Author: joelami

By: Joe Lami

STANFORD, Calif.—Hall of Fame coach, Tara VanDerveer earned her 800th victory at Stanford on Saturday night, as her Cardinal defeated Cal State Northridge 73-60 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  It’s only the tenth time in NCAA history where a coach has accomplished the feat of coaching one team to 800 wins.  The win also marked the 500th at Maples Pavilion. “This was an exciting one, one to remember,” mentioned VanDerveer post game.

The Cardinal came out of the gates on fire, going on an 8-0 run to start the game.  Their lead was as high as 13 with 11:48 to play in the first half, but then Northridge stormed back.  The Matadors were able to string together an 18-2 run to eventually take the lead into halftime 29-28.

However, strong shooting and tenacious defense in the second half helped the Cardinal prevail.  Stanford shot an outstanding 59%, while holding Northridge to only 39%.  Much was in thanks to a Matadors scoreless streak that lasted 7:10, which helped the Cardinal eventually make a comeback and bullhead by 14, their largest of the game. Stanford was then able to cruise to victory, getting help from the foul line, where they finished 19 of 25.

Northridge senior, Ashlee Guay, led all scorers with 27 points, finishing 41% from the field.  However, she was really the only one to get things going for the Matadors, as the next closest soccer was Camille Mahlknecht finishing with eight.  All eight of Mahlknecht’s points came in the first half. 

Taylor Greenfield was once again the difference maker for the Cardinal, leading the team with 19 points.  She has been on fire of late, scoring 56 points in the last three games.  This was after she was scoring an average of 4.6 per game.  Part of her great play of late she references to tournament play, “part of it is the excitement of the tournament,” explains Greenfield. She later added, “I don’t think it was the game of my life, but since ASU it’s been repetitive”.  Her reference to the ASU game was where she put up 17 points in the semi-final of the Pac-12 tournament.

CSUN head coach, Jason Flowers commented on Greenfield’s play after saying, “she was a tough matchup offensively.  She became the difference maker on the floor”.

The Cardinal were led by three other players to get into double figures.  Lili Thompson soon followed Greenfield, finishing with 17 points.  Bonnie Samuelson was lights out from three-point territory hitting three of four to finish with 14 points.  She also played all 40 minutes for the first time in her career.  Capping off the double digit scorers was Erica McCall with ten.

The Cardinal advance to take on the Oklahoma Sooners on Monday.  Oklahoma was victorious in an impressive victory 111-84 over Quinnipiac in the first game played at Maples on Saturday afternoon.  VanDerveer commented on the Sooners play, “They’re very well balanced”.  That they are, as six players scored double figures, three of which scored more than 15.

By: Joe Lami

For the first time in franchise history the Golden State Warriors have won 50 games in back-to-back seasons, as the Warriors improved to 50-12 with a 98-80 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.  With the victory, the Warriors are riding a four game winning streak and now own the best record in the NBA.

Once again, it was Steph Curry that led the Warriors in another impressive win.  As the member of the splash brothers notched 36 points, with 25 of them coming in the second half. Monday night marked the 13th time in which Curry has hit 30 or more points.  The second half was one to remember as well, as he hit six of eight three-pointers.  Curry also added five assists and four steals to cap off his amazing performance.

Warriors coach, Steve Kerr, commented on Curry’s play “Steph was spectacular and hit so many shots. I got on him a little bit at half time, and he came out in the second half just on fire and locked in.  He was incredible”.

The other splash brother, Klay Thompson, didn’t do too shabby either.  Thompson finished second in scoring with 25 points and 50% from beyond the arc.

The Suns were able to keep it close in the first half, as the teams went into the half tied at 46.  The Warriors came out of the break absolutely sensational going on a 23-5 run to blow the doors wide open.

Monday marks the ninth loss in 13 games for the Suns, as they are battling for the final spot in the Western conference.  They now sit three games back of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Point guard, Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 19 points, going 6 of 11 from the field, and finishing 5 of 6 from the charity strike.  Center, Alex Len finished the night with a double double for Phoenix with 11 rebounds and ten points.

The Warriors continue to cruise with just 20 games remaining, they still sit on top of the West 5.5 games ahead of Memphis.

By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal won their 11th Pac-12 title on Sunday evening with a victory over their rival, Cal, by the score of 61-60. 

Add another page to the Stanford and Cal rivalry, as the two duked it out for the Pac-12 Championship in Seattle on Sunday evening.  It was the Stanford Cardinal that cut down the nets, as they defeated the Bears 61-60 in a nail bitter. The victory marks the 11th conference title for the Cardinal, as they clinch the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, where they are expected to be given the fourth seed in the Oklahoma City region and host the first two rounds of the tournament.  The Cal Bears have never won the Pac-12 Championship, and will have to try next year without star players Brittany Boyd and Rashanda Grey, who will be graduating.

The Cardinal did a great job holding the All-American finalist, as they scored a combined 13 points, way down from the 30 they average every night.  Unfortunately for the Bears, Grey was injured just minutes in.  She had to leave the court and ended up getting four stitches just underneath her right eye.  The injury occurred going for a rebound against Stanford freshman, Brittany McPhee.  As both players went up for the rebound, McPhee’s elbow came down and struck Boyd accidentally causing a small gash.

