Oct. 30, 2012

Exhibition #1

No. 4/4 Stanford Cardinal (0-0)

- vs. -

Corban Warriors (0-0)

Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 - 7 p.m. PT
Maples Pavilion (7,329) - Stanford, Calif.

Series History: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A
Webcast: http://pac-12.com/live/gostanford.aspx
Radio: 90.1 KZSU

Game Notes vs. Corban

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford Women's Basketball, ranked fourth in both national polls, takes to the court for its first game action of 2012-13, playing an exhibition against Corban University Thursday at 7 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. The contest will be available on live stream at http://pac-12.com/live/gostanford.aspx.

Stanford Faces Another Top-Notch Slate
As is the norm, the Cardinal faces one of the toughest schedules in the nation in 2012-13 beginning Nov. 9 against Fresno State. The campaign includes matchups with eight NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, including national champion Baylor and fellow national semifinalist Connecticut. Stanford will face two NCAA Tournament teams at the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic from Nov. 16-18, taking on Baylor Nov. 16 and UT Martin Nov. 18, and will travel to SEC powers South Carolina (Dec. 19) and Tennessee (Dec. 22) before the Christmas holiday. The non-conference schedule, which also includes a trip to Gonzaga (Dec. 2), concludes Dec. 29 at Maples Pavilion with a highly-anticipated meeting between the Cardinal and the Connecticut Huskies on ESPNU.

About Corban
Corban University, located in Salem, Ore., opens the 2012-13 season ranked 14th in the NAIA Division II Preseason Poll. Last year the Warriors finished 24-8 overall and won its first outright Cascade Collegiate Conference title with a 15-3 mark. Corban returns three starters - senior Tess Bennett, senior Emily Tsugawa, and sophomore Tara Van Weerdhuizen - from 2011-12 and features six newcomers, including Gonzaga transfer Morgan Benedict.

Stanford Opens 2012-13 Ranked Fourth In Both National Polls
Stanford Women's Basketball checked in at No. 4 in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Top 25 Polls, which were released this week. The top five teams were the same in each poll, with Baylor being a unanimous No. 1 in both. Connecticut, Duke, Stanford and Maryland followed to make up the top five.

The announcements marked the fifth straight season in which the Cardinal women have opened a campaign ranked in the top five of both national polls. In last year's coaches' poll, Stanford opened fifth after having earned the No. 2 spot the previous three seasons, and in the AP poll the spots were the same except for a No. 3 ranking in the 2009-10 preseason poll.

Four of Stanford's 2012-13 opponents debuted in each poll. Along with Baylor (1, AP/1, Coaches) and Connecticut (2/2), Pac-12 rival California (13/15) and annual opponent Tennessee (20/16) were also in the preseason Top 25s.

Preseason Recognition For Ogwumike
Junior forward Chiney Ogwumike's All-America campaign in 2011-12 has springboarded her into national prominence ahead of the new season, as the ebullient Cardinal star was named an Associated Press Preseason All-American and to the 25-woman Wade Watch Preseason List for the Wade Trophy.

The younger half of Stanford's sibling combo in 2011-12, Chiney Ogwumike, had quite the season in 2011-12. Like older sister Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Chiney was named to the WBCA Coaches' All-America Team while also being a finalist for the Wade Trophy and the WBCA's Defensive Player of the Year award. Chiney averaged 15.0 points and 10.1 rebounds a game this year, in addition to ranking fourth nationally with a 58.3 field-goal percentage. In fact, Nnemkadi (22.5 ppg, 10.2 rpg) and Chiney became the just the fourth and fifth Cardinal players to average a double-double in a single season, joining Nicole Powell (2003-04), Jeanne Ruark (1979-80) and Kathy Murphy (1977-78).

In addition to the national honors, Chiney was also named to the All-Pac-12 Team and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team for the second year in a row, and became the second Stanford player to be named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.

Stanford Closes 2011-12 Season At The Final Four
Stanford Women's Basketball closed the 2011-12 season at the same place it closed out the previous four: at the Final Four. Despite the campaign coming to an end with a 59-47 loss to Baylor in the national semifinal, two steps short of a coveted national title, the Cardinal made history as one of just four programs to reach five consecutive Final Fours.

Regardless of the ending, the 2011-12 campaign, much like the previous four, was rich in accomplishments, records broken and moments created.

The Cardinal went 35-2 in 2011-12, a win total that ranks tied for second with the 2007-08 squad for most in program history. Stanford won its 12th consecutive, and 21st overall, Pac-12 regular season title with a perfect record of 18-0 in conference play. That marked the third straight perfect conference season for the Cardinal. Including three Pac-12 Tournament wins that clinched the program's sixth straight and ninth overall tournament crown, Stanford extended its winning streak against Pac-12 foes to 78 games.

