Coach Tara VanDerveer's 700th victory at Stanford was just another milestone moment Saturday when the No. 2 Cardinal rolled past Utah 69-42 in the Pacific-12 Conference home finale at Maples Pavilion.
VanDerveer-coached teams have won 852 times -- good for fifth on the all-time coaching list. She became the seventh women's coach to win 700 at one school in her 26th season at Stanford.
How about 800?
"I'm enjoying coaching, I'm enjoying it a lot," said VanDerveer, 58. "That's only three years if you can get 30 (victories) a year."
Then she added, "I've got to hang on for some little sisters."
No one knows whether Chisom and Ernima Ogwumike will blossom into the kind of basketball players older sisters Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike have at Stanford. They were in attendance Saturday to honor Nneka Ogwumike on Senior Day in front of an announced crowd of 4,519.
The two-time All-American had 15 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots while sophomore sister Chiney Ogwumike had 16 points and 12 rebounds en route to Stanford's 78th consecutive home victory.
The team also improved its conference winning streak to 75 games. But Stanford (26-1, 17-0 Pac-12) and its coach have much more on their minds than achievements for the history books.
Opening with a noose-like defense, the Cardinal is starting to look toward March Madness and a run to the school's fifth consecutive Final Four.
"This is the best team, the
most complete team they've had since I've been in Utah," coach Anthony Levrets said of his four seasons in Salt Lake City.He might have a point on a day Stanford made only 2 of 12 from 3-point range. (Freshman Taylor Greenfield, the school's leading 3-point shooter, didn't play because of a sore hamstring.)
The Cardinal again found help from others than the Ogwumikes, namely freshman point guard Amber Orrange. She burned the Utes (13-14, 6-10) with short-range jumpers for 12 points. Forward Joslyn Tinkle continued her late-season breakthrough with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Montanan scored 10 in the first half when Stanford took control with an 18-3 run that left the visitors reeling. The Cardinal held Utah to 14 points -- its lowest first-half total this season.
"Sometimes we get a little frazzled because people aren't in their right positions," said Taryn Wicijowski, who led the Utes with 15 points and six rebounds.
Stanford faced a team that has only nine healthy players after Utah lost senior point guard Janita Badon last week.
Levrets isn't sure it mattered against the Cardinal and its Hall of Fame coach, who took over the program in 1985.
Stanford outscored Utah 15-3 after the Utes closed the deficit to 15 points with 4:57 left. Senior Grace Mashore punctuated the victory by making her first shot of the season with 26 seconds left.
"We saw it coming," Chiney Ogwumike said. "Honestly that was the happiest I felt almost all year."
Contact Elliott Almond at 408-920-5865 and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/elliottalmond.
Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/stanford-cardinal/ci_20045153?source=rss
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