Stanford Names Basketball Court to Honor Tara VanDerveer After Retirement as WCBB HC
May 10, 2024
STANFORD, CA - JANUARY 21: Stanford Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer applauds the team during a game between Oregon State University and Stanford University at Maples Pavilion on January 21, 2024 in Stanford, California. (Photo by John Todd/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
Stanford will name its basketball court after legendary women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer, the school announced Thursday.
VanDerveer coached the Cardinal for 38 seasons, retiring following the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.
Along with naming its court after VanDerveer, Stanford also announced one of its assistant coaching positions will be named after the former coach. Heather Oesterle will hold that position after she was hired in April.
Tara's name will forever hold a special place at Stanford.
— Stanford WBB 🌲🏀 (@StanfordWBB) May 9, 2024
Longtime Stanford benefactors Tashia and John Morgridge gave the endowment to fund and name the assistant coaching position as a gift.
"This endowment will go a long way to strengthening the future of Stanford women's basketball," VanDerveer said. "I have many wonderful memories of leading the women's basketball program at Maples Pavilion. It's an honor, and a little surreal, to know that my name will be linked to both in these ways, and I look forward to celebrating with all our fans this fall."
In her 38 seasons at Stanford, VanDerveer won three national championships—the latest coming in 2021—and appeared in 13 Final Fours. She led the Cardinal to 27 Pac-12 regular season titles, 15 Pac-12 Tournament championships and was named the conference's Coach of the Year 11 times.
VanDerveer is the women's college basketball all-time wins leader with 1,216 in her career, three games ahead of UConn's Geno Auriemma.
Before coaching at Stanford, VanDerveer was the head coach of Idaho State and Ohio State, but spent most of her career with the Cardinal.
Stanford announced that there will be a public celebration and official unveiling of the Tara VanDerveer Court in November ahead of the 2024-25 season.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 12: Cameron Brink #22 of the Stanford Cardinal brings the ball up the court during the first half of their game against the Utah Utes at the Jon M Huntsman Center on January 12, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
Stanford forward Cameron Brink declared for the 2024 WNBA draft Tuesday ahead of the NCAA tournament.
The senior is averaging 17.8 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.5 blocks through 31 games this season. Her 20 made threes are also nearly twice as much as her previous career high.
Brink was widely considered one of the three cornerstones in the 2024 draft class alongside Iowa's Caitlin Clark and UConn's Paige Bueckers. With Bueckers returning to the Huskies for one more year, she's all but guaranteed to land second overall to the Los Angeles Sparks.
In the meantime, her focus will be on capturing a second national championship with the Cardinal.
Stanford came up short in the Pac-12 title game, losing 74-61 to JuJu Watkins and USC. ESPN's Charlie Creme still has the team as one of his four No. 1 seeds, so the defeat may not have been too costly in that respect.
That the Cardinal are even poised to lead a region of the bracket is a testament to Brink's season.
Expectations surrounding the team were somewhat tempered coming into the year. Stanford was 15th in the preseason AP Top 25 and 13th in the Coaches Poll, trailing Pac-12 rivals UCLA and Utah.
Brink has led the way on both ends to make a deep March Madness run look attainable. In addition to having a 33 percent usage rate — she's second on the Cardinal in points and assists — she ranks first nationally in rebounding rate (24.4 percent) and third in block percentage (13.3), according to Her Hoop Stats.
When it comes to the 2024 draft, Clark has dominated the conversation, and for good reason. She's the all-time leading scorer in Division I history and no women's player in modern history has stretched the floor to the degree she has.
But there's no question Brink's two-way abilities can make her a perennial All-Star at the next level. Her arrival couldn't be better timed for the Sparks, who are entering a genuine rebuild after longtime star Nneka Ogwumike left in free agency.
NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2022: Elite 8 Scores, Final Four Bracket
Mar 29, 2022
GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 27: The South Carolina Gamecocks celebrate their victory over the Creighton Bluejays during the Elite Eight round of the 2022 NCAA Womens Basketball Tournament held at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex on March 27, 2022 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
The Final Four of the NCAA women's tournament is set with three No. 1 seeds and a No. 2 set to face off for the chance to play in the national championship game.
The Stanford Cardinal and South Carolina Gamecocks punched their tickets to the Final Four with wins over Texas and Creighton on Sunday, while the UConn Huskies and Louisville Cardinals punched their tickets Monday with wins over NC State and Michigan.
