Feb. 2, 2013

Game #22

No. 4/5 Stanford Cardinal (19-2, 8-1 Pac-12)

- at -

Oregon State Beavers (9-12, 3-6 Pac-12)

Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013 - 2 p.m. PT
Gill Coliseum (10,400) - Corvallis, Ore.

Series History: Stanford leads 49-6
Last Meeting: Feb. 16, 2012 (Stanford 78, Oregon State 45) - Corvallis, Ore.
TV: Pac-12 Networks (P-x-P: Ann Schatz, Analyst: Kyndra St. de Aubin)
Webcast: None
Radio: 90.1 KZSU (P-x-P: Chris Fitzgerald)

Game Notes vs. Oregon State

STANFORD, Calif. - No. 4/5 Stanford closes its weekend in Oregon on Super Sunday with a 2 p.m. meeting at Oregon State. Sunday's contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Network with Ann Schatz and Kyndra St. de Aubin calling the action. Fans can also catch the action on 90.1 KZSU with Chris Fitzgerald on the call.

Last Time Out
In its first road game since Jan. 8 Stanford used fast starts in the opening minutes of each half to create space and defeat Oregon 86-62. Nine Cardinal players contributed points to the win, led by Chiney Ogwumike's 22 points, which, along with 13 rebounds accounted for her 16th double-double this season. Joslyn Tinkle continued her solid form of late, scoring 16 points with six rebounds and making four steals in a fine defensive effort. Sara James hit a trio of treys, scoring 11 points while Taylor Greenfield and Bonnie Samuelson each hit a pair as Stanford would end up with 10 triples on the day. Point guard Amber Orrange handled the lion's share of orchestrating the Cardinal offense, finishing the game with nine points and nine assists as Stanford accumulated a season-high 25 assists on 32 field goals.

About Oregon State
Oregon State (9-12, 3-6 Pac-12) enters Sunday's game on a three-game slide, most recently dropping a 60-38 decision to California Friday night. Head coach Scott Rueck, in his third year at the Oregon State helm, oversees a squad led by the play of Jamie Weisner (12.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Ali Gibson (9.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg).

Against Oregon State
Stanford leads the all-time series with Oregon State, 49-6, and has captured the past 25 meetings with the Beavers. Oregon State's last win in the series came Jan. 11, 2001, an 81-65 decision in Corvallis.

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 Feb. 1, Stanford ranked in the top three of 11 statistical categories amongst Pac-12 schools: scoring defense (53.4 ppg - first), scoring margin (+17.1 - first), field-goal percentage (47.1 - first), field-goal percentage defense (32.1 - first), 3-point field-goal percentage defense (24.1 - first), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.15 - first), scoring offense (70.6 ppg - second), free-throw percentage (71.0 - second), blocked shots (5.00 bpg - second), rebounding defense (34.1 rpg - third) and defensive rebounds (29.9 drpg - third). Individually, Chiney Ogwumike leads the conference in scoring (22.0 ppg), field-goal percentage (59.0) and double-doubles (16), is second in rebounding (12.0 rpg) and third with an 80.0 free-throw percentage. Senior forward Joslyn Tinkle is fifth in the conference with a 35.4 3-point field-goal percentage, sixth with a 51.1 field-goal percentage and second with 1.91 blocks per game. Amber Orrange is fourth in the Pac-12 with a 1.46 assist-to-turnover ratio and fifth with 4.10 assists per game.

VanDerveer The First To 400 Conference Wins
Friday's 86-62 win at Oregon gave Stanford's Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketball Tara VanDerveer the 400th Pac-12 win of her career, making her the first Division I head coach to reach the 400-win mark in a single conference. In the midst of her 27th season on The Farm, VanDerveer now owns a record of 400-59 against the Pac-12 and has captured 20 conference titles.

Stanford, in fact, owns a Pac-12 record of 418-59 following Friday's win at Oregon. Those 18 victories over the 400-win mark 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.

