The Cardinal is 6-0 at home. … Stanford came in ranked 11th in the country for scoring offense at 82.3 points per game.

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Women’s soccer: Rich get richer as nine added to defending NCAA champs’ roster

Stanford has signed nine incoming freshmen to national letters of intent, as announced by the Knowles Family Director of Women’s Soccer Paul Ratcliffe.

“We are thrilled to welcome this talented and deep class of freshman to our program,” said Ratcliffe, who recently guided Stanford to its third national championship on Dec. 8. “I commend this group for staying committed to their academics throughout the recruiting process and I fully expect to see them contribute to both our immediate and long-term success.”

Stanford enters 2020 as the defending national champion after setting a program record with 102 goals scored in 2019. The Cardinal has won three of the last nine national championships and an unprecedented five consecutive outright Pac-12 championships.

Ryan Campbell (goalkeeper)

·         Native of Laguna Beach, California, and represents SoCal Blues (2016-20)

·         Has represented the United States at the U-14, U-15, U-16 and U-17 levels

·         ECNL National Champions (2016-19)

·         Daughter of Terry and Joe Campbell with an older brother, Brennan

·         Hobbies include cooking, health, creative writing, listening to music and playing sports such as football, basketball, baseball, tennis, surfing and beach volleyball

Michayla Gussler (goalkeeper)

·         Native of Westerville, Ohio, and competes for Ohio Premier (2016-20)

·         Ohio Valley conference champions (2015, 2019) and ECNL national runner up (2015)

·         ECNL All-American (2019)

·         Anticipates majoring in psychology with a minor in art or Spanish

·         Daughter of Angela and Stephen Gussler with a younger brother, Trey, and younger sister, Jaidyn

·         Hobbies include calligraphy, painting, drawing, photography and ceramics

Julia Leontini (defender/midfielder)

·         Native of San Ramon, California, and represents Mustang Soccer Club

·         Team captain for 2019-20 season

·         ECNL All-American (2018-19)

·         Contemplated major is in biology

·         Daughter of Stephanie and Jeff Leontini

·         Hobbies include spending quality time with friends, taking drives around the Bay Area, listening to music, watching soccer, knitting and drawing

Sarah Paulson (midfielder/forward)

·         Native of Los Altos, California, and represents Mountain View Los Altos Soccer Club

·         ECNL National Playoffs (2015-18)

·         Contemplated major is human biology

·         Twin sister of fellow signee Catherine Paulson

·         Daughter of Jen and Greg Paulson with an older brother, Luke, and younger sister, Grace

·         Hobbies include dancing, painting, playing basketball, hanging out with friends and volunteering as a youth soccer coach

Catherine Paulson (midfielder/forward)

·         Native of Los Altos, California, and represents Mountain View Los Altos Soccer Club

·         ECNL National Playoffs (2015-18)

·         Contemplated major is human biology

·         Twin sister of fellow signee Sarah Paulson

·         Daughter of Jen and Greg Paulson with an older brother, Luke, and younger sister, Grace

·         Hobbies include dancing, art, playing and watching sports, hanging out with friends, listening to music, hiking and volunteering as a youth soccer coach

Amy Sayer (midfielder)

·         Native of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and has represented Football NSW Institute (2014-16), Sydney University Football Club (2017), North Shore Mariners (2018) and North West Sydney Koalas (2019)

·         Contemplated major is in human biology

·         Also competed in track and field, touch football, cross country and surfing

·         Has represented Australia at the U-17, U-20 and Senior levels with three caps

·         Daughter of Shirley and Grant Sayer with an older brother, Sean

·         Hobbies include reading, spending time with friends and family, traveling the world, going to the beach, water sports and being outside

Mia Watanabe (midfielder/forward)

·         Native of Kaneohe, Hawaii, having represented Honolulu Bulls (2018-17) and Hawaii Heat FC (2017-20) at the club level

·         Hawaii State Champions (2016-17)

·         Two-time Hawaii State champion (2017-18) in her only two years of high school soccer at Iloani School in Honolulu