The Bears weren’t having any trouble without Grey early on, expanding their lead to nine, as Stanford went ice cold from the field.  Senior, Amber Orrange, ended the run with two free throws to pull the game to a seven point lead for the Bears.  Stanford’s drought would continue, allowing the Bears to grow the lead, as they went five minutes without a field goal.  However, they would push strong in the second part of the first half to make the deficit just two going into the break.

The second half would be just as close, as Stanford had the upper hand of just three points to give them the one point victory.  The difference maker was once again, senior, Taylor Greenfield, who finished the night with a career high 20 points.  Greenfield was also the difference maker in the semi-final victory over ASU, as she scored 17 on Saturday night.  Her amazing play over the two nights was good enough to be named tournament MVP.

Lili Thompson was second on the Cardinal in scoring, as she finished the night off with 13 points.  Orrange closely followed with 12.

Mercedes Jefflo continued to play extremely well, as the sophomore led the Bears with 16, keeping her team in the ball game.  She finished the night off nailing a three-pointer from the top of the key as the buzzard sounded to cut the loss to one.

Even with the loss, Cal is still expected to make the NCAA tournament, and are also expected to be a fourth seed in the tournament.  Like Stanford, the Berkley is also a host site for the first two rounds of the tournament, but in the Albany region.  Cal is expected to be a home team for the first two rounds.

By: Joe Lami

The Arizona State Sun Devils have been the thorn in the side for Stanford all season long, beating them in both appearances.  However, Stanford got their revenge on Saturday, as they outlasted the #9 Sun Devils 59-56 to move onto the Pac-12 Championship game on Sunday.

Arizona State had Stanford’s number this season, heading into Saturday nights contest defeating Stanford at Maples Pavilion by three and at Wells Fargo Arena by one.  The Cardinal were just not able to finish down the line when it mattered in both of those contests.

Arizona State pushed towards the end, once again, taking a one point lead with just 2:19 remaining, but were unable to score the rest of the way for Stanford to get the victory.

The Cardinal held Arizona State to a terrible shooting percentage of 32%, but the Sun Devils were able to stay in the contest as they were on fire from the charity strike shooting 16 of 21, as Stanford had way too many fouls, totaling 21.  There is no surprise that Sophie Brunner led the way for Arizona State, as the Sun Devils top scorer finished the night with 14 points.  Quinn Dornstauder came off the bench to add 13, including a perfect five of five from the free throw line.

Seniors, Amber Orrange and Taylor Greenfield, led Stanford in scoring with 18 and 17 respectively, as they were really the only players to get anything done for Stanford.  Greenfield was able to hit the game winning jumper with just 44 seconds remaining, taking a 57-56 lead.  The Cardinal later added two free throws to get to the final score.

Next up for the Cardinal, their rival, the California Golden Bears, as the two will square off for the Pac-12 Championship game.  Cal advanced to the game defeating Colorado 68-55.  Stanford is 1-1 against Cal this season, as each team earned a road victory last month.  Either way, both teams are pretty much automatic shoe-ins for the NCAA tournament, predicted to each be a four-seed, making the game for bragging rights on top of the Pac-12 title.

By: Joe Lami

The playoff hopes for the San Jose Sharks are getting smaller as they were handed a painful home loss to the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Saturday night.  The night started great for San Jose as they went up early, getting two goals in the first 12 minutes of the first period, but Vancouver was able to score three unanswered to bring home the victory, and strengthen their playoff contention.

With frustration of the loss the Sharks handed to the Canucks on Tuesday night, Vancouver started the game extremely aggressive.  Just 2:05 into it, things started to get dicey.  What started with a check from Brendan Dillion on Janek Hansen turned into a blood bath, where nearly every player on the ice got into an altercation.  Vancouver would somehow come out of it with a power play, that were not able to capitalize on, but the energy was definitely turned up.

The Sharks took advantage of the early fight, as Melker Karlsson started the scoring for San Jose, putting his eleventh of the year past Canucks’ goaltender, Eddie Lack.  The goal was set up on a point shot from Marc Edouard Vlassic  that kicked out to the left circle, where Karlsson picked it up and fired far side beating Lack’s glove side to put the Sharks up early.

San Jose would add another less than four minutes later.  This time off the stick of Joe Thornton for his 13th goal of the season.  Once again, a strong rebound was given up by Lack, and Thornton was in the right place at the right time, as he slammed the power play goal into the net from the right side.  However, the bounces would stop going San Jose’s way.

Vancouver would pick up momentum late in the first period, as they were able to get on the board, as Radim Vrbata scored his first goal of the evening with just 29 seconds remaining in the period.  Vrbata used a little bit of trickery to beat Antti Niemi, as he went behind the net, looking like he was looking for a wrap-around, he stopped came back to the same side and was able to slide it past the Sharks’ net-minder.  Sharks’ coach, Todd McLellan commented on the goal “that’s one Niemi probably wants back”.  The Sharks went into intermission with the 2-1 lead.

