Jan. 4, 2012

Game #13

No. 4/4 Stanford Cardinal (11-1, 2-0 Pac-12)

- vs. -

Oregon Ducks (9-5, 1-1 Pac-12)

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 - 7 p.m. PT
Maples Pavilion (7,329) - Stanford, Calif.
Series History: Stanford leads 43-8
Last Meeting: Feb. 26, 2011 (Stanford 99, Oregon 60) - Stanford, Calif.
TV: None
Webcast: Stanford All-Access
Radio: 90.1 KZSU (P-x-P: Sam Fisher, Analyst: Joe Lami)

Game Notes vs. Oregon

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford returns to Maples Pavilion for its home opening weekend of the Pac-12 season, hosting the Oregon Ducks Thursday night for a 7 p.m. tip. The weekend will conclude with a 2 p.m. contest Saturday afternoon against Oregon State. Thursday's contest will be webcast on www.gostanford.com's All-Access, and will be available on 90.1 KZSU with Sam Fisher and Joe Lami on the call.

Last Time Out
The Cardinal finished off a sweep of the Southern California schools on New Year's Eve, ending 2011 with a 77-50 rout of UCLA. The Ogwumike sisters each posted a double-double in the win, with older sister Nnemkadi going for 18 points and 10 rebounds and younger sister Chiney going 7-for-12 from the field for 15 points with 11 rebounds. Sophomore guard Toni Kokenis turned in another efficient outing, scoring 11 points with four rebounds and three assists. Reserve posts Joslyn Tinkle (nine points, four rebounds) and Sarah Boothe (eight points, three rebounds) and guards Amber Orrange (six points, five assists) and Sara James (seven points, two rebounds) all made big contributions off the bench. As a team, the Cardinal shot 51.5 percent from the field (34-for-66) while passing out 19 assists.

Scouting Oregon
Oregon (9-5, 1-1 Pac-12) split its opening weekend of Pac-12 play in Eugene, falling 75-47 Thursday night to Washington State then bouncing back with a come-from-behind 88-86 victory over Washington Saturday afternoon. With Paul Westhead in his third season at the Oregon helm, the Ducks are led by the play of Jasmin Holliday (16.1 ppg, 8.3 rpg) and Nia Jackson (10.4 ppg, 4.15 apg).

All-Time Against Oregon
Stanford leads the all-time series against Oregon, 43-8, and has won 13 straight against the Ducks. The Cardinal is 24-1 at home against Oregon, with the sole loss coming on March 5, 1987.

Stanford In The Polls
Stanford remained at No. 4 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Polls this week.

In The Pac-12 Statistical Rankings
Through games of Dec. 31, Stanford ranks in the Pac-12's top three in: scoring (81.6 ppg - first), scoring margin (+23.3 - first), field goal percentage (47.6 - first), assists (18.25 apg - first), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.36 - first), free-throw percentage (71.6 - second), 3-point field-goal percentage defense (24.4 - second), rebounding (47.8 - second), rebounding margin (+15.4 - second), offensive rebounding (17.5 rpg - second), offensive rebound percentage (46.5 - second), defensive rebounding (30.3 - second) and rebounding defense (32.3 - third).

Individually, Nnemkadi Ogwumike leads the conference with 23.0 points and 11.3 rebounds per game and Chiney Ogwumike is third with 9.6 rebounds per game. Nneka also ranks second in free-throw percentage (82.5) and fourth in field-goal percentage (60.9). Sophomore Toni Kokenis leads the conference with a 2.67 assist-to-turnover ratio.

In The National Statistical Rankings
Through games of Jan. 1, Stanford ranks in the national top 20 in: rebounding margin (+15.4 - fourth), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.36 - fourth), scoring (81.6 - sixth), field-goal percentage (47.6 - eighth), scoring margin (+23.3 - 13th), assists (18.25 - ninth), turnovers per game (13.4 - 12th).

Individually, Nnemkadi Ogwumike is sixth in the country with 23.0 points per game, seventh with a 60.9 field-goal percentage and seventh with 11.3 rebounds a game. Sophomore guard Toni Kokenis (2.67) is ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio.

I Love L.A.!
The Cardinal women have made Los Angeles their stomping ground in the past few years, following this past weekend's sweep of USC and UCLA. Since being on the wrong side of a sweep in L.A. during the 2007-08 season, Stanford has bounced back to win 14 straight games in Tinseltown. Including last weekend's wins, the Cardinal has now swept USC and UCLA in Southern California in each of the past four seasons, and on top of that has won all six Pac-10 Tournament games it has played in the city since the event was moved to Los Angeles in 2009.

