The challenge presented to Oregon by the No. 11 Stanford Cardinal (13-4, 4-1 Pacific-10 Conference) can be most accurately reflected in two games.
On Jan. 8, the Cardinal annihilated the Washington Huskies at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif., 112-35. The 77-point margin of victory was the largest in school and conference history. The Huskies’ highest scorer, Sarah Morton, had seven points, as the Cardinal held Washington to 21-percent shooting (13-62) from the field, including 20 percent (4-20) from three-point range.
Last week, the Cardinal felt the agony of their first Pac-10 defeat, as Cal guard Alexis Gray-Lawson converted two free throws with 1:09 remaining – as part of a 37-point night – to sink Stanford in Berkeley. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak and was the Cardinal’s first in Berkeley since 1993.
The Oregon Ducks (7-9, 4-2) are 8-37 in the all-time series against the Cardinal, and the odds seem stacked against them. But Cal’s victory ensures that Stanford – last year’s NCAA runner-up and an NCAA tournament team four of the last five years – can be beaten.
Beating the Cardinal starts by containing the potent frontcourt of Kayla Pederson (last year’s Pac-10 Freshman of the Year), Jayne Appel and Jillian Harmon, a Lake Oswego, Ore., native and a member of the New Zealand women’s national team, which junior Oregon guard Micaela Cocks is a member of. Appel is the main focus of the Ducks; she’s fifth in the Pac-10 in scoring (14.6 points per game), first in field-goal percentage (60.9 percent), second in rebounds (9.5 per game) and first in blocks (1.9 per game).
Stanford’s starting frontcourt combines to produce 35.1 points and 21.4 rebounds per game, and that’s not factoring in the Cardinals’ depth – specifically, the revelation that has been freshman Nnemkadi Ogwumike. The Cypress, Texas, native has played in all 17 games and posted 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game on 59.6-percent shooting (second in the Pac-10 to teammate Appel), looking every bit like the next big thing in the Stanford frontcourt.
Understandably, Stanford is hard-pressed to replace guard Candice Wiggins, the three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year and third overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft. Point guard Jeanette Pohlen, however, has had little problem picking up the slack. The sophomore has started all 17 games and leads the Cardinal in minutes played (31.8 per game). She has helped the Cardinal to 18.7 assists per game (the second-highest mark nationally) and a 1.32 assist-to-turnover ratio (also second in the nation).
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