San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Sunday’s game
Who: Stanford vs. Utah Valley What: NCAA Tournament first round When: 7 p.m. TV: ESPN
Inside: Cardinal know from experience that a No. 16 seed can topple a No. 1.
Tara VanDerveer has been a head coach in 34 NCAA Tournaments, 31 with Stanford after three with Ohio State in the 1980s.
That extensive history provides the background for her statement that she has “gone through every single imaginable thing in this tournament.”
Every single imaginable thing includes winning the title (in 1990 and ’92) and becoming the first No. 1 seed — women or men — to lose to a No. 16 seed when the Cardinal fell 7167 to Harvard at Maples Pavilion in 1998.
Stanford again is a No. 1 seed, and it faces 16thseeded Utah Valley in San Antonio on Sunday night.
“Seeds do not matter. It’s not like you get any extra points when you show up at the gym,” VanDerveer said in a Zoom news conference Monday. “Records are irrelevant. Being healthy, being excited to play, being prepared” are what’s important, she said.
If the Wolverines (136) somehow pull off a shocker against Stanford (252), it would be an even bigger upset than the Crimson’s 23 years ago.
First and foremost, that 1998 Stanford team had to do without two of its best players, Vanessa Nygaard and Kristin Folkl, who were sidelined by knee injuries.
This Stanford team has won 14 in a row and is listed atop the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings. Utah Valley’s NET ranking: 216.
“Utah Valley, yeah, they’re a 16thseeded team, but we can’t take them lightly,” Stanford guard Kiana Williams said.
“They’re in the tournament for a reason.”
Actually, that reason takes a bit of explaining. Unbeaten Cal Baptist won the WAC tournament, but the Lancers are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament as they’re in the third year of a fouryear transition from Division II to Division I.
Because of an agreement made by WAC officials before the conference season, the team that finished second in the regular season got the conference’s NCAA bid. That team was Utah Valley, which went 104 in WAC play.
Josie Williams, a 6foot5 center, leads the Wolverines in points (14) and rebounds (8.2) per game.
Kiana Williams (14.3) is one of four Cardinal players averaging double figures in scoring. Haley Jones (13), Lexie Hull (11.5) and Cameron Brink (10.2) are the others. Stanford is outscoring its opponents by 25.7 points per game.
“Our focus is totally on Utah Valley,” VanDerveer said, “and just doing everything we can to get ready to play that game.”
If Stanford prevails, VanDerveer’s 32nd trip to the NCAA Tournament with the Cardinal will include a roundof32 game against the winner of Sunday’s 98 matchup between Wake Forest and Oklahoma State.