One Of The Nation's All-Around Best
Senior forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike continued her national player of the year-worthy campaign with more strong efforts in Stanford's L.A. sweep. Ogwumike posted her sixth and seventh double-doubles in the wins over USC and UCLA, going for 19 points and 15 rebounds against the Trojans before registering 18 points and 10 rebounds in a New Year's Eve win over the Bruins. The two-time All-American also went 9-for-10 (.900) from the free-throw line over the weekend to raise her free-throw percentage to 82.5, good for second in the Pac-12. Currently, Ogwumike leads the Pac-12 in scoring (23.0 ppg), rebounding (11.3 ppg), is second in free-throw percentage and fourth in field-goal percentage (60.9). On a national scale, she is the only player ranked in the NCAA top 10 in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage through Jan. 1.

Ogwumike Set To Join A Prominent Club
With 18 more rebounds this weekend, Nnemkadi Ogwumike will bring her career total to 1,000, making her just the fifth player in Stanford history to reach that number. She will join Kayla Pedersen (1,266), Jayne Appel (1,263), Nicole Powell (1,143) and Val Whiting (1,134) in Stanford's "1,000 Rebound Club."

Kokenis Continues Her Breakout Year
Sophomore guard Toni Kokenis may hail from the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Ill., but she saves up some of her best performances for another big city, Los Angeles. After a 17-point performance that sparked the Cardinal's come-from-behind win in last season's Pac-10 Tournament final at L.A.'s Staples Center, Stanford's Second City Sparkplug picked up right where she left off last weekend, averaging 13.0 points, 2.00 assists and 2.00 steals against just one turnover. In six career games in Los Angeles, Kokenis is averaging 10.5 points, 1.50 assists and 1.80 steals per game while shooting 54.2 percent (26-for-48) from the field.

Another 2-0 Start To Conference Play
Stanford's weekend sweep of the Los Angeles-area schools marked the sixth straight season in which the Cardinal has opened the conference season 2-0. Over the previous five seasons in which the Cardinal began conference play with a pair of wins, Stanford has accumulated a record of 86-4 in conference play. The Cardinal also continued its streak of conference regular-season titles, which currently stands at 11 entering 2011-12. The last time that Stanford failed to begin the conference season 2-0 was 2005-06, when, after defeating Washington State in its opener, Stanford fell 77-72 at Washington on Dec. 22, 2005.

Fine Bounce-Back Effort
While Stanford showed some rust last Thursday at USC in its first game back since Dec. 22, scoring just 61 points on 37.9-percent shooting (both the second-lowest single-game totals so far this season), it bounced back strong Saturday at UCLA. Against the Bruins, the Cardinal shot 51.5 percent from the field (34-for-66) and put up 40 first-half points en route to the 77-50 victory. Stanford also improved on the boards, grabbing 49 rebounds and limiting UCLA to just 27 two days after USC had managed 40 boards against the Cardinal. In terms of efficiency, the Cardinal also increased its assist output to 19 from 11.

More Ogwumike Double-Doubles
Sophomore forward Chiney Ogwumike, the younger half of Stanford's sibling combo, was not to be overshadowed in Los Angeles last weekend. Chiney matched older sister Nnemkadi Ogwumike with a pair of double-doubles of her own. Thursday at USC, Chiney scored 12 points with 13 rebounds, followed by a 15-point, 11-rebound effort Saturday at UCLA. For the weekend, Chiney averaged 13.5 points and 12.0 rebounds and shot a combined 61.1 percent (11-for-18) from the field.

If You Want To Throw Down In Fisticuffs I've Got Joslyn Tinkle And Sarah Boothe Right Here!
Reserve posts Joslyn Tinkle and Sarah Boothe showed once again over the weekend why they form one of, if not the best post duos in the nation coming off the bench. After seeing limited minutes Thursday at USC, the duo helped the Cardinal pound UCLA inside in Saturday's 77-50 win. Tinkle, who is averaging 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds over 16.7 minutes a game this year, went 4-for-7 from the field for nine points and grabbed four rebounds. Boothe, meanwhile, went 4-for-5 for eight points and pulled down three boards, bring her season totals to 4.5 points and 2.8 rebounds over 12.9 minutes a game.