Speaking of record streaks, Stanford also went 16-0 at Maples Pavilion in 2011-12, extending its program-record run to 79 straight wins at home. That run also doubles as the longest current home winning streak in the nation.

For just the second time in program history, Stanford boasted two WBCA Coaches' All-Americans, as sisters Nnemkadi and Chiney Ogwumike were named to the 10-player team. Sophomore guard Toni Kokenis was recognized on the All-Pac-12 Team, while rookies Taylor Greenfield and Amber Orrange were named Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honorable mention.

Replacing A Legend
Senior forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike posted one of the most dominant seasons in Stanford women's basketball history in 2011-12. Ogwumike set Stanford single-season benchmarks for points scored (809), scoring average (22.5 ppg), field goals made (307), free throws made (191) and attempted (230) while setting top-three marks in rebounds (368 - third) and rebounding average (10.2 rpg - second).

A consensus national player of the year finalist and All-American, Ogwumike was named Pac-12 Player of the Year for the second time in her career, and became the second Stanford player to be named the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award winner in April.

The Rise Of Tinkle
The 2011-12 season featured numerous breakout performances among the Cardinal, with one of those key efforts being that of junior forward Joslyn Tinkle. After having started just 12 games over her first two seasons on The Farm, then just two of Stanford's first 14 games of 2011-12, Tinkle broke into the starting lineup full-time in mid-January and never looked back. On the year the Missoula, Mont. native averaged 8.7 points and 5.4 rebounds a game while posting shooting percentages of 47.3/39.7/89.5 (FG/3-Pt. FG/FT) with a team-leading 47 blocks. Tinkle scored at least 20 points three times, while adding a pair of 19-point performances. Starting in place of an injured Nnemkadi Ogwumike in the season opener at Texas on Nov. 11, Tinkle went 6-for-10 from the field, scoring 14 points with six rebounds.

The junior forward continued her strong play during Stanford's NCAA Tournament run, averaging 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds a game (both ranking third on the team) while shooting 54.5 percent (18-for-33) from the field (second on the team) and a sizzling 52.6 percent (10-for-19) from 3-point range, tops on the squad. Defensively, Tinkle led the team with nine blocks during the tournament. She twice scored in double figures, netting 16 points in the first-round win over Hampton then going for 13 points and hitting three treys in the regional final win over Duke.

Big Second Year For The Second City Sparkplug
Another breakout performance for Stanford in 2011-12 came from sophomore guard Toni Kokenis, a native of the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook. After showing glimpses of her potential as a freshman a year ago, Kokenis nabbed a spot in the starting five as a sophomore and played up to the hype, leading the Pac-12 with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.28, leading the Cardinal with 132 assists and scoring 9.5 points per game. Kokenis' big year led to her being named to the All-Pac-12 Team for the first time in her career. Defensively, Kokenis was a boon for the Cardinal, using her speed and instincts to a team-leading 53 steals and leading the team with 1,121 minutes played. Kokenis recorded 16 double-digit scoring games, including a career-best 26 points in Stanford's 97-80 victory over then-No. 6/6 Tennessee at Maples Pavilion on Dec. 20 and a 23-point effort on 9-of-14 shooting in the 86-61 victory at California to close out the regular season.

Aiming Even Higher In Year Two
Stanford brought in a six-woman freshman class of Jasmine Camp, Alex Green, Taylor Greenfield, Amber Orrange, Erika Payne and Bonnie Samuelson in 2011-12, one of the largest in program history. Despite two of the rookies (Green and Camp) suffering season-ending injuries in November and December, respectively, there is still plenty of potential ahead as the class returns healthy next season.

Despite playing just eight games, Camp started four of those contests, averaging 3.6 points a game with 17 assists, including a 14-point, three assist outing at Connecticut. Green, meanwhile, saw action against Gonzaga and Old Dominion in November before being sidelined by a torn Achilles' tendon.

The four remaining rookies made great contributions to the Cardinal effort, paced by point guard Amber Orrange. The Houston native ranked second on the team with 112 assists and a 2.00 assist-to-turnover ratio while scoring 4.8 points a game. Orrange broke into the starting lineup full-time on Jan. 12 in Utah, and went on to be named Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honorable mention. She saved some her best outings for the NCAA Tournament, scoring a season-high 18 points with seven rebounds with five assists in the second-round win over West Virginia then going for 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting with four assists in the regional final win over Duke. Over the NCAA Tournament, Orrange averaged 9.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.00 assists per game.

On the "big" side of things, forwards Greenfield, Payne and Samuelson all contributed to the cause, with Greenfield being named Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honorable mention while averaging 3.6 points a game and shooting 35.8 percent from behind the arc. Samuelson, meanwhile, led the team with 44 3-pointers, the third-highest total for a freshman in program history, and was second in the Pac-12 with a 37.3-percent rate. Payne, a local from Concord, shot 50.0 percent from the field and grabbed 1.3 rebounds a game while seeing action in 32 contests.