·         Daughter of Lori Joy and Mark Watanabe with a younger sister, Ava

·         Hobbies include cooking, traveling, skiing, going to the beach and surfing

Samantha Williams (forward)

·         Native of Laguna Beach, California, and represents SoCal Blues (2016-20)

·         ECNL national champions (2016, 2018, 2019), going undefeated during the regular season from 2016-19

·         Contemplated major is in science, technology & society

·         Daughter of Caroline and David Williams with an older brother, Marty, and an older sister, Lachelle Smith

·         Hobbies include painting, drawing, guitar and piano

Astrid Wheeler (midfielder)

·         Native of Atlanta, Georgia, and competes for Concorde Fire (2016-20)

·         Has represented the United States at the U-15, U-17, U-19 and U-20 levels

·         ECNL Southeast Regional champions (2018-19)

·         Daughter of Sara Kay and James Wheeler with an older brother, Langdon

·         Owns a black belt in karate

·         Hobbies include swimming, tennis and art.

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Football: Cardinal signs 22 for fall of 2020, class ranked No. 16 by PrepStar

Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw announced the addition of 22 student-athletes to the Stanford Football program on Wednesday. The class is ranked No. 16 nationally by PrepStar and Top 25 by 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN.

The Cardinal added 13 high school All-Americans who have participated, or will participate in postseason showcases in the coming weeks. The class consists of one five-star recruit and 12 four-star recruits, including seven that served as team captains.

Stanford added 13 offensive players, seven on the defensive side of the ball and two specialists.

Although not included in the 22, QB Tanner McKee (a 2018 signee) signed on Wednesday from Brazil, where he is currently in the second year of his LDS mission. McKee will report to campus to join the 2020 roster in the summer. The Cardinal added two running backs in unanimous four-star E.J. Smith and Oregon’s Gatorade Player of the Year Casey Filkins.

At wide receiver, the Cardinal added three players, including unanimous four-star and Top 100 recruit John Humphreys, as well as four-star Bryce Farrell. Two four-star tight ends joined the mix in Lukas Ungar and Benjamin Yurosek.

Stanford also added six offensive linemen, highlighted by consensus five-star offensive tackle Myles Hinton and four-star linemen Connor McLaughlin, Drake Metcalf and Levi Rogers.

On the defensive side of the ball, Stanford added four-star defensive tackle Tobin Phillips to bolster its defensive front, while also adding one inside and one outside linebacker.

At defensive back, the Cardinal added four players, highlighted by unanimous four-star Ayden Hector and four-star DBs Alaka’i Gilman and Brandon Jones.

On special teams, the nation’s No. 1 kicker Joshua Karty signed on Wednesday, as did long snapper Bailey Parsons, who is one of the best at his position nationally.

In total, the class represents 11 different states, led by eight from the state of California. There were two from each of Alabama, Georgia, Oregon and Washington and one from each of Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina and Texas.

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Women’s volleyball notebook: Final Four, Stanford Regional, Hambly and Rose

By John Reid

Card Reider

Main Twitter @cardreider1; also @cardreider

It was a near-perfect seeding by the NCAA women’s volleyball selection committee. Three of the top four seeds made it to Thursday’s Final Four in Pittsburgh. Two – No. 1 Baylor and No. 4 Wisconsin – meet in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. No. 3 Stanford is matched up with No. 7 Minnesota at 6 p.m. Final is on Saturday.

Minnesota beat Louisville in the Austin Regional final with the Cardinals upsetting No. 2 Texas in the regional semifinal. It was that close to being 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3 Final Four semifinals.

Stanford is the defending champion. After Penn State lost to the Cardinal in three sets in the Stanford Regional final, Nittany Lions coach Russ Rose said, “Before the year started, I thought Wisconsin was the best team in the Big 10 and Stanford was the best team in the country. I’m sticking to those thoughts.”

Rose, who just ended his 41st season at Penn State, knows his stuff. Rose is sitting on 1,299 wins, the most in Div. I coaching history. The Nittany Lions have won seven NCAA titles, four in a row from 2007 to 2010, last winning it all in 2014.

