ON SATURDAY AND MONDAY WE GET THE ARIZONAS. THE DEVILS AND THE CATS WILL BOTH BE MONUMENTALLY TOUGH GAMES!!

 Coach Adair and her Sun Devils have come through a ton of adversity this preseason. They've come out of it as a tight-knit, determined, enormously improved team. The new coach took over in April from Charlie. The adversity started then and hasn't let up. She preaches toughness, grit, determination, and togetherness - and her young team has taken her sermon to heart.  Although they've rarely had enough healthy players to scrimmage or walk through their next opponent's offense - they've won five hard-fought games and given a great account of themselves in their loses. Against Notre Dame in the Bahamas they were up by three with three minutes to go in the third quarter, but couldn't withstand the Fighting Irish's furious rally down the stretch. They came out of that game knowing they could go toe-to-toe with a top ten team. 

On Saturday we have an unranked .500 team coming to Maples, but let me tell you - they've got the heart of a wounded lion and they'll fight like one - tooth and nail. 

On Monday we get the 10 and 1 Wildcats. They recently trounced Baylor by twenty-one down in Texas. Jade Loville is a grad transfer from ASU and is their leading scorer. She plays like her dad, a three-time Super Bowl champion.

Maya Nnaji is a 6'-4" freshman who is the highest ranked recruit in program history. She was the ninth ranked player in the 2022 class. In the preseason she has averaged fifteen minutes per game, seven points and seven rebounds. 

Esmery Martinez had 15 rebounds against Baylor. Helena Pueyo is a candidate for sixth-player of the year. The team had eight threes and Jade had four of them.

We're almost too familiar with Pellington and Reese and the rest of the Wildcats. Monday will be one of our toughest conference contests. 

COME ON CARDINAL - LET'S ROLL!! 

CREIGHTON AND CAL ARE NEXT. BOTH HAVE DONE A LOT OF WINNING THIS SEASON. WE NEED TO COME OUT STRONG AND TAKE CONTROL IN BOTH.

Creighton is a bunch of stout, slow-footed, vertically-challenged non-athletic white girls from Omaha who can shoot, play defense, and score in the paint in unlikely ways. So far this season they're 8 and 2. Four of their five starters average double digits - Morgan Maly 18, Lauren Jensen 17, Emma Ronsiek 12, and Molly Morgensen 10.

They're used to being guarded by taller players and scoring against them. They hit open threes, step-back fall-aways, scoop shots, and looping hook shots that somehow usually go in. If you don't take them seriously, they'll beat you.

We need to take them seriously.

Cal is much improved. Their whole roster shows tons of off-season dedication and hard work. They're 9 and 2 so far overall with losses to SMU and Notre Dame. Jayda Curry is still their leading scorer, but Kemery Martin, Evelien Lutje Schipholt, and Leilani McIntosh are now double digit scorers. Two common opponents for our team and theirs this season are Pacific and CSUN. They beat Pacific by 17 and we beat them by 54. They beat CSUN by 30 and we beat them by 64. 

We need to come out strong and take control.

LET'S GO STANFORD!! LET'S WIN BOTH!!   

    

TENNESSEE ISN'T COMING TO PALO ALTO FOR THE WEATHER.

Things have changed since I previewed our December 18th game against Tennessee. Tamari Key, their 6'-6" post player, is out for the rest of the season with a medical problem. Rickea Jackson, their 6'-2" transfer from Mississippi State, has been returned to her spot in the starting lineup. For several weeks she had been missing from the team after removal by the coach. 

Jordan Horston has recovered from her knee injury and is playing very well. Jillian Hollingshead, their 6'-5" freshman, is back in the lineup, as well. 

Their preseason has been an up-and-down affair. They're currently 5 and 5. Recently they beat Colorado by 18 and lost to #13 UCLA by 18. They lost to #22 Gonzaga by one and to #7 Virginia Tech by three. 

They started the season ranked #5 and are currently unranked. In Charlie Creme's first iteration of the 64 team bracket, Tennessee was a number two seed. In his latest edition they have fallen out of the 64 team field altogether. 

So, if we're looking for a moral to this story, it could be that there are no guarantees in women's basketball - and just because Stanford has been a ranked team for 615 weeks there can be no resting on past laurels. 

Obviously, from the Vols' viewpoint, their trip to Palo Alto is step one on their road back to the NCAA Tournament. They aren't coming out here for the weather. Jordan Horston is one of the most electrifying athletes in America and I'm sure she fully intends to put up twenty-five or thirty on the 18th in a winning effort.

Their charter from Knoxville to SFO will bring a quiet, serious, determined group ready to turn their season around by knocking off #2. Kelly Harper is a three-time National Champion for Pat Summit and a Tennessee legend. She will have her team ready to win on the 18th. 

Stanford has to come off their two week break ready to rock. We can't be slow starting or sluggish out of the gate. Tennessee means business and Jordan and her crew will come out swinging and slinging. Be Ready!!

LET'S GO STANFORD!!