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Your Day in Women’s Basketball, December 15: Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer nears history

By James Hyman

PALO ALTO, CA - FEBRUARY 9: Head coach Tara VanDerveer of the Stanford Cardinal (center) poses for a picture with her seniors including, from left, DiJonai Carrington, Mikaela Brewer, Nadia Fingall and Anna Wilson, alongside her older brother Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, far right, after the NCAA women's basketball game at Maples Pavilion on February 9, 2020 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Cody Glenn/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA - FEBRUARY 9: Head coach Tara VanDerveer of the Stanford Cardinal (center) poses for a picture with her seniors including, from left, DiJonai Carrington, Mikaela Brewer, Nadia Fingall and Anna Wilson, alongside her older brother Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, far right, after the NCAA women's basketball game at Maples Pavilion on February 9, 2020 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Cody Glenn/Getty Images) /
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Better teams are doing what they are supposed to do

It has been a quiet weekend in the college basketball world as more game continue to get cancelled and ranked teams continue to win.

Since December 9, only two top-25 program have lost a game, South Dakota St. and Oregon St., and they’ve both done it twice, with SDST falling to Kansas State and Northern Iowa and the Beavers dropping games to Utah and Oregon at home. The Jackrabbits were knocked out of the rankings, allowing South Florida to enter, while Oregon St. fell six spots to number 21.

On Saturday, the UConn women finally saw some action in a stomping of UMass-Lowell that gave college fans our first glimpse into the talent that is Paige Bueckers. The freshman guard scored 17 points to lead the Huskies and showed great defensive awareness in her first collegiate game.

The Pac-12 is in full-swing with the aforementioned #8 Ducks handily beating Oregon State, #1 Stanford more than doubling up a winless California team, and #11 UCLA winning by 21 against rival USC.

Stanford has yet to win a game by less than 33 points, and the best word to describe their personnel is just scary.

If their center Fran Belibi can intercept a pass, crossover an opponent, and then dunk in transition with that level of ease, the Cardinal will be number one for the foreseeable future.

With Stanford’s win, head coach Tara VanDerveer has won her 1,098th career game, tying the record for most in Division 1 history with the legendary Pat Summit.

There were some close calls for ranked teams, however, and many schools relied on star power to avoid upsets. N.C. State was down 13 going into the fourth quarter against Boston College until a 23-2 run led by the defense and rebounding of Elissa Cunane and the shot making ability of Kayla Jones as the Wolfpack stole a victory from the Eagles.

Last night it was Maryland who narrowly escaped Rutgers and the one-woman show that is Arella Guirantes. The senior guard scored 33 points and added 10 board despite the Scarlet Knights losing their first game of the season to a well balanced Maryland squad that had four players score 15 or more.

Assuming no cancellations take place, both UConn and Stanford will be in action tonight on the road, with VanDerveer looking for win number 1,099.

With coaches coming out left and right against some of the current COVID precautions, it makes sense that the NCAA is looking to have one site host the entirety of the NCAAW tournament. Though it is a daunting task, San Antonio may have to be up for the challenge come March.

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