[Viking_Guy]

A tale of two halves, or halftime adjustment.  Or maybe just a tale of a truly ugly 7 minutes.  Stanford ran away after only leading by 2 late in the first half to put away a game Wildcat team.  From about the 2:00 minute mark until 6 minutes into the second half, Stanford went on a 17-2 run to push a 36-33 lead to 53-35.

The best news?  A healthy Nneka Ogwumike.  Actually, beyond healthy.  How about unconscious at points?  24 pts, 8 rebs, 2 blocks, and an array of moves to the hoop that overwhelmed Arizona.

The game started Stanford\'s way, as they scored the first 9 points out of the gate, capped by another 3 by Lindy LaRocque, whose shooting is really starting to come around with her starting in the backcourt combined with an unforced rhythm to her shot; instead of forcing the ball up trying to score in limited time, she\'s letting the shots come to her, especially of the kickouts and reverses when opponents get caught down in the post.

But then the Wildcats, who have had a solid preseason and currently are #40 in the RPI, showed some grit.  With leading scorers Ify Ibekwe and Davellyn White being checked, complementary and bench players stepped up and began to hit jumpers, drive and dish, and generally confound a Stanford gameplan that had been predicated on especially Ibekwe.  Because they were getting balanced scoring, Stanford\'s defense looked a bit vulnerable, beginning at around the 10 minute mark in the first half with Stanford holding a 24-12 lead.

Wildcats Taylor Dalrymple and Shanita Arnold hit two 3s to bookend a Ibekwe layup, and while Stanford was missing jumpers and turning the ball over, the lead shrank to 27-24 when Dalrymple hit a jumper with 6 minutes left in the half.  6 straight for Nneka on a variety of moves inside pushed it back out to 33-24, but a transition and a drive and dish led to layups, and Reiko Thomas hit another 3 to cut it to 33-31.

I\'m not sure exactly what changed at that point.  Maybe the driving layup woke Stanford up defensively.  Maybe Arizona\'s secondary scorers looked up, saw they were close and tightened up.  Or maybe Jeanette Pohlen\'s step back 3 off an offensive rebound of another missed 3 just lit a spark.  Whatever the case, a transition layup to make it 36-33 was the last basket of the half for the Wildcats, and FTs from Kayla and another layup from Nneka provided the Cardinal with a 40-33 halftime lead.

First half: Nneka 14 points, 5 rebs, while Chiney and Kayla chipped in 8 boards apiece as Stanford outrebounded Arizona 31-17, which was why I was shocked the halftime lead wasn\'t bigger - it wasn\'t as if Stanford shot particularly poorly or UofA shot particularly well, and to only lead by 7.  Stanford also only turned the ball over 1 more time than the Wildcats, but only put up 6 more shots.  All in all, a strange half.

Which was why the second half was much more satisfying.  A 3 pointer by Pohlen immediately pushed it out to 10.  Ibekwe put in an offensive board off a lucky bounce from a Pedersen block, but the Cardinal would score 10 straight points inside from Pedersen and the Ogwumikes to push it out to 53-35, as Arizona came out and made only 1 of their first 13 shots in the half.  A lot of that was defensive adjustments, especially on the perimeter (the Wildcats went 4-14 from 3 in the first half, but 0-6 in the second).

And then Arizona seemed to fold a bit, and Stanford started to have a fastbreak layup line.  The Wildcats kept trying to contest for offensive rebounds, and kept getting burned by odd-player transition opportunities.  In quick succession Nneka, Pedersen and Pohlen hit transition layups, and when Jeanette then converted an and-1 chance off two consecutive offensive boards, the Cardinal led 66-41 and it was time to see what the subs could do.

What has been really nice this season is that the subs are continuing to expand leads, even with the end of the bench in late.  Tinkle hit a 3 and a couple of FTs, and in a good sign Sara James hit a driving layup and a shooter\'s roll 3-pointer from the wing.  The evening wrapped up on another good note, as Mikaela Ruef, Sarah Boothe and Ashley Cimino all got good looks at the basket off nice passes to knock down layups.

Beyond Nneka\'s great game, Stanford got double figures from Jeanette, Chiney and Kayla, and everyone who played scored, with the exception of Grace, who had some nice assists late.  

The difference?  Well, after letting Arizona shoot 40% in the first half, Stanford held them to 28% in the second, and as I mentioned 0-6 from 3.  And aided by their transition game, Stanford shot a stellar 70% (19-27).  That will expand a lead in a hurry.

So all in all, a great 33 minutes sandwiching a so-so 7 minutes.  Against a solid Pac-10 team.  Resulting in a 33 point win.  I\'ll take it, but we\'ll need to be more solid against ASU this weekend.  And I\'m definitely concerned about Stanford on the road - if they let ASU, UCLA or SC hang around down only 4-6 at halftime, look out.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

A tale of two halves, or halftime adjustment.  Or maybe just a tale of a truly ugly 7 minutes.  Stanford ran away after only leading by 2 late in the first half to put away a game Wildcat team.  From about the 2:00 minute mark until 6 minutes into the second half, Stanford went on a 17-2 run to push a 36-33 lead to 53-35.

