Cardinal leaning on experience as well as freshman talent
86-59 trouncing by Louisville.
Although a disappointment, the season was, in fact, reasonably good for a team that lacked firepower, wasn’t strong from three-point range (31.9 percent) and was terrible from the foul line (64.2). The Cardinal went just 6-6 in the nonconference schedule, including a 71-64 home loss to Western Illinois.
This season Stanford, ranked No. 7 in the initial AP poll, will rely heavily on the Alanna-Kiana Show for offense. Smith, a 6-foot-4 senior forward from Australia, and sophomore guard Kiana Williams “have got to be in double figures every game,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said.
VanDerveer enters her 33rd season on the Farm. The next most senior coaches in the Pac-12 are Arizona State’s Charli Turner Thorne, entering her 21st year, and Oregon State’s Scott Rueck, entering his ninth. VanDerveer has more years at Stanford than the other nine Pac-12 coaches have combined at their schools.
She said this season’s team has more depth than last season, is playing “with a lot better pace” and is shooting better.
“We’re going to have to be a better rebounding team and a better defensive team,” VanDerveer said. “And we’ve got to take care of the ball better.” She wants “each player committing to being aggressive and not fouling.”
Much-improved forwards Nadia Fingall and Maya Dodson will share Johnson’s former job of rebounding, defending and setting screens. They should also present a more dangerous offensive post threat. Guard DiJonai Carrington, who started seven games last season, will provide rebounding as well as defense and scoring.
In September, Smith helped Australia to the silver medal in the World Cup in Spain’s Canary Islands. She was the team’s leading scorer (10 points) in a 73-56 loss to the U.S., mainly because the Americans ganged up on 6foot-8 star Liz Cambage and held her to seven. Smith, the youngest player on the Opals, guarded Tina Charles, Elena Delle Donne and former Stanford star Nneka Ogwumike at various times.
“I was a little nervous to start off with,” she said. “These are some of the best players in the world. I’ve only seen them from the sidelines or on TV. It gave me a lot of confidence because I realized I could compete with them.”
She thinks the experience — Australia also played the U.S. in a scrimmage — will help her immensely in her final college season. VanDerveer agrees. “She’s playing with a lot of confidence,” she said.
Senior point guard Marta Sniezek will be sidelined most of the nonconference season after injuring her thumb in practice. Williams may move to the point in her absence, or VanDerveer may insert highly touted freshman Jenna Brown into that spot.
Brown, a McDonald’s AllAmerican from Atlanta, helped the U.S. to the gold at the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship in Mexico City in August. She enters the Stanford scene with the identical Hull twins, Lexie and Lacie. Lexie was a two-time Gatorade state player of the year in Washington. Both could run the point “in a pinch,” VanDerveer said.
All three freshmen defend well, she said. “They’re exceptional. I call them the Triplets. They’re mature. They catch on quickly.”