STANFORD, Calif. - No. 4/5 Stanford hits the road for its first away game since Jan. 8 as it travels to Eugene to face Oregon Friday night at 6 p.m. Friday night's contest, a chance for Tara VanDerveer to claim her 400th Pac-12 victory, will be televised on Pac-12 Network Bay Area with Ann Schatz and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude calling the action. Fans can also catch the action on 90.1 KZSU with Chris Fitzgerald on the call.
Last Time Out
Stanford ended the month of January with a 69-56 victory over No. 20/23 Colorado Sunday, upping its Pac-12 record to 7-1 and remaining in a tie atop the conference table. Chiney Ogwumike wrapped up what would be a Pac-12 Player of the Week-winning weekend with her 15th double-double, scoring 20 points with 12 rebounds against the Buffaloes. Joslyn Tinkle also capped a big weekend, scoring 16 points for the second straight game to go with five rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Toni Kokenis matched her season high with 15 points to go with five assists while Amber Orrange scored 10 points with three assists and four steals.
About Oregon
Oregon (3-17, 1-7 Pac-12) earned its first Pac-12 win of the season last Friday, defeating Washington State 70-68 in Pullman. Head coach Paul Westhead is in his fourth year at the Oregon helm and oversees a team led by freshman Jillian Alleyne (14.0 ppg, 12.9 rpg) and Ariel Thomas (10.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg).
Against Oregon
Stanford leads the all-time series with Oregon by a 45-8 margin and has won 15 straight against the Ducks dating back to Feb. 24, 2005.
Stanford In The National Polls
Stanford rose to No. 4 in this week's Associated Press Poll and to No. 5 in the USA Today Sports Coaches' Poll.
In The Pac-12 Statistics
Through Jan. 27, Stanford ranked in the top three of 12 statistical categories amongst Pac-12 schools: scoring defense (53.0 ppg - first), scoring margin (+16.8 - first), field-goal percentage (47.3 - first), field-goal percentage defense (32.3 - first), 3-point field-goal percentage defense (24.2 - first), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.09 - first), free-throw percentage (71.3 - second), blocked shots (4.90 bpg - second), scoring offense (69.8 ppg - third), rebounding defense (33.5 rpg - third), rebounding margin (+8.1 - third) and defensive rebounds (29.8 drpg - third). Individually, Chiney Ogwumike leads the conference in scoring (22.0 ppg), is second in rebounding (12.0 rpg) and field-goal percentage (58.6), and fourth with an 80.8 free-throw percentage. Senior forward Joslyn Tinkle is sixth in the conference with a 52.1 field-goal percentage and a 35.5 3-point field-goal percentage, and third with 1.90 blocks per game. Amber Orrange is fourth in the Pac-12 with a 1.35 assist-to-turnover ratio and sixth with 3.85 assists per game..
In the National Statistics
Through the latest national statistical update (through Jan. 27), Stanford ranked in the top 20 of five categories: field-goal percentage defense (32.3 - fourth), 3-point field-goal defense (24.2 - fourth), turnovers per game (12.5 - fifth), field-goal percentage (47.3 - fifth) and scoring margin (+16.8 - 18th). Chiney Ogwumike is the only player to rank in the national top 10 in scoring (22.0 ppg - sixth), rebounding (12.0 rpg - seventh) and field-goal percentage (58.6 - seventh) in addition to ranking fourth with 15 double-doubles.
VanDerveer Goes For Pac-12 Win No. 400 Friday
Friday night's contest at Oregon could be historic for Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketball Tara VanDerveer as a win would be the 400th in Pac-12 play. Heading into this weekend VanDerveer owns a Pac-12 record of 399-59 (.871) and has led the Cardinal to 20 conference titles including the past 12 in a row.
While Stanford owns a Pac-12 record of 417-59, 18 of those victories belong to associate head coach Amy Tucker and Marianne Stanley, who served as interim head coach and co-head coach, respectively, in 1995-96 while VanDerveer was on sabbatical and coaching the U.S. Olympic Team.
Ogwumike Claims National, Pac-12 Player Of The Week Honors Chiney Ogwumike claimed a pair of weekly honors after last weekend's outing against Utah and No. 20/23 Colorado, being named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday then claiming USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week honor Tuesday. She captured the honors thanks to a weekend effort in which she averaged 21.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.50 blocks while shooting 61.5 percent from the field. She also posted her 14th and 15th double-doubles and 20-point games of the season. Monday's Pac-12 honor, the fourth of the season for Ogwumike, was also the seventh of her career, putting her just two back of all-time Pac-12 and Stanford leaders (with nine apiece) Candice Wiggins (2004-08) and Jayne Appel (2006-10).
Stanford's Success Against Top-25 Teams
Sunday's 69-56 victory over No. 20/23 Colorado marked its seventh win over a Top-25 team (ranked in at least one of the two major polls at the time of meeting) in 2012-13. The contest against the Buffaloes was Stanford's ninth game this regular season against a Top-25 team, matching the total of the 2008-09 campaign. The highest amount of Top-25 teams Stanford has faced in a regular season (excluding NCAA Tournament games) is 10, occurring in 1997-98 and 1998-99. The Cardinal went 6-4 against those 10 ranked teams in 1997-98 then posted a record of 4-6 the following season.
