It was great to see Stanford live and in person. C and R played host to R’s relatives (W + W, they are so cute!) and our good Bball friend P. W + W had never seen a live basketball game, men’s or women’s, and let me tell you Stanford, they were impressed. They were impressed with the size, natch, as C was sporting he “Fear the Trees” shirt, and their speed. And of course they loved the score! Half time was 35-11!

Stanford would go on to beat South Carolina 70-32, and W + W got to hear the brainiac cheer “2X plus 4, where X is your score!” Only at Stanford. We must have bored them to death about sisters Nneka and Chiney before the game. And yet how were the first four points scored? Sister to sister. Both times Chiney fed her older sister Nneka, but you could tell she was looking for her all the way. One close by fan said “They’ve been doing that for years!” W + W got treated to some ferocious defensive grabs from Nneka, too.

We got to see Stanford’s new and improved man-to-man defense, and the very new 1-3- that features Chiney’s desire to chase the ball. Both worked well. Stanford reacted quickly to South Carolina’s penetration, and then our height took care of the rest. It really was as if they hit trees. And, well, it wasn’t that Couth Carolina was bad, it’s just they had no three point shooters. If you can’t get anything inside, you need to go to plan B, and they just didn’t have one. A very glaring weakness. Stanford, on the other hand, is trying to up their accuracy and shot 42% from beyond the arc, which is a good thing, because we don’t dribble penetrate all that well, although freshmen Toni Kokenis was one of the few for Stanford to do that Friday.

Well, the real test will be Sunday against number 16 Texas. Oh, head coach Tara VanDerveer is just three wins away from the very elite 800 club!