Stanford coach Kevin Hambly hasn’t broken stride since taking over for John Dunning three years ago. Hambly inherited the greatest core of players in Stanford history, has been to three straight final fours, losing in the semifinal two years ago, winning the whole shebang last year.

Seniors Kathryn Plummer, Jenna Gray, Morgan Hentz, Audriana Fitzmorris and Caitlin Keefe have been to the Final Four four straight years. Senior transfer Madeleine Gates, so vital to the Cardinal’s success this year,  is making her first appearance in a Final Four.

The Cardinal does not have a pushover in the Gophers, who downed Stanford 3-1 back on Sept. 14 at the Big-10/Pac-12 Challenge at Penn State. Rose chimed in on the matchup.

“Minnesota and Stanford played in our gym and we saw them play,” Rose said “When they played, it was the night after we played Stanford in a very hard match with a big crowd. Stanford had an early match the next day against Minnesota. I didn’t think that Stanford was at full-strength the next day.”

For the record, the Cardinal defeated Penn State 3-1.

“Minnesota is playing very well,” Rose said. “The two coaches know each other very well. The players are familiar with each other. The teams are accustomed to teeing it up and getting after it. It will be good volleyball.”

BLOCKS: Minnesota is the country’s No. 8 blocking team, while Stanford is ranked 9th. An interesting note, the Nittany Lions, who notoriously block well, had just 1.0 block against the Cardinal.

“Penn State is a really strong blocking team,” Plummer said. “We go up against a strong blocking team in practice. It’s a testament to our passers. It’s hard to know where we are going to go when we have three outstanding attackers. Just give us a bitsy room to score.”

“We were in system a lot,” Hambly said. “A lot of it has to do with passing. Jenna (Gray) did a nice job of putting them in good situations and they played with confidence. Penn State is a really good blocking team. They only had only one block because of us isolating them. We were smart with some of our shots. It was high-level volleyball.”

ALL-TOURNEY: As a media member, I was asked to pick an all-tourney team. Due to the structure, it was, mostly, easy. One player from Cincinnati and Utah were included. The Bearcats Jordan Thompson, who had 30 kills against Penn State, was an easy pick. So was Utah’s Dani Drews, who led her team in kills. Thompson and Drews are the respective 1-2 kill leaders in the nation, a nice bonus for fans in attendance.

The runner-up – Penn State – was given two players. The ones I voted for – Tori Gorrell and Serena Gray – were both selected. The other option was Jonni Parker, who had a fine regional.

The winner – Stanford – had three selections, including the Most Outstanding Player. Plummer, with 53 combined kills in two matches – was the obvious choice. I had Jenna Gray next and libero Morgan Hentz third. I had to think about the third pick – Gates, Meghan McClure and Fitzmorris also had fine tournaments. My thinking with Hentz is that Stanford would have had a hard time getting to Saturday without Hentz, who saved several points in the win over Utah. Gates, who made it, along with Hentz, was very deserving.

HOST SITE: PPG Paints Arena is site of this year’s Final Four. Omaha, Neb., and Columbus, Ohio, are the respective host cities for 2020 and 2021.

 

 

Card Reider column: Stanford’s smooth-sailing Jones worth price of admission

By John Reid

Card Reider

Main Twitter @cardreider1; also @cardreider

STANFORD – As the No. 1 recruit in the country out of Mitty in San Jose, Haley Jones was bound to get a lot of hype. After playing the much-ballyhooed Stanford freshman in fits and starts, Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer has the made the wise decision that it’s going to be just starts for Jones the rest of the year.

Time to keep up with Stanford freshman Haley Jones

Stanford is No. 1 in the U.S. at 9-0 with the smooth-sailing Jones starting four of those games. She is listed at 6-foot-1, which makes her tall for a guard, make that a point guard. Seeing Jones controlling the ball out top is quite a sight, especially when there is a smaller defender on her. It’s not really fair.

An indication how good Jones can be came Sunday against Ohio State, which was riding a three-game win streak. In 35 minutes, Jones led the Cardinal with 15 points, making of 6 of 9 from the field. She had 7 rebounds, 6 assists, a block and 2 steals in a 71-52 victory. She can be forgiven for her 7 turnovers for she is just learning to play with her teammates and vice-versa.

