Stanford Cardinal
Overall Rank: #2
Conference Rank: #1 Pac-12
Stanford Team Page
Last year's Sweet 16 loss to Georgia ended Stanford's streak of five straight trips to Final Four. The Cardinal is full of experience, as five of the team's six players that started 19 games or more and seven of eight that played over 600 minutes return. Eight members of this year's squad are upperclassmen and look to bring the continued ways to Palo Alto.
2012-13 Record: 33-3, 17-1
2012-13 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Tara VanDerveer
Coach Record: 775-155 at Stanford, 927-206 overall
Strengths:
Stanford welcomes back do-everything forward Chiney Ogwumike. The 6-4 senior led the squad in scoring in 32 of the team's 36 games last season, averaging 22.4 points per contest on the year. She was also the team's top rebounder, averaging 12.9 a game. Nobody on the team was within six rebounds or 11 points of Ogwumike. Amber Orrange returns after averaging 10.8 points per game and dishing out 147 assists. Toni Kokenis also returns after averaging 7.7 points despite missing the last 15 games due to an undisclosed illness. Mikaela Ruef returns to anchor the post with Ogwumike after averaging 6.6 rebounds a contest, which was second on the team. The team does bring back three of its top four three-point shooters, led by Bonnie Samuelson, who hit a team-high 49 threes and a .350 percentage. Sara James (37 threes) and Taylor Greenfield (26 threes) also return. So this team won't be just a team that stays in the post, it can spread teams out as well.
Weaknesses:
While the Cardinal does bring back a lot of size, Joslyn Tinkle graduated. Tinkle was second on the team with 11.8 points per game and also made 39 threes. Tinkle also helped out in the rebounding department, where she averaged 5.5 boards. Despite the upperclassmen leadership, Stanford will need to learn to protect the ball a little better and force more turnovers, as the Cardinal committed only seven less turnovers than its opponents. Having its main ball handlers back as upperclassmen should help that, but it might be something that worries VanDerveer.
Final Projection:
Not many teams have an as equally distributed team as the Cardinal. The team has eight frontcourt players and eight backcourt players. There is also a mix of eight upperclassmen and eight underclassmen. Like many of the top teams, Stanford has a tough schedule, including Connecticut in its second game of the year. Other big nonconference games include Texas, Purdue and Tennessee. The team's recruiting class is impressive as well, as two players, Kailee Johnson and Erica McCall, were McDonald's All-Americans and two, McCall and Karlie Samuelson, were their state's Gatorade Players of the Year. McCall and Samuelson have also seen time with USA Basketball teams.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
Projected Starting Five:
Amber Orrange, Junior, Guard, 10.8 points per game, 147 assists
Toni Kokenis, Senior, Guard, 7.7 points per game
Mikaela Ruef, Senior, Forward, 4.2 points per game, 6.6 rebounds per game
Sara James, Senior, Guard, 5.3 points per game
Chiney Ogwumike, Senior, Forward, 22.4 points per game, 12.9 rebounds per game
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 70.5 (27th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 51.9 (11, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.5 (5, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 31.6 (1, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 5.2 (132, 6)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 31.9 (95, 2)
Free-Throw Percentage: 71.8 (88, 1)
Rebound Margin: 7.5 (18, 3)
Assists Per Game: 13.9 (79, 2)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.9 (4, 1)
Madness 2014 WNBA Draft Rankings:
#1 Chiney Ogwumike
Madness 2013 Women’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#8 Erica McCall
#27 Kailee Johnson
#57 Karlie Samuelson
See All Top 44 Women’s Basketball Previews