Here is a look at the Elite Eight scores, Final Four bracket and a deeper dive into each team and how it reached the Final Four.
Elite Eight
No. 1 Stanford 59, No. 2 Texas 50
No. 1 South Carolina 80, No. 10 Creighton 50
No. 2 UConn 91, No. 1 NC State 87, 2OT
No 1. Louisville 62, No. 3 Michigan 50
Bracket
The bracket for the 2022 NCAA women's tournament can be found at NCAA.com.
Stanford
The Cardinal are the reigning national champions, and they have been playing like it.
Stanford kicked things off with a 78-37 win over 16th-seeded Montana State in the first round and followed it up with a 91-65 win over the No. 8 seed Kansas Jayhawks.
The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight caused more problems for the Cardinal, however. The fourth-seeded Maryland Terrapins scored 30 points in the fourth quarter of their Sweet 16 matchup to give Stanford a scare, but the Cardinal escaped with a 72-66 win.
The Elite Eight featured an even larger battle, as Texas held Stanford to 59 points, one of its lowest outputs of the season.
Stanford has received key contributions from Cameron Brink, Haley Jones and Lexie Hull, and Hannah Jump and Francesca Belibi have been reliable as well.
Jump, a junior guard, is averaging 9.3 points per game while shooting 40.2 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from deep. Belibi, a junior forward, is averaging 7.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 58.9 percent from the floor.
If the Cardinal can continue to spread the wealth in the Final Four, they could be headed to the championship game for the second straight season.
South Carolina
Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks are looking to reach the championship game for the first time since the 2016-17 season, when they won it all.
Staley's squad has been dominant after losing the SEC championship game to Kentucky. It opened things with a 79-21 win over the 16th-seeded Howard Bison and followed that with a 49-33 win over No. 8 Miami.
South Carolina faced its first challenged in the Sweet 16 when it met No. 5 UNC, but the Gamecocks used a 17-8 second quarter to win 69-61. The Elite Eight featured another easy matchup, as they won by 30 to advance to the Final Four.
South Carolina has been led by junior forward Aliyah Boston, who is a force to be reckoned with. She's averaging 16.8 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 54.2 percent from the floor and 28.3 percent from deep.
The Gamecocks are also led by senior guard Destanni Henderson and junior guard Zia Cooke, who are averaging 11.1 and 10.7 points per game.
UConn
Geno Auriemma and the UConn Huskies are headed to the Final Four for the 14th straight season following their double overtime win over the No. 1 seed NC State Wolfpack on Monday in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The Huskies had defeated No. 15 Mercer 83-38 in the first round before taking down No. 7 UCF 52-47 and No. 3 Indiana 75-58.
On Monday, Paige Bueckers took over in the second half and overtime. The superstar sophomore notched just four points in the first half before going off for 23 points the rest of the way, including 10 in the first overtime.
It was Bueckers' best game of the tournament, though she has been UConn's best player all season, averaging 14.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 55.1 percent from the floor and 36.2 percent from deep. Bueckers has played only 15 games this season because of a knee injury.
In addition to Bueckers, senior Christyn Williams and freshman Azzi Fudd have been among the Huskies' top scorers, averaging 14.7 and 12.7 points per game. They'll need the trio to be at its best against Stanford on Friday.
Louisville
For the first time since the 2017-18 season, the Louisville Cardinals are headed to the Final Four.
Louisville has had a dominant NCAA tournament, kicking things off with an 83-51 win over No. 16 Albany. It then downed No. 9 Gonzaga 68-59 and No. 4 Tennessee 76-64.
Monday's game between Louisville and Michigan was close through three quarters, but the Cardinals outscored the Wolverines 17-7 in the fourth to clinch a spot in the Final Four.
Hailey Van Lith, who leads the team with 14.5 points per game, finished Monday's game with 22 points. She was the best player on the court, while Chelsie Hall and Kianna Smith chipped in 15 and 11 points and Emily Engstler grabbed 16 rebounds.
If Louisville hopes to reach the championship game, it will need those three players to have similarly strong efforts against South Carolina and for Engstler, who had five points on 1-of-9 shooting against Michigan, to score closer to her average of 11.8 points per game.