Can Jones handle the ball?

Late in the second quarter, Jones made a steal deep in Stanford’s defensive end, then quickly dribbled behind her back before she took off up court. It was later featured on the “Good Hands play” on the Maples Pavilion Jumbo-Tron.

Around 30 seconds after that play, Jones worked a pick-and-roll with post Nadia Fingall, dishing to Fingall for a hoop. Expect more of that as the season progresses.

Is Jones fundamentally sound?

Later in the game, Jones had the ball – properly held high – in the right corner. With a defender approaching and a defender on the closest Stanford player, Jones – without hesitation – skip-passed to a teammate at the top of the key.

If there is a Stanford player in the past whom Jones compares to, it’s swing-player Nicole Powell, a 3-time All-American for the Cardinal from 2001 to 2004. Like Powell, Jones has an effortless drive to the bucket. Like Powell, Jones can play more than one position.

On a defensive sequence vs. the Buckeyes, one writer noticed Jones guarding four different players, though not at the same time. Hey, she is only a freshman. Give her some time.

“Time” is the key word for fans of Stanford basketball, men or women. Heading into Stanford’s game with Tennessee on Wednesday, Jones is averaging 10.8 points, 4.0 rebounds per game, playing 24.7 minutes a game. She has 23 assists, 9 blocks and as many steals. She has been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week twice.

In other words, time to go see Jones. I asked VanDerveer if Haley Jones was the best freshman VanDerveer has had on the perimeter, at this stage of Jones’ career?

“Haley is one of the best freshman, period. Forget perimeter,” VanDerveer replied. “She plays every position. Haley has stamina. She plays hard, has versatility. The thing that is her biggest advantage is her brain. You can tell her something and she’ll go right out and do it. The best thing I can do for Haley is be very hard on her.”

VanDerveer went on about Jones:

“I don’t want to say Haley is a great freshman, she’s a great player.”

“Stanford has always been one of my top schools,” Jones said. “Once I decided to come here and sign, the class coming in and all the players returning, I knew we had something special for this year and my four years ahead of me.”

Something special is wearing No. 30 for Stanford. By the time the Cardinal ends its preseason with UC Davis on Dec. 28, there may not be many seats available for the Pac-12 opener vs. Washington State on Jan. 3, 2020.

Well, that’s the way it should be if folks truly want to keep up with “The Jones.”

Women’s basketball: Cardinal a bit rusty, but much to like for coach VanDerveer after layoff

By John Reid

Card Reider

Main Twitter @cardreider1; or @cardreider

STANFORD – It was understandable that the No. 1 women’s basketball team in the country had a bit of rust splattered on their jerseys as it took the Maples Pavilion hardwood Sunday evening. Top-ranked Stanford had 21 turnovers in a 71-52 win over Ohio State, but Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer was, overall, pleased as her club returned to action for the first time since Nov. 30.

Stanford (9-0) hosts No. 23 Tennessee (8-1) Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“Coming back after two weeks off, you’re not always sure what your going to see,” VanDerveer said .”I liked the pace our team played with. Lexi (Hull) came out with seven steals in the first half. She was kind of all over. Haley Jones was 6-for-9 with six assists. She hurt them on the pick-and-roll. We did a good job defensively and did a good job rebounding.”

Stanford got a welcome 2-2-1 3-4 court press from the Buckeyes (6-4), who were on a 3-game win streak after starting the year 3-3. That can only help the Cardinal, which has three non-conference tilts remaining until the first Pac-12 game vs. Washington State on Jan. 3.

“We were sloppy a couple of times (against their press),” VanDerveer said. “There were a couple of times Lexi attacked it and scored. Hannah Jump got an open three against it. We’re doing a lot of great things, but we didn’t finish as well. People were anxious and playing hard, but we missed bunnies (close-in shots) I thought we could make.”

