San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Cardinal team has high trajectory
The one and only highlight of Stanford’s otherwise cringeworthy 78-37 win over Montana State on Friday night in a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament helps demonstrate why the Cardinal is a very scary team.
The highlight was a rare slam dunk by a college woman, Stanford 6-foot-1 junior forward Francesca Belibi.
Why this is scary: Belibi, who dunked twice last season and is the only woman to dunk in college basketball since 2013, is not even a starter for Stanford. Belibi is a valuable rotation player, but averages 13 minutes a game.
So when third-team AllAmerica center Cameron Brink needs a break, head coach Tara VanDerveer subs in one of only eight women in college basketball history to dunk.
That’s one indication of the depth and strength of Stanford, the defending national champion.
VanDerveer is not going to say this now, because it would be jinx-worthy even if she believed it to be true, but this just might be the best Stanford team ever. Better, maybe, than last season’s team. Better maybe than the two previous national championship teams.
But before we dive into that thesis, let’s not short-shrift Belibi’s seismic slam. It happened midway through the second quarter. Belibi, defending on the perimeter, blocked a Montana State 3-point attempt, grabbed the ball and headed down the right side and directly to Stanford’s hoop, just ahead of the Montana State posse.
The crowd stirred, knowing what might happen. Belibi took off from the right low block, palmed the ball in her right hand without using her left hand, and slammed.
Maples Pavilion and the Stanford bench erupted in celebration. The Cardinal women draw inspiration from Belibi’s dunks, not uncommon in practice, which signify a power that elevates the already-mighty Stanford to a higher plane.
A slam-dunker coming off the bench is only one problem posed by Stanford. The team is deep and balanced, with no glaring weakness. Friday, the Cardinal simply destroyed the overmatched Bobcats, taking a 23-0 lead (not a typo) before Montana State scored in the second (also not a typo) quarter. The Cardinal even have another player capable of dunking, 6-3 freshman Kiki Iriafen, who averages only 6.7 minutes per game.
If opponents want to worry about a Stanford center embarrassing them, the worrying starts with 6-4 sophomore Brink. Friday night, Brink blocked the first two Montana State shot attempts, then went downcourt and scored inside. And sorry, you upcoming Stanford opponents: while Brink is impressive with her shot-blocking and rim protection, when VanDerveer talks about her team’s defense, Brink does not get top billing.
“Our defensive tone is set by Lacie (Hull), Lexie (Hull) and Anna Wilson,” VanDerveer said. “Those three get after it defensively. Usually, like in practice, when those three are together, that team will win.”
Friday’s game proved nothing, other than that Stanford apparently isn’t taking anything for granted in its quest to repeat as champions. And, that the Cardinal will have to clean up a ragged offense and sloppy ballhandling when they move up to better competition. Next up is eighth-seeded Kansas on Sunday.
Still, the possibility looms that this is VanDerveer’s best squad. Stanford lost only one starter from last year’s team, and the Cardinal are a year older and battle-tested. They’ve won 21 games in a row.
Stanford has been to the Final Four 14 times, including
eight trips there in the past 14 seasons. So calling this edition of the Cardinal the best ever would require extensive debate.
But if you’re looking for a sign, Belibi’s dunk might work for you.
And regardless of what happens from here on out, this NCAA Tournament is already Stanford’s, and VanDerveer’s.
This is the first women’s tourney to be officially called March Madness. That’s one of the upgrades — some purely cosmetic — that have come as a result of last year’s equality controversy, touched off when
Stanford conditioning coach Ali Kershner posted a photo of the woeful workout room at the women’s bubble.
As for VanDerveer, she announced going into the tourney that she would donate $10 to a Ukrainian humanitarian fund for every 3-pointer made in the entire women’s tourney. Her tab hit $2,300 by Friday night, and should get up around the $20,000 mark, and VanDerveer may have started a landslide.
Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortner, who was an assistant to VanDerveer on the ’96 U.S. Olympic team, matched VanDerveer’s pledge.
“I have heard from several coaches, and reporters, men’s coaches from up in Portland, Pac-12 coaches, Randy Bennett at St. Mary’s, Nell Fortner, fans,” VanDerveer said. “People are excited. We’re loving the NCAA Tournament, we’re loving March Madness, but to think that maybe we could just make a difference for some people would be great.”
Let the movement spread. How about a kick-in from some of those mega-salary men’s coaches who light their cigars with the amount of money Bennett and VanDerveer make?
VanDerveer’s dream: Over the next two weeks, her own players will bankrupt her. She’ll be the happiest woman in the poorhouse.