Correction: In an earlier version of this article, Cal head coach Joanne Boyle was incorrectly listed as a Cal player. We regret the error.
Tomorrow, the No. 2 Stanford women’s basketball team (27-1, 17-0 Pac-10) will end its regular season on the road against California. The highly anticipated “Battle of the Bay II” will tip off at 12:30 p.m.
Though the Cardinal has already claimed the regular season Pac-10 title (for the 10th consecutive year), it will still look to end its season with an 18-0 conference record.
The first “Battle of the Bay” took place in January. The Cardinal overwhelmed the Bears, winning by a final score of 79-58. In a weekly interview posted on GoStanford.com, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer made it clear that the team will not take the competition this weekend lightly.
“We played Cal in the first Pac-10 game this year,” she said. “I knew that when we played them again, their freshmen would not be freshmen anymore—that they would improve a lot, and they have. They’ve had a great season with such young players.”
Cal (17-11, 11-6) saw its five-game winning streak snapped when it lost to Arizona State 57-50 last Saturday. The Bears have had some recent momentum, however, going 11-3 in their last 14 games. Senior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson and freshman DeNesha Stallworth will likely lead their team in scoring and rebounding.
After this weekend, the Cardinal will look forward to the Pac-10 Tournament. Because of its regular season record, Stanford has locked up the tournament’s top seed.
“People are getting excited about the tournament; they’re feeling a sense of urgency,” VanDerveer said. “Each game, whether it’s playing Cal or playing the Pac-10 Tournament—[has a] tournament atmosphere. Once you hit the NCAA or even the Pac-10, if you have a bad game, you are out.”
Unfortunately, the Cardinal has not been immune to injuries this season. With the brunt of the injuries falling on Stanford’s guards—junior Jeanette Pohlen, junior J.J. Hones, senior Rosalyn Gold-Onwude and junior Melanie Murphy have all been injured—a lot of responsibility has fallen onto the Cardinal post players to maintain team consistency.
“Our ‘big three’—[senior] Jayne [Appel], [junior] Kayla [Pedersen] and [sophomore] Nneka [Ogwumike] have really shouldered the scoring load and defensive load…our big three have been really steady,” VanDerveer said.
Last week, Appel was recognized as the Pac-10’s all-time leading rebounder after beating out Lisa Leslie’s original record of 1,214 boards. Appel has scored over 2,000 points in her career and has won two Pac-10 Player of the Week awards this season. Thanks to the dependable offensive efforts of Ogwumike and Pedersen, the Cardinal expects to have a strong end to the regular season this weekend.
“[Cal has] a very athletic team, a very motivated team—it’s one of the best teams in the Pac-10,” VanDerveer said.
But the Cardinal is anxious to show its own improvements as well.
“We’re excited…our team likes playing at Haas [Pavilion at Cal]. It’s great preparation for the NCAA Tournament and that type of atmosphere,” VanDerveer said.
Stanford will tip off against Cal on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.