Anna Wilson, Sister of Seahawks QB Russell, to Return to Stanford for 6th Season
May 11, 2021
Stanford's Anna Wilson dribbles during an NCAA college basketball game against South Carolina in the Final Four semifinals of the Women's NCAA tournament Friday, April 2, 2021, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Stanford guard Anna Wilson is planning to return for the 2021-22 season.
The fifth-year senior, who is the younger sister of Seattle Seahawks star Russell Wilson, confirmed Monday she intends to suit up for one more year. She told the Associated Press' Janie McCauley the chance to return is "just a really awesome opportunity to have."
Star @StanfordWBB guard Anna Wilson has just announced to me she will return to play a sixth season for the Cardinal, and Alyssa Jerome will stay for a fifth year with reigning national champions. pic.twitter.com/SkQ87NJdhn
Wilson's comments came outside Chase Center before the national championship-winning Cardinal were honored during the Golden State Warriors'Â 119-116 victory over the Utah Jazz. She expressed frustration at the somewhat informal nature of her announcement:
Frustrated in the way this was released. I feel cheated of the space needed to explain what this year has meant to me, why I chose to come back & how my teammates have played a role. I didn’t publicize yet; I hadn’t formalized the words that describe all Stanford has meant to me. https://t.co/GLkza41wlX
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA allowed Division I athletes in fall and winter sports to gain an extra year of eligibility. That allowed players such as Wilson, who would otherwise be out the door, to give it another go.
The Seattle native made 33 starts for Stanford in 2020-21, averaging 4.6 points and 2.1 assists while shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 45.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Seattle Storm selected Cardinal assists leader Kiana Williams in the second round of the 2021 WNBA draft, so Wilson's experience should be invaluable in the backcourt.
And with Alyssa Jerome also coming back, Stanford's roster from a season ago is almost totally intact. Head coach Tara VanDerveer is adding three players (Brooke Demetre, Okikiola Iriafen and Jzaniya Harriel) in the top 100 of HoopGurlz's 2021 recruiting rankings as well.
Twenty-nine years separated VanDerveer's second and third national titles with the program. She might not have to wait anywhere near that long for No. 4.
Russell Wilson Praises Sister Anna After Stanford's Championship: You Earned It
Apr 5, 2021
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - MARCH 28: Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson cheers on his sister Anna Wilson #3 of the Stanford Cardinal in the first half against the Missouri State Lady Bears during the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at the Alamodome on March 28, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas.The Stanford Cardinal defeated the Missouri State Lady Bears 89-62. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The Wilson family knows championships.
Anna Wilson helped lead the Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team to a 54-53 victory over the Arizona Wildcats in Sunday's national championship game and earned a congratulatory tweet from her brother, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, in the process:
Drive. Will. Passion. Energy. You’ve earned it all through hard work, leadership, prayer, & immeasurable Faith.
Russell was in attendance throughout Stanford's run to the title in Texas and watched the team earn a dramatic 54-53 win in the championship clash.
Arizona's Aari McDonald had an opportunity to win it at the buzzer, but her contested jumper rimmed out.
Wilson did a little bit of everything and finished with five points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal while helping handle the ball and run the offense from the backcourt.
She now has a championship to match her brother's Super Bowl victory.
President Joe Biden Lauds Stanford for Winning 2021 NCAA Women's Championship
Apr 5, 2021
Stanford players celebrate at the end of the championship game against Arizona in the women's Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 4, 2021, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Stanford won 54-53. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The Stanford women's basketball team earned itself quite a fan Sunday.
President Joe Biden tweeted his congratulations to the Cardinal and praised the Arizona Wildcats on a "hard-fought season."
Congratulations to @StanfordWBB on their NCAA Women's Basketball Championship win, and to @ArizonaWBB on a hard-fought season.
This year, every college team went through a uniquely challenging season but Coach VanDerveer's team shows how grit and tenacity can prevail.
— President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) April 5, 2021
Biden also praised the "grit and tenacity" of Stanford in what was a "uniquely challenging season" for all teams as they competed amid the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presented.
Stanford clinched the title with a dramatic two-game run at the Final Four in Texas. It defeated South Carolina 66-65 in the national semifinal after the Gamecocks were unable to capitalize on a chaotic scene in the final seconds when they created a turnover and had shots from Brea Beal and Aliyah Boston that could have won it rim out.
There was a similar situation in Sunday's final when Arizona had the ball down one on the final possession.