Keeping An Eye On The Bye
Friday's game in Eugene marked the halfway point of the Pac-12 season, with Sunday's contest beginning the downhill run towards the regular-season finish line. With nine games remaining until the Pac-12 Tournament, set for March 7-10 in Seattle, the Cardinal is in prime position to earn one of the opening-round byes reserved for the top four teams on the conference table. Stanford and California, tied atop the table with matching 8-1 records, are three games ahead of fifth-place USC (5-4) entering Sunday. This puts the Cardinal's magic number to clinch a first-round bye at the Pac-12 Tournament to seven, meaning any combination of Stanford wins and USC losses adding up to seven over the final nine games clinches a bye for Stanford.

Setting Season Highs In Eugene
The wide-open style of play in Friday's 86-62 win at Oregon led to the Cardinal updating a few of its season highs for 2012-13. Stanford set season-high marks for 3-pointers attempted with 27 while matching the mark for triples made with 10. The Cardinal had previously hit 10 3-pointers Nov. 25 against Long Beach State. Additional season highs set Friday night included field goals attempted (72) and assists (25) while another was matched with the Cardinal's 11 steals, equaling the total made at Santa Clara on Nov. 11.

Another 16 For Tinkle
One could not be blamed for making a connection between Joslyn Tinkle and the number 16, as the senior forward posted her third straight performance of 16 points Friday night in Eugene. Along with being her third straight 16-point game, Friday's effort was Tinkle's fourth over the past five games and sixth of the season. Friday, Tinkle went 7-for-15 from the field for her 16 points and played a great two-way game as well, setting a career high with four steals. This season the Missoula, Mont. native has enjoyed a career year, averaging 12.9 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 51.8 percent and leading the Cardinal with 40 blocks. Friday's 16 points also brought Tinkle's career scoring haul to 939 points, leaving her just 61 away from becoming Stanford's 34th member of the "1,000-Point Club."

Would You Like Fries With Your Double-Double?
Chiney Ogwumike posted her Pac-12-leading 16th double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds in Friday's 86-62 win at Oregon. The performance was also her 16th 20-point performance of 2012-13. The Cypress, Texas native is enjoying another All-America-worthy season, leading the Pac-12 in scoring (22.0 ppg) and field-goal percentage (59.0) while sitting second in rebounding (12.0 rpg). On the national level, Ogwumike is the only player to rank in the NCAA's top 10 in all three categories.

Good Passes Leading To Buckets
Sophomore point guard Amber Orrange returned to the starting lineup Friday in Eugene and orchestrated a masterful demonstration in efficiency by the Stanford offense. The Cardinal racked up 25 assists on 32 field goals in the contest, with Orrange handing out nine of the helpers. Toni Kokenis passed out five assists while Sara James and Erica Payne each had three to round out four Stanford players with at least three assists.

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 Jan. 27'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.

Hallelujah It's Rainin' 3s
Stanford's shooting from behind the arc has shown signs of coming alive as the Cardinal has gone 30-for-74 (40.5 percent) on those attempts over the past five games. Friday in Eugene the Cardinal matched its season high with 10 triples, led by three from Sara James and two apiece from Taylor Greenfield and Bonnie Samuelson. For Greenfield, the triples were her first since Dec. 2 at Gonzaga. Senior Joslyn Tinkle knocked down one of her three attempts Friday and is fifth in the Pac-12 with a 35.4 3-point field-goal percentage.

Opponents Still Not Passing The 70 Barrier
Friday's 86-62 win at Oregon was Stanford's program-record 39th 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 53.5 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.

Road Warriors
Friday's win in Eugene brought the Stanford's record away from home this season to an impressive 12-0. Those 12 victories include 10 true road wins combined with a pair of neutral-court victories in Honolulu over Baylor (Nov. 16) and Tennessee-Martin (Nov. 18). Stanford's 12 victories away from home are also tops in the nation through Feb. 2. With 12 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.