The Cardinal outscored the Buckeyes 20-10 in the second quarter to go up 37-23 at halftime. Ohio State – getting 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals from Janai Crooms and 10 points from Dorka Juhasz – refused to go away. The third quarter was even at 19-19, but the Cardinal, getting two circus layins from Kiana Williams late in the fourth quarter, outscored the Buckeyes 15-10 in the final frame for good measure. OSU had 24 turnovers, a point worth noting.

“Ohio State is physical and talented,” VanDerveer said. “Ohio State is an excellent program. They played Connecticut tough. They beat Louisville. This is a good win for us.”

Jones, a freshman, had 15 points to pace the Cardinal, which had four players in double-figures. Hull, Williams and Francesca Belibi each had 13 points. Belibi was 6 of 10 from the field, grabbing 8 rebounds. Nadia Fingall had eight points on 4–of-5 floor, adding 4 steals. Jump had nine points on 3 for 7 3-point shooting.

“Nadia played really well,” VanDerveer said of Fingall. “She was really steady in there. Fran (Belibi) came in and played really well, but she was trying to get into the turnover club, too. She was rebounding, scoring. I liked Anna Wilson’s defense and she can shoot it.”

Each team had 15 steals with Hull’s 7 thefts a single-game best. Hull has been playing at a high level since the season started.

“Especially in this game, it comes down to our coaching staff and they way they scout,” Hull said. “In that first half, we go through a lot of what the other team is going to run as best we can. That helps us know the passing lanes and what to expect.”

Hull’s twin sister, Lacie, sat out with a sore knee, while guard DiJonai Harrington has been out since the Cardinal’s Nov. 24 game vs. Buffalo.

Cardinal crunchies: The win was Stanford’s 1,100th as a program, the fifth program in women’s college basketball to achieve that milestone … Stanford was 50 percent from the floor, 6 of 24 from beyond the arc (25 percent) … The Cardinal outrebounded the Buckeyes 37-32 … Neither team went to the line much – Stanford 5-7, OSU 4-9.

 

Men’s basketball: Oh, Da Silva, you’ve done it again

After two weeks off taking final exams, Oscar da Silva was happy to get back on the basketball court.

Da Silva scored 25 points, one shy of his career high, and had eight rebounds in helping Stanford beat San Jose State 78-58 on Saturday.

“The focus was off basketball for a little bit,” da Silva said. “We were able to get into the gym and work on cleaning some things up.”

Tyrell Terry added 11 points, eight boards and five assists for the Cardinal (9-1), which improved to 40-13 all-time against San Jose State and has won 10 of 19 meetings in San Jose. Isaac White contributed 12 points off the bench.

Off to its best start since 2011, Stanford has held all 10 opponents to under 70 points this season, representing the first time the Cardinal has accomplished the feat since a 10-game sub-70 stretch from Dec. 28, 2010-Jan. 29, 2011.

Stanford’s nine victories have all come by double-digits, including four 20-point wins. The Cardinal finished with 10 double-digit wins overall last season.

“It’s a real thing to be off two weeks and expect to be sharp,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. “We haven’t seen much zone this year, but our plan was solid.”

Seneca Knight scored 12 points for the Spartans (3-8), who have lost six straight games. Brae Ivey added 11 points.

“We played the best team we’ve seen this year,” San Jose State coach Jean Prioleau said. “They keep coming at you with the same actions and break you down. They have the ability to make the play.”

The combination of Stanford’s substantial rebounding advantage (48-32) and San Jose State’s poor shooting (29.8%) proved too much for the Spartans.

Making 11 of 17 from the field, da Silva scored Stanford’s first nine points of the second half in the first true road game for the Cardinal, which maintained a double-digit lead throughout.

“His footwork is good around the basket,” Prioleau said. “He gets in close and he can score.”

Da Silva was a big reason why Stanford outscored the Spartans 52-12 in the paint. The Cardinal also held a 21-14 edge in points off turnovers despite committing 19.

Following an early San Jose State lead, the Cardinal began pulling away, leading by as many as 14 points late in the first half before settling for a 32-19 halftime advantage.

Stanford hosts San Francisco on Tuesday, then plays San Diego as part of the Al Attles Classic at Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday.

*Care of Stanford athletics