Stanford, Cal get to dance in the NCAAs
Cal is headed across the country, Stanford is staying home, but both are playing in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
The two teams — the only Bay Area teams, men or women, invited to participate in March Madness — learned their fates Monday. The only surprise was that Stanford would be hosting the first two rounds at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (22-10), seeded fourth in the Lexington Regional, will play 13th- seeded Gonzaga (27-5) on Saturday at 3 p.m. If the Cardinal wins, it would play Monday for a spot in the Sweet 16 against either No. 5 Missouri (24-7) or No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast (30- 4). Cal has a rougher road. The Bears (21-10) are in the Albany Regional along with mighty Connecticut (32- 0) and also defending national champion South Carolina. In fact,
South Carolina (26- 6) stands to be the secondround opponent.
But first things first. The Bears (21-10) will play Virginia (18-13) on Friday at 2 p.m. Virginia is coached by Joanne Boyle, the former Cal coach who left Berkeley in 2011 after compiling a 137–64 record and resurrecting a program that had suffered 12 consecutive losing seasons.
Now Boyle could be coaching for her job at Virginia. This is the first time in her seven-year tenure that Virginia is going to the tournament. It’s also the first time in six years that Virginia had a winning record in the ACC. The Cavaliers finished 10- 8 after starting 8-1.
Cal finished strong, winning five of its last six games to complete its sixth 20-win season in seven years under Boyle’s successor, Lindsay Gottlieb. The Bears started 9-2, the only losses coming to UConn and Missouri, both tournament teams. They went 11-7 in the Pac-12 andwon a first-round game in the conference tournament.
Stanford finished strong too. The Cardinal won 19 of 21 games after starting 6- 6 and dropping out of the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since 2001.
Now they’re opening the tournament at home, just like old times, even though Stanford did not appear on the original list for host sites.
“It’s crazy thinking we were just sitting in the locker room and that’s the last bid that we’re watching that we’re going to play in,” said Stanford forward Kaylee Johnson, one of two seniors on the roster along with guard Brittany McPhee. “But we’re thrilled to be in the tournament, thrilled to be hosting.
“No one wants to stop playing their home court, so getting another opportunity to play in Maples is incredible.”
Playing the chalk, Stanford would face top- seed Louisville in the Sweet 16. VanDerveer, of course, is not looking past Gonzaga.
“They came in here last year and beat us,” said Tara VanDerveer, whose team lost on its home court 6863 to Gonzaga in November 2016. “So we know that we have our hands full.”