Tough workouts paid for Stanford’s Fingall
When Nadia Fingall joined a travel basketball team at age 11, it was clear she was serious about basketball. So her father, Andrew, an Air Force officer who played for Paul Westhead at George Mason University, started conducting workouts for her. At 5 a.m. She became a McDonald’s All-American at Choctawhatchee High in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and was the No. 27 prospect in the 2016 class, according to espnW HoopGurlz.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Fingall is a 6-foot-3 junior forward at Stanford. Her dad, now a major, is in Fairfax, Va. Nadia is using the discipline and dedication he taught her on the basketball court.
She rededicated herself to an offseason conditioning
program because she didn’t like her aerobic capacity last season, when she averaged 3.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in a reserve role. She averages 10.1 points and 5.3 rebounds now as a starter for the No. 11 Cardinal (6-1).
“We’re thrilled,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “She’s been making a lot of positive contributions.”
Fingall and fellow forwards Alanna Smith and Maya Dodson will have to hit the boards hard when Stanford takes on No. 3 Baylor (8-0) at noon Saturday at Maples Pavilion.
“Going into my junior year, I knew I had to make an impact” with Kaylee Johnson leaving via graduation, Fingall said. “We were losing a big leader, rebounder and screener, somebody who does a lot of the small things. I wanted to fill that spot.”
Like VanDerveer, Fingall grew up as the oldest child of four girls and a boy.
“You know she’s responsible,” VanDerveer said. “When her dad was on deployment (including twice to Afghanistan), she had to step up.”
Fingall was born in New Jersey, and her father’s career has taken the family to Arizona, Japan, south Florida, Los Angeles, northwest Florida and currently to the Washington, D.C., area.
Her father was a volunteer assistant coach with her high school team. “He taught us about the run-and-gun,” she said with a laugh. “That was my experience with Paul Westhead’s philosophy.”
She said she started beating her father in one-on-one games when she was 16. “We were doing full-court one-on-one,” she said. “He got a little tired.”
The Cardinal have had nearly two weeks to think about their 79-73 loss at Gonzaga on Dec. 2. They were down by 18 late in the third quarter before cutting it to three in the closing minutes.
Baylor has beaten No. 17 Arizona State 65-59 and No. 25 South Carolina 94-69, both on the road. The Bears lead the nation in rebound margin (20.9) and fieldgoal percentage (55.7).
Kalani Brown, a 6-7 senior center, averages 16.4 points and 6.7 rebounds. Lauren Cox, a 6-4 junior forward, gets 12.3 and 6.8, respectively, and NaLyssa Smith, a 6-2 freshman forward, 11.8 and 7.1. Juicy Landrum, a 5-8 junior guard, hits 44 percent of her three-point tries.
“We need to stop their game inside,” Fingall said. “They have great shooters, so we need to make sure we’re down and ready, like we should have focused on at Gonzaga, and boxing out and rebounding.”
Stanford is still without point guard Marta Sniezek and freshman guard/forward Lexie Hull because of injuries, and Smith and guard Kiana Williams have been bothered lately by ankle injuries.