Stanford could eclipse that mark this year, as it still has one more regular-season matchup left at No. 18/20 UCLA on Feb. 17 and more than likely will face at least one of the Pac-12's other three ranked teams (California, UCLA, Colorado) at the Pac-12 Tournament from March 7-10.
Stanford Still No. 1 In RPI Rankings
The NCAA released the latest 2012-13 RPI rankings Jan. 28 and for the fourth straight week Stanford holds the No. 1 spot on the list. The Cardinal's top spot in the RPI rankings can be attributed to its 18-2 start to the season in the face of a challenging schedule, and chiefly to its 11-0 record away from home. Out of those 11 wins away from home, five came against Top-25 opponents (No. 1/1 Baylor, No. 21/17 South Carolina, No. 10/11 Tennessee, No. 20/25 Colorado, No. 7/7 California).
Ogwumike Thrives Against Top-25 Competition
Junior forward and consensus national player of the year candidate Chiney Ogwumike played her ninth game of the season against a Top-25 team in Sunday's 69-56 win over No. 20/23 Colorado. So far this season, in which Ogwumike is in the national top seven in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage, and third with 15 double-doubles, she has turned up her performance over the nine games against Top-25 teams, averaging 20.8 points and 11.8 rebounds while shooting 54.0 percent.
Something About Those Mountain Schools
In what has officially become a trend, senior forward and Missoula, Mont. native Joslyn Tinkle enjoyed another fine weekend against the Pac-12's mountain-area schools, Utah and No. 20/23 Colorado. Tinkle scored 16 points in each Stanford win, averaging 6.5 rebounds and 2.00 blocks while shooting 65.0 percent (13-for-20) from the field. Over four games this year against the two schools, Tinkle has averaged 14.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and shot 60.5 percent (23-for-38) as the Cardinal swept the season series against each team.
Kokenis Finds The Zone
Stanford's Second City Sparkplug, the native of Chicago suburb Oak Brook, Ill., Toni Kokenis, found her groove again this past weekend, averaging 10.5 points, 2.00 steals and 2.50 assists against Utah and No. 20/23 Colorado. For the weekend, Kokenis went 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from the field including a 3-for-4 showing from behind the arc and a season high-matching 15 points in Sunday's 69-56 win over the Buffaloes. Starting at point guard Sunday, Kokenis ran the Cardinal offense and passed out five assists, opening up opportunities for her teammates.
Tut, Tut, Looks Like 3s
Stanford's shooting from behind the arc has shown signs of coming alive as the Cardinal has gone 20-for-47 (42.6 percent) on those attempts over the past two weeks. Joslyn Tinkle, who made all seven of her 3-point attempts two weeks ago against USC and No. 14/15 UCLA, stretched her streak to eight in a row Friday against Utah and went 2-for-4 overall. Over the last four games she is 9-for-14 (64.2 percent) from behind the arc, while Sunday against No. 20/23 Colorado Toni Kokenis went 3-for-4 and Bonnie Samuelson 2-for-5 to spark the Cardinal.
Orrange Responds
Although she opened Sunday's game against No. 20/23 Colorado on the bench for the first time this season, sophomore point guard Amber Orrange kept her head up and was a key factor in Stanford's 69-56 win. Playing 36 minutes off the bench, Orrange went 5-for-10 from the field for 10 points and passed out three assists to boost the Cardinal offense. Yet her contributions were also felt on the other side of the court, as the Houston native made four steals against the Buffaloes and led a harassing defensive effort that forced 18 turnovers. On the year, Orrange leads the Cardinal with 77 assists and has shot 47.9 percent from the field, including 53.2 percent over the first eight Pac-12 contests.
Opponents Still Not Passing The 70 Barrier
Sunday's 69-56 win over No. 20/23 Colorado was Stanford's program-record 38th straight game in which it held an opponent to under 70 points. The last Stanford opponent to break the 70-point barrier was California last Jan. 28 in the Cardinal's 74-71 overtime win at Maples Pavilion. The next longest streak of opponents not scoring 70 points in Cardinal history is 20 games, from Feb. 14, 2003 to Dec. 18, 2004. This current run is a large part of the Cardinal's 53.0 points allowed per game which is second-best in the Pac-12 and on pace to break the program record of 53.9 points allowed per game set in 2009-10.
Ogwumike Named To John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 Chiney Ogwumike was named to the John R. Wooden Award's Midseason Top 20 Tuesday, marking her second straight appearance on the midseason list. The consensus national player of the year candidate is the only player in the country to rank in the top 10 nationally in scoring (22.0 ppg - seventh), rebounding (11.9 rpg - sixth) and field-goal percentage (58.3 - eighth). Ogwumike has also saved some of her best performances for Top-25 teams, averaging 20.9 points, 11.8 rebounds and shooting 52.3 percent from the field and 82.1 percent from the line as Stanford as gone 6-2 against ranked teams this season.
Road Warriors
Jan. 8's win in Berkeley brought the Stanford's record away from home this season to an impressive 11-0. Those 11 victories include nine true road wins combined with a pair of neutral-court victories in Honolulu over Baylor (Nov. 16) and Tennessee-Martin (Nov. 18). Stanford's 11 victories away from home are also tops in the nation through Jan. 22. With 11 wins away from home already in hand, Stanford has a chance to eclipse the program record of 20 (Pac-12/Pac-10 Tournament and NCAA Tournament games included) set in 2007-08.
