STANFORD FOOTBALL
Cardinal readying for another hoops season

Anthony Brown leads Men's basketball into the 2011-12 season.
Photo: stanfordphoto.com.

Stanford's women's basketball team continued to impress in 2010-11 with its fourth consecutive trip to the Final Four, while the young men's squad exceeded expectations and is looking to make use of its newfound experience in the season to come.

Finishing 33-3 to reach the 25-win plateau for the 10th consecutive season, the Cardinal women won an 11th-straight Pac-10 title while going undefeated in conference play for the second year in a row. They also won all 17 home games, to extend their streak at Maples Pavilion to 63, a new program record.

To do so, Stanford had to fend off the top team in the nation, Connecticut, snapping the Huskies' NCAA record 90-game win streak in a memorable 71-59 upset and avenging the Cardinal's close loss to UConn in the national championship game a year earlier. Guard Jeanette Pohlen sank five 3-pointers and totaled 31 points to lead Stanford to victory, as the senior began a breakout season that would see her earn All-America honors and be named the Pac-10 Player of the Year. Averaging 14.5 points per game, Pohlen made 96 3-pointers on the year, a new Stanford single-season record.

The Cardinal graduated five seniors — most notably Pohlen and forward Kayla Pedersen, who were tied for the program record for games played (150). Pedersen's 1,266 career rebounds are the highest tally in Pac-10 history. The team will now rely on the Ogwumike sisters — Chiney, the 2010-11 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, and Nnemkadi, a two-time All-American — to lead the squad at forward.

Even more impressive is the Cardinal women's coach, recent Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Tara VanDerveer, who has been with Stanford for 32 years and racked up her 800th win last season.

Stanford's men's basketball team played without a senior for the first time in school history last year, finishing tied for seventh in the Pac-10 after having been picked to finish ninth in preseason polls. Junior Jeremy Green, an All-Pac-10 First-Team selection, started all 31 games and led the squad in scoring. Known for his flashy 3-pointers, the guard climbed to second on Stanford's career all-time list with 228, and also sank 12 threes in a row midseason to cap off the second-best streak in NCAA history.

The squad was re-energized by the return of Josh Owens, who had to sit out his sophomore season with a medical condition. Leading the team in blocks and rebounds, he scored a team-high 14 points in the Cardinal's 58-56 home upset of 17th-ranked Washington, helping secure Stanford's 18th straight season with at least 10 home wins. Meanwhile, fellow junior Jarrett Mann continued his solid defensive play throughout the season, eventually ranking first on the team in both steals and assists.

Several freshman stepped up as well, with two — Anthony Brown and Dwight Powell — being named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team for the first time in school history. Brown quickly established himself as a strong shooter behind the arc, while freshmen Aaron Bright and John Gage, among others, sparked offensive production primarily off the bench.

Both teams will maintain their 18-game conference schedule heading into the new Pac-12 format. Each season, the squads will play seven conference schools twice and the other four once, with conference "misses" rotating every two years. Stanford will play Cal twice a year regardless, however.

Season-ticket plans start at $281 and $340 for women's and men's games, respectively. For more ticket information, go online at Gostanford.com. or call 1-800-STANFORD.