The release courtesy of Stanford Athletics.

Stanford Women’s Basketball Announces 2011-12 Schedule

Cardinal non-conference slate includes trips to Connecticut, Xavier; hosting Tennessee, Gonzaga

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford’s Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women’s Basketball, Tara VanDerveer, announced the Cardinal’s 2011-12 schedule Monday morning.

• Stanford Women’s Basketball 2011-12 Schedule - http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-baskbl/sched/stan-w-baskbl-sched.html

The Cardinal’s ledger, which features contests against 11 teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season, includes matchups with 2011 NCAA regional finalists Gonzaga (Nov. 13) and Tennessee (Dec. 20) that highlight a 15-game home regular-season slate.

“A big reason for this program’s regular season and postseason success is that we face a tough and challenging schedule every season, and 2011-12 is no exception,” VanDerveer said. “Playing NCAA Tournament-caliber teams early on and throughout the year prepares us for new challenges in the Pac-12 and in the high-pressure contests in the postseason.”

Along with the Lady Volunteers and the Zags, four more 2011 NCAA Tournament participants will visit Maples Pavilion in 2011-12. After the Nov. 13 home opener against Gonzaga at Maples Pavilion, where Stanford has won a program-record 63 straight games, the Cardinal will host last year’s first-round opponent, UC Davis, on Nov. 30, Princeton on Dec. 17, UCLA on Feb. 9 and Pac-12 newcomer Utah on Feb. 25.

The Cardinal will also host Old Dominion (Nov. 17), CS Bakersfield (Dec. 22) and Seattle University (Feb. 29) in non-conference play.

Road trips during the non-conference season include trips to Texas for the season opener on Nov. 11, a Thanksgiving Week trip back east for games at Connecticut (Nov. 21) and Xavier (Nov. 25), and a bus ride into The Valley to visit Fresno State on Dec. 4.

Stanford will open things up with a pair of exhibition contests at Maples Pavilion the first week of November. UC San Diego visits for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Nov. 2, and the exhibition slate concludes against Vanguard on the afternoon of Nov. 5.

After a three-game non-conference homestand from Dec. 17-22, the Cardinal will make the first of two trips this season to Los Angeles to open play in the expanded and renamed Pac-12.

The conference slate will still feature 18 games. However, teams will play eight opponents twice in the traditional home-and-home setup, but will only play four teams once. Two of those schools will be played at home, and two on the road. The four schools that a team plays just once a year will rotate every third year. In 2011-12, the two schools that Stanford will play just once are Arizona and Arizona State at home, and Washington and Washington State on the road. Next season (2012-13), Stanford will still play those schools just once during the regular season, but the locations will be switched.

Stanford opens Pac-12 play with the first of two trips to Los Angeles. The Cardinal will take on 2011 WNIT runner-up USC on Thursday, Dec. 29 before closing the weekend with a New Year’s Eve visit to UCLA.

Once the New Year rolls around, Stanford will play home weekends against Oregon and Oregon State (Jan. 5 and 7), Washington State and Washington (Jan. 19 and 21), California (Jan. 28), UCLA and USC (Feb. 9 and 11) and Pac-12 newcomers Colorado and Utah (Feb. 23 and 25).

Stanford’s conference road trips, after the late December run to Los Angeles, include: at Utah and Colorado (Jan. 12 and 14), at Arizona State and Arizona (Feb. 2 and 4), at Oregon State and Oregon (Feb. 16 and 18) and at California to close out the regular season on March 3.

The Cardinal will return to Los Angeles for the 2012 Pac-12 Tournament, set to be held March 7-10. The preliminary rounds will be held at USC’s Galen Center before moving to Staples Center for the semifinals and championship game on March 9 and 10.

The 2012 NCAA Tournament is set to begin with first-round games taking place on March 17 and 18 at pre-determined sites. The Final Four is scheduled for April 1 and 3, 2012 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo.

Times and dates on the Cardinal’s 2011-12 schedule are subject to change. The Pac-10 will be announcing the 2011-12 women’s basketball TV schedule in September. Please visit the women’s basketball home page on www.gostanford.com to check on continuing updates.

Jetted back from Springfield this morning after last night’s impressive ceremony in Springfield.

Might feel compelled to post a few parting thoughts once I’m back in California after I’ve had a few hours of sleep.

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-opinion/6858024/inductee-vanderveer-feels-right-home

My story for Pac-12.org on Tara VanDerveer’s Hall of Fame induction

Tara VanDerveer - Fast Break Club photo

http://www.pac-12.org/BasketballW/Tabid/1450/Article/136169/Once-In-A-Lifetime.aspx

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-opinion/6850675/tara-vanderveer-teresa-edwards-share-hall-fame-spotlight

Is Notre Dame-Texas A&M good for women’s basketball?

