Stanford opened their season with a 92-27 victory over the Eastern Washington Eagles. This game provided Tara with an excellent opportunity to experiment with player combinations and manage the minutes of her upperclassmen.

Here are some random thoughts and observations:

Grab rebounds, don't slap at the ball unless you are pushing it to a teammate. Go up strong with two hands, if the fight for the ball winds up a jump ball, that's fine. Even if the opposition keeps possession, the arrow is now yours.

Hannah will need to work on turning her hips instead of getting sideways when defending. She'll get there, she has quick feet.

Really good footwork from Ashten in the low post. Better than I thought it might be from the big freshman.

The perils of being a TV cameraman. Fran leapt past the baseline to save a possession and landed on a cameraman who was sitting on the floor under the basket. No one was hurt nor was the very expensive camera. He did require a helping hand from a fan to sit up because the low back seat he was using prevented him getting up. It was a funny moment.

Upperclassmen lead in so many ways. Some hustle plays produce stats and some don't. Anna provided an example of a hustle play that didn't but in a big game could be really important. After a scramble for the ball, the Eagles came away with it. One of their guards released and was up the court. Anna realized this and started up the court in pursuit. The headman pass was more dying quail than frozen rope and that allowed Anna to close the gap and swat the ball away rather than allow an easy layup. With the game in hand and nothing on the line Anna could have let it go but she didn't. That's a hustle play that will get you playing time. That's leadership.

The game was never in doubt, everybody minutes and Tara got to play with different combinations.

Go Card!