The best news?  A healthy Nneka Ogwumike.  Actually, beyond healthy.  How about unconscious at points?  24 pts, 8 rebs, 2 blocks, and an array of moves to the hoop that overwhelmed Arizona.

The game started Stanford\'s way, as they scored the first 9 points out of the gate, capped by another 3 by Lindy LaRocque, whose shooting is really starting to come around with her starting in the backcourt combined with an unforced rhythm to her shot; instead of forcing the ball up trying to score in limited time, she\'s letting the shots come to her, especially of the kickouts and reverses when opponents get caught down in the post.

But then the Wildcats, who have had a solid preseason and currently are #40 in the RPI, showed some grit.  With leading scorers Ify Ibekwe and Davellyn White being checked, complementary and bench players stepped up and began to hit jumpers, drive and dish, and generally confound a Stanford gameplan that had been predicated on especially Ibekwe.  Because they were getting balanced scoring, Stanford\'s defense looked a bit vulnerable, beginning at around the 10 minute mark in the first half with Stanford holding a 24-12 lead.

Wildcats Taylor Dalrymple and Shanita Arnold hit two 3s to bookend a Ibekwe layup, and while Stanford was missing jumpers and turning the ball over, the lead shrank to 27-24 when Dalrymple hit a jumper with 6 minutes left in the half.  6 straight for Nneka on a variety of moves inside pushed it back out to 33-24, but a transition and a drive and dish led to layups, and Reiko Thomas hit another 3 to cut it to 33-31.

I\'m not sure exactly what changed at that point.  Maybe the driving layup woke Stanford up defensively.  Maybe Arizona\'s secondary scorers looked up, saw they were close and tightened up.  Or maybe Jeanette Pohlen\'s step back 3 off an offensive rebound of another missed 3 just lit a spark.  Whatever the case, a transition layup to make it 36-33 was the last basket of the half for the Wildcats, and FTs from Kayla and another layup from Nneka provided the Cardinal with a 40-33 halftime lead.

First half: Nneka 14 points, 5 rebs, while Chiney and Kayla chipped in 8 boards apiece as Stanford outrebounded Arizona 31-17, which was why I was shocked the halftime lead wasn\'t bigger - it wasn\'t as if Stanford shot particularly poorly or UofA shot particularly well, and to only lead by 7.  Stanford also only turned the ball over 1 more time than the Wildcats, but only put up 6 more shots.  All in all, a strange half.

Which was why the second half was much more satisfying.  A 3 pointer by Pohlen immediately pushed it out to 10.  Ibekwe put in an offensive board off a lucky bounce from a Pedersen block, but the Cardinal would score 10 straight points inside from Pedersen and the Ogwumikes to push it out to 53-35, as Arizona came out and made only 1 of their first 13 shots in the half.  A lot of that was defensive adjustments, especially on the perimeter (the Wildcats went 4-14 from 3 in the first half, but 0-6 in the second).

And then Arizona seemed to fold a bit, and Stanford started to have a fastbreak layup line.  The Wildcats kept trying to contest for offensive rebounds, and kept getting burned by odd-player transition opportunities.  In quick succession Nneka, Pedersen and Pohlen hit transition layups, and when Jeanette then converted an and-1 chance off two consecutive offensive boards, the Cardinal led 66-41 and it was time to see what the subs could do.

What has been really nice this season is that the subs are continuing to expand leads, even with the end of the bench in late.  Tinkle hit a 3 and a couple of FTs, and in a good sign Sara James hit a driving layup and a shooter\'s roll 3-pointer from the wing.  The evening wrapped up on another good note, as Mikaela Ruef, Sarah Boothe and Ashley Cimino all got good looks at the basket off nice passes to knock down layups.

Beyond Nneka\'s great game, Stanford got double figures from Jeanette, Chiney and Kayla, and everyone who played scored, with the exception of Grace, who had some nice assists late.  

The difference?  Well, after letting Arizona shoot 40% in the first half, Stanford held them to 28% in the second, and as I mentioned 0-6 from 3.  And aided by their transition game, Stanford shot a stellar 70% (19-27).  That will expand a lead in a hurry.

So all in all, a great 33 minutes sandwiching a so-so 7 minutes.  Against a solid Pac-10 team.  Resulting in a 33 point win.  I\'ll take it, but we\'ll need to be more solid against ASU this weekend.  And I\'m definitely concerned about Stanford on the road - if they let ASU, UCLA or SC hang around down only 4-6 at halftime, look out.

VG