Aari McDonald's contested jumper just rimmed out, clinching the 54-53 win and a presidential tweet for Stanford.
Women's Tournament 2021: Final Four Scores, Championship Preview
Apr 3, 2021
Stanford guard Haley Jones (30) celebrates after making a basket during the second half of a women's Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game against South Carolina Friday, April 2, 2021, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
It'll be an all-Pac 12 matchup for the first time in the history of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament final as No. 1 seed Stanford will take on No. 3 Arizona.
Stanford held on for dear life to win 66-65 in a hard-fought Final Four game over No. 1 South Carolina, which missed two potential game-winning buckets in the final couple seconds. Haley Jones' 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting led Stanford.
Arizona then stunned UConn 69-59 behind another phenomenal performance from Aari McDonald (26 points) and fantastic team defense that held the Huskies to just 35.7 percent shooting. The Wildcats led wire-to-wire.
Now Stanford and Arizona will face off on Sunday in the national championship. Stanford is looking for its third national title, while Arizona is shooting for its first.
Here's a look at how the two teams' previous matchups went down alongside three reasons for why each team can win this one. You can also find a score prediction at the end.
Previous Matchups
Stanford beat Arizona in both of their regular-season matchups, and neither game was particularly close.
The Cardinal opened a 44-20 halftime lead before winning 81-54 in the first meeting, with Jones posting an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double. Arizona shot just 25.8 percent from the field, with McDonald going 3-of-18.
The second game was a far closer affair, but Stanford still led wire-to-wire in the second half in a 62-48 win. Four Cardinal players scored in double digits, with Lacie Hull's 16 points paving the way.
McDonald led all scorers with 20 points but needed 24 shots to get there. The Wildcats made just 17-of-55 field goals (30.9 percent).
Why Arizona Can Win
1. Variance
The Wildcats shot 34-of-121 (28.1 percent) over the pair of Stanford losses.
Stanford is an excellent team with a 33.0 percent field goal defense rate, but Arizona is a far better shooting team that what it showed against the Cardinal.
The Wildcats began the Final Four making 41.3 percent of their field goals, and the guess here is that they won't be held around the 30-percent range for a third time.
2. Defense
Arizona's defense has been sensational, as best evidenced by its performance against UConn. The Wildcats have held their five tournament opponents to an average of 52.2 points per game on 96-of-261 shooting (36.8 percent).
Arizona set that defensive tone in the first round against Stony Brook, forcing the Seawolves to commit 25 turnovers. Overall, Arizona's tournament opponents have committed 80 turnovers.
That's largely because of the dynamic defensive duo of McDonald and Sam Thomas, who have combined for 29 steals and seven blocks. McDonald is the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and Thomas was Pac-12 All-Defense in 2020.
3. McDonald
Obviously. McDonald put UConn on its heels with hot shooting in the first half, scoring 15 of Arizona's 32 first-half points in a low-scoring affair. She was 4-of-6 from three-point range at one point and ended up with more buckets from downtown than the entire UConn team.
It's been the McDonald show this entire tournament, though. Her 32-point, 11-rebound performance in a 66-53 win over Indiana put Arizona in the Final Four.
That followed a 31-point outing against a Texas A&M team that could have arguably had a No. 1 seed but fell on the No. 2 line. McDonald's effort guided Arizona to a 74-59 win.
A 17-point, 11-rebound, four-steal performance in a 52-46 win over BYU followed a 20-point afternoon versus Stony Brook.
McDonald is simply relentless and can never be counted out. If she gets the three-point shot going, watch out.
Why Stanford Can Win
1. History
An obvious answer here, but Stanford has gotten the job done against Arizona twice before. The Cardinal led by double digits for the entire second half in the first game and the whole fourth quarter in the second matchup.
Their defense was relentless, and their scoring depth helped too. Four players scored in double digits during each contest.
Granted, a pair of strong Stanford wins doesn't guarantee an automatic victory for the Cardinal, but their performances could be harbingers of what's to come.
2. Depth
It's pick your poison when playing this Stanford team. Five players score 7.6 points or more per game, with four posting 9.9 PPG at minimum. If one player has an off-night, another one could be going off and ruining the opposition's evening.
That's more or less what happened in the Final Four against South Carolina. Lexie Hull (third in scoring) had an off-night shooting (4-of-17), but Jones was excellent.
