Gonzaga Looking For Benchmark Win Sunday
12/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Matt Breach
Special to GoZags.com
SPOKANE, Wash. - Over the last half decade, few basketball programs in the West can match the sustained success of Gonzaga. Conference championships, Sweet Sixteens, even an Elite Eight - yes, the Bulldogs have just about done it all.
Yet for all the Bulldogs have accomplished in recent years, they may still not be able to claim Left Coast supremacy. That distinction, according to Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves, rightly belongs to Stanford.
"That is the team we're chasing," Graves said, "and someday I hope we can catch them."
Graves and his players will get their chance Sunday, when they host the top-ranked Cardinal. Tipoff for the sold out non-conference tilt is slated for 2 p.m. at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
"It's a great opportunity, not necessarily because they're the No. 1 team," Graves said, "but because it's Stanford and they are the standard by which everybody in the West is judged."
The unbeaten Cardinal ascended to the top of the polls after upsetting defending national champion Baylor in mid-November. It's the first time the Cardinal have held the top spot since 2005.
"Being No. 1 now is just an opinion, it's not a fact," Stanford coach Tara Vanderveer said. "So if you want to make it a fact, then you've got to keep working hard and make that happen in April."
In recent years, whenever April has rolled around, Stanford has typically found itself in a good position. The Cardinal have advanced to the Final Four each of the last five seasons and 10 times overall with Vanderveer at the helm. The venerable coach has also guided the Cardinal to two national championships during her 27-year tenure.
"I think over the last four or five years, we are clearly the two best programs on the West Coast in that span," Graves said.
The Bulldogs, though, are still searching for a breakthrough against Stanford. They have lost all four matchups with the Cardinal, including a 76-61 decision in California last season when they ceded a slim halftime lead.
The closest of the three meetings between the schools came in November of 2010, when Gonzaga suffered a six-point setback in Spokane despite 24 points from Courtney Vandersloot. The teams clashed again later that season in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, with Stanford cruising by the Bulldogs. The Cardinal also eased past the Zags during the inaugural encounter in 2009.
Sunday's edition of this budding rivalry will mark the first time Gonzaga has hosted a team ranked this high.
"They're the No. 1 team in the country," Gonzaga guard Taelor Karr said. "You don't need much more to get your blood flowing, to get your adrenaline going. I think, definitely when the day comes, we're going to be very, very excited and I think we'll be prepared as well."
The young Zags enter the contest with a 6-1 record. Much of their success, to this point, is attributable to their defense. They are holding opponents to 56 points per game on 40-percent shooting. They're also forcing nearly 21 turnovers per game.
The Bulldogs will need to be especially stingy against Stanford. The Cardinal are averaging almost 79 points per outing thanks to precise shooting. Collectively, they are draining nearly 53 percent of their field goal attempts. Leading the charge is junior forward Chiney Ogwumike, who is averaging 19.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.
"She has just an amazing motor and never stops," Graves said. "She is the best rebounder in the country, it's not even close."
Ogwumike is one of three players averaging double-figure points for Stanford. Joslyn Tinkle, the sister of Gonzaga freshman Elle Tinkle, is second on the team at 18.2 points per game while Amber Orrange is good for 13.0 per contest.
The average margin of victory this season for Stanford, which was 6-0 entering Friday night's game with UC Davis, has been 23 points. The lone test for the Cardinal was the two-point triumph over Brittney Griner and Baylor.
"We are really trying to make a name for ourselves now," Elle Tinkle said. "We're hoping this game will show that we're a competitive team that could easily be in one of the top-contending spots."
Nothing could make a stronger case than knocking off the No. 1 team in the country.
NOTES - Gonzaga University and Campus Kitchen will hold a food drive Sunday during the Bulldogs' battle with top-ranked Stanford. Fans are asked to bring non-perishable food items to the game to help local families in need during the holiday season. Fans who make a donation will have a chance to win an autographed basketball, autographed jersey and tickets to an upcoming women's basketball game.