The Sharks best chance of the game that didn’t find its way home occurred in the second period, when Patrick Marleau had a wide open net at the left side of the goal mouth and he wasn’t able to tap it home.  Marleau commented on the missed opportunity, “I went to stop it, and missed it.  It went off the toe of my blade”.

Vancouver, once again, was able to capitalize on the Sharks’ misfortunes tying things up 16:24 into the second period, when a bad hop went over the stick of defenseman, Brent Burns, and led to the eventual breakaway goal for Bo Horvat.  Hornet skated in on the left side and just chipped it over the should of Niemi.  “It was a bad bounce, and then Burns got beat getting back,” added McLellan. The game was tied at two going into the final frame

The hockey gods were not helping the Sharks on Saturday night, as the puck would just not find its way home in the third period.  The bad luck would start just 1:09 into the period, when a scramble at the goal mouth would find the puck crossing the line, but after the referee blew his whistle.  The goal was taken away from Tommy Wingles, who said “the whistle was blown, and the referee let us know.  He was decisive, which is better than a ref that can’t make up there mind”. 

Vancouver was able to capitalize on the Sharks’ misfortune, when they took the lead 5:21 into the third.  Radim Vrbata put his second home of the game on a 4 on 3 power play goal.  It was set up on an offensive zone draw, that led to a scramble.  Vrbata was able to pick the puck up in the left circle bring it over to the right, and out wait Niemi who went down, as he flipped it over Niemi for the eventual game winner.

The bad puck luck would continue, when it looked like San Jose tied the game, on what would have been Thomas Hertl’s 11th goal of the season, but the puck hit the post and bounced back out.  “We didn’t have puck luck on either side tonight,” added McLellan.

The loss for San Jose puts them in a bind in terms of playoff contention.  Vancouver was four points ahead of them in the standings, good enough for second in the Pacific division, making this game so crucial.  Tommy Wingles commented on the loss “it was painful because they were a team we’ve been chasing”.

With the loss, the Sharks still have 72 points in 66 games played.  They are four points back of the closest playoff spot, third in the pacific division, held by Calgary whose holding 76 points in 65 games played.  The game in hand will occur tomorrow for the Flames, as they travel to Canada’s capital to take on the Senators.

The Sharks have another tough opponent on their docket, as Sidney Crosby, and the Pittsburg Penguins come into town on Tuesday night.  The Pens are currently sitting third right now in the Metro division with 85 points, picking up two on an overtime win over Los Angeles on Saturday.

By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal held on in a nail biting win over UCLA in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament on Friday afternoon, as they beat the Bruins 67-62.  UCLA was coming off of an impressive 80-62 victory over the Arizona Wildcats in the first round, while Stanford got Thursday off with a first round bye.

Stanford led the entire contest, except for a one-minute period early in the first half, where they fell behind by two.  Even with leading the entire way, however, UCLA kept it close.  This was the case especially down the line, as the Bruins had a late push, going on a 11-0 run with 8:30 remaining to pull within one.  The run ended when Taylor Greenfield hit a free throw with 5:25 left.  The bruins were able to tie it at 56-56 with the next trip down the floor when Kacy Swain hit her jumper.  However, that would be UCLA’s last bucket until 2:15, as the Cardinal were able to go on a 5-0 run that ended up being the difference maker, as UCLA was unable to make the comeback.

Amber Orrange led all scorers with 18 points, as the Stanford senior also contributed three assists.  Lili Thompson finished the day just four of ten from the field, but was still able to manage 14 points to become the Cardinal’s second top scorer.  Erica McCall capped off the double digit scorers with ten.

Jordin Canada finished as UCLA’s top scorer with 15.  Kari Korver added 12, and Swain finished with ten.

The Cardinal will move onto the semi-finals of the tournament, where they will take on Arizona State on Saturday.  Arizona State has the Cardinal’s number this year beating them in both meeting, so Stanford will look to exact their revenge.

By: Joe Lami

After coming off their biggest conference win of the season, the Stanford Cardinal fell to the Oregon Ducks 62-55 on Sunday. The win for the Ducks marks the end of an 18-game losing streak the Ducks had with Stanford, with their last win being in December of 2004.

Stanford had a one-point lead at the half, but it was all Oregon in the second. The Ducks took control with a 15-2 run, as the Cardinal went cold. The poor shooting for Stanford continued, as they went three of ten in a span lasting almost seven minutes.

Jillian Alleyne led the way for Oregon with 22 points. She also brought down 12 rebounds, for her 27^th double-double of the year, leading the NCAA in that category. Lexi Peterson and Amanda Delgado were the other Ducks getting into double digits, with 11 and 10 respectively.

Lili Thompson led the Cardinal in scoring with 14 points, but while doing so only shot 6 of 14. Amber Orrange closely followed with 13 points, but also shot extremely poor 6 of 15. Kaylee Johnson led the team in rebounds with 11.

The Cardinal close out the season with a 21-9 record and 13-5 in conference, good enough to finish third in the Pac-12. They will have a first round bye in the Pac-12 tournament