However, Hull was the star in the Elite Eight against Louisville, scoring a team-high 21 points. Before that round, Hannah Jump splashed five three-pointers against Missouri State in the Sweet 16.
The bottom line is that this deep rotation is relentless, and it can cause problems even for an elite defensive team like Arizona.
3. Downtown
Stanford makes nearly nine three-pointers per game, and its 286 makes on the year places the Cardinal fourth in all of Division I. The Cardinal are also sixth in three-point percentage (38.6).
Guard Kiana Williams leads the way with 81 makes, and Hannah Jump (57) and Lexie Hull (44) buoy her efforts.
Stanford simply buries teams from three, making 10 or more on 12 different occasions. Breaking that down further, Stanford has made 13 shots from beyond the arc seven times.
If the Cardinal get hot from deep on Monday, then Arizona may be forced into a track meet where McDonald and Co. have to match them. That's advantage, Stanford.
Prediction
Arizona will come into this game as the clear underdog even if the Wildcats are coming off a fantastic win over a pre-tournament favorite in UConn. Simply put, Stanford has had the better season and beat Arizona twice by a combined 41 points.
However, this game should be a lot closer. Arizona isn't nearly as poor of a shooting team as it showed against Stanford earlier this season, and its defense should be able to keep the Cardinal within arm's length.
Plus, there's a scenario where McDonald becomes invincible and goes for 30-plus points an 10-plus rebounds while contributing elite defense. If that happens, Stanford is obviously in trouble.
The No. 1 overall seed will also find itself with problems if it goes cold from three. The Cardinals have lost two games this season (back-to-back to UCLA and Colorado), and it's no coincidence that the team shot a combined 7-of-32 from beyond the arc against the conference foes.
The formula for Arizona is to slow this game down a bit, play excellent defense, defend the three and hope McDonald produces some more magic.
The guess here is that happens. Yes, Stanford's offense can be relentless, and there's a scenario where the Cardinal just bury the Wildcats from three. A number of players could get hot from deep and give Arizona problems. Jones could also take this game over in the post herself, much like she did against South Carolina.
However, Arizona is fearless, relentless and playing fantastic ball. The Wildcats are the pick.
Pick: Arizona 63, Stanford 62
Video: South Carolina Misses 2 Game-Winners, Falls to Stanford in Women's Final Four
Apr 3, 2021
SAN ANTONIO, TX - APRIL 2: Aliyah Boston #4 of the South Carolina Gamecocks shoots over Francesca Belibi #5 of the Stanford Cardinal during the semifinals of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Alamodome on April 2, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Ben Solomon via Getty Images)
A heartbreaking finish capped Stanford's 66-65 win over South Carolina in the Final Four of the NCAA Division I women's college basketball tournament on Friday in San Antonio.
South Carolina was THIS close to winning the game on a buzzer beater 🤯 https://t.co/n9jCk2OHxx
South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston stole the ball from Stanford forward Cameron Brink with the Cardinal up one and seven seconds remaining.
The ball found its way to South Carolina guard Brea Beal, who missed a running layup with a couple seconds left.
Boston then flew in for the rebound and got a game-winning shot attempt before the buzzer, but the ball bounced off the back rim and onto the floor.
Before the sequence, South Carolina guard Destanni Henderson went on a personal 6-0 run to turn a 64-59 deficit into a 65-64 lead. Stanford guard Haley Jones (24 points on 11-of-14 shooting) responded by grabbing an offensive rebound and nailing a baseline jumper with 32 seconds left for the 66-65 edge.
Stanford got a stop on the other end, forcing South Carolina to play the foul game in hopes of putting the Cardinal on the line, but Boston got the steal instead, leading to the end.
South Carolina isn't getting as far as it did without Boston, who was named one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, given to the best women's and men's collegiate basketball players.
The sophomore entered Friday averaging 13.8 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game for a 26-win South Carolina team. Boston was also phenomenal again in the Final Four, posting 11 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.
And obviously, South Carolina would have had a much harder time putting itself in position for the win if not for Boston's game-ending defense.
As for Beal, the sophomore has been excellent on the boards, averaging 7.4 for the tournament. She also led South Carolina with three steals on Friday.
After the game, Las Vegas Aces star, WNBA MVP and ex-South Carolina standout A'ja Wilson tweeted the following:
