By: Joe Lami
The Stanford Cardinal took on the Florida Gulf Eagles on Wednesday afternoon, as part of the Hardwood Tournament for Hope. It was the second game in as many days for Stanford in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and for the second straight day, the Cardinal came away victorious.
Stanford beat the Eagles by the final score of 83-59, with a strong first half showing by the Cardinal outscoring their opponent 45-28. Three different players got into double digits in scoring; including Mikaela Ruef with 14, Freshman Lili Thompson with her career high of 12 and Chiney Ogwumike with 27. Ogwumike and Ruef also got double-double as Ruef picks up her second of the year with 12 rebounds and Ogwumike her fifth of the year with 13 rebounds.
Three players for Florida Gulf Coast also got into double digits in scoring as Kaneisha Atwater led the way with 15, right behind her was Stephanie Haas with 14 and Sara Hansen had 11.
Though the win gives Stanford their sixth of the season and makes it five straight for the Cardinal, there was a much more important number, and that is 900. As in the 900th career win for hall of fame coach Tara VanDerveer. With achieving the milestone, she just becomes the fifth coach in women’s basketball history to reach the historic number, joining the ranks of Pat Summitt, Sylvia Hatchell, C. Vivian Stringer and Jody Conradt.
VanDerveer has an outstanding record of 748-153 with her tenure at the farm. She was also presented the game ball, with the inscription of “900” on it. Two players are still on the team when the coach hit her 800th win in 2010, with Ogwumike and Reuf.
VanDerveer looks to make it win number 901 when her Cardinal take on the South Dakota State Jackrabbits to finish off their historic week in Mexico on Thursday.
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