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6291412/questions-questions-indianapolis

Tara VanDerveer’s Hall of Fame enshrinement – espnW.com

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6290366/tara-vanderveer-honored-tough-morning

Tara on Pac-10.org

http://www.pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/223803/vanderveer-humbled-and-honored-to-be-in-naismith-hall-of-fame.aspx

And my girl Ann Killion on csnbayarea.com

http://www.csnbayarea.com/04/04/11/bKillionb-VanDerveers-only-regrets-are-f/landing_killion.html?blockID=497131&feedID=5878

Done with Disneyland. Boarding a red-eye at LAX. Indy in the morning!

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6277475/experienced-point-guards-pay-dividends-final-four-teams

Experienced point guards are the way to go this year: espnW

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6280539/final-four-coaches-players-learn-mesh-well

Stanford seniors and their fourth Final Four: Pac-10.org

http://www.pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/223598/cardinal-seniors-enjoy-fourth-final-four.aspx

Stanford-Texas A&M matchup story: gostanford.com

http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-baskbl/stan-w-baskbl-body.html

With a detour in Disneyland with the middle school band!

Mel Murphy closing her Stanford career.

http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/033111aab.html

Stanford seniors want to write a different ending at espnW

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6270560/stanford-cardinal-seniors-mission

Still working…

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6270500/five-storylines-watch-final-four

Kayla Pedersen - Deb Gumbley file photo

http://www.pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/223515/Like-A-Rock–Pedersen-A-Steady-Force-For-Stanford.aspx?bg=/Portals/7/DigArticle/223515/STAN_Pedersen_Kayla_2011-web.jpg

Stanford in the zone…gostanford.com

Photo by Don Feria - Stanford Athletics

http://www.gostanford.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/032911aaa.html

Ogwumike sisters dominate…espnW.com

http://espn.go.com/espnw/blog/_/post/6269039/nneka-chiney-ogwumike-provide-stamina-stanford-cardinal

Game recap…Pac-10.org

http://www.pac-10.org/News/tabid/863/Article/223407/Stanford-Overwhelms-Gonzaga,-Advances-To-Final-Four.aspx?bg=/Portals/7/DigArticle/223407/5517928371_3e3482f50a_b.jpeg

The Stanford senior tandem of Jeanette Pohlen and Kayla Pedersen talked to leftcoasthoops in the locker room about last night’s close win over North Carolina and what comes next.

Kayla Pedersen

Q: Did you feel relief after last night’s game?

A: Yeah, it was definitely a relief. We kind of feel like we dodged a bullet in some way. I mean, I always felt in control of the game, it was just a matter of what the score was going to be.

Q: On your last trip to Spokane, that regional semifinal game with Pittsburgh was kind of a slog as well, wasn’t it?

A: I didn’t really compare them, but at this stage, all the other No. 1 teams are having a hard time. They’ve all had close games. As you get later in the tournament, the separation between the teams is smaller and you have the darkhorses coming out and playing their best at the end of the season.

Q: After this, are you pretty confident in your team’s ability to win a close game?

A: Definitely. I think as long as we came out with a win, you have to take it and say that we willed that win. We really fought for it. That was the bottom line and that does give us some confidence that we can close out a close game.

Q: As a senior, how did you feel looking at the scoreboard last night. Were you wishing you guys had a more comfortable lead?

A: I never thought ‘Oh my gosh, this could be my last game, but after…I was like ‘Man, that was a little too close for comfort’. I would like to not experience that again. That didn’t go through my mind then.

Q: Don’t you guys need to shoot better tomorrow than you have been.

A: We do. I think that we’re saving them right now. That’s what we all keep saying to ourselves. We’re saving them.

Q: It’s going to be very loud. We’re you guys in the gym for the Gonzaga game?

A: Not for alot of it. Maybe two minutes. It will be fun. It was sold-out when we played them early in the year. We went to Tennessee, DePaul was crazy, Cal was really loud. We’re used to that and I think we kind of feed off of it too, people rooting against you makes you want it even more.

Jeanette Pohlen

Q: How are you feeling after last night? Relief?

A: Yes, but also just really excited. If the season ended last night, I think I would have been crushed. More than anything I was happy that we were going to get another chance, another game in. We want to go to the Final Four. It was a battle out there, it wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure. But like we’ve been saying, we found a way to win that game. People came out and made big plays and even in the last minute of the game, we made some defensive stops and make some big O-boards.

Q: Looking at last night’s stat sheet (Pohlen was 1 for 9 and 0-for-6 from beyond the arc), Tara’s always said you have amnesia, you need to have it now? Just move on?

A: That’s really all I can do, because if I dwell on it, that won’t be good for me or the team. Over all of this season, I’ve been shooting pretty well and I don’t think one game defines how I shoot. But I definitely want to come out and prove that I can shoot, not necessarily force it, but when I’m open, take it.

Q: There was a stretch (in the North Carolina game) where you didn’t shoot for a while? Were you looking to distribute the ball more?

A: In the second half we were really trying to go inside more and Nneka was really stepping up big. But yeah, the second half we were moving the ball alot more, and then hit whoever was posting up inside because it was usually a one-on-one. It wasn’t that I wasn’t looking for my shot, but other people were open.