Cardinal rule

Sporting News, The, Feb 13, 1995 by Leslie Gibson McCarthy

Midway through the second half of a Pacific 10 Conference game against California, Stanford freshman Kristin Folkl grabs a rebound and throws a length-of-the-court, perfectly timed pass to sophomore Kate Starbird, who scores an easy layup.

The crowd of 7,077 at Maples Pavilion roars its approval.

Only 20 seconds later, Folkl grabs another rebound, throws another length-of-the-court, perfectly timed pass to Starbird, and again Starbird scores on an easy layup.

The crowd of 7,077 at Maples Pavilion goes wild.

The four points in 28 seconds make the score 66-42. The Cardinal were pulling away from Cal, a team they would go on to blow out, 99-65. But Folkl and Starbird's double play wasn't the only crowd-pleaser of the night. There was Starbird's behind-the-back dribble late in the second half as she drove in the lane and ended up with two points. There was a long pass from senior Rachel Hemmer to junior Bobbie Kelsey, who made a tip pass to Starbird in one fluid motion. There was the physical, aggressive rebounding of Olympia Scott, whose 12 rebounds led the team.

This was the Big Time - a perennial top 10 team, a squad full of high school All-Americans, a sellout crowd, pep bands and mascots and ESPN cameras.

Everything but Dick Vitale.

But who needs Dickie V when you have Nancy Lieberman Cline?

In Starbird, Coach Tara VanDerveer has an emerging star who leads the team in points and assists. Hemmer and senior Anita Kaplan were all-conference last season. Senior Kate Paye has an eye for defense and Kelsey a shooting touch. They're so deep, it's scary.

Stanford has won two national titles and could be on the way to another. The reason: VanDerveer and her staff recruited one of the most heralded freshman classes in college basketball since five guys named Rose, Howard, Webber, Jackson and King went to Michigan in 1991.

Stanford's recruits are not only good, they're big. Besides Folkl, a 6-foot-2 forward, and Scott, a 6-2 forward, there is 6-2 Heather Owen; 6-0 Regan Freuen; 6-3 Naomi Mulitauapele (pronounced MOO-lee-ta-wa-oh-peh-leh); and 6-7 Chandra Benton, who was redshirted. Redshirt freshman Vanessa Nygaard, an aggressive 6-foot forward, also contributes, and all are seeing significant playing time. Scott has started every game this season, and as a group the freshmen average 11.6 minutes a game playing time.

"The recruiting class she brought in was just amazing," Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt says. "Tara and her staff have done a great job going out and getting some of the top players in the country."

The Six Pack -- as they call themselves -- are one reason Stanford will remain among college basketball's elite until, oh, about the next century. As of last Sunday, the Cardinal were 17-2 -- with an average margin of victory of 34.5 points -- although they saw a 15-game winning streak broken Saturday in a loss at Oregon State. That didn't concern VanDerveer too much, however. She thinks it will help her team in the long run.

"We haven't been at the right pace," VanDerveer says. "Winning games by 30, 40, 50 points is not realistic. Those won't help us as much as this loss will."

The other loss was a 105-69 pounding December 1 by then-no.1 Tennessee in Knoxville -- early enough in the season to be looked upon as a learning experience rather than a cause for concern.

Stanford is still a good bet for a top seed in the West in the NCAA Tournament and the coaching staff says this can be the season the Cardinal take home their third title. "We have the talent the depth, the chemistry and the work habits," assistant Julie Plank says. "I look at the reasons we won it all before, and this team has it."

VanDerveer places a lot of value on the team's depth and chemistry. "Other top 10 teams have comparable size that we have," VanDerveer says. "We're dealing with situations that on other teams, you'd have a lot of grousing. But people are putting the team's success first that kind of unselfishness will take our team a long way."

That's the kind of team Cardinal fans, who pack Maples Pavilion game after game, have come to expect Maybe it's the style of play that keeps bringing the fans back -- behind-the-back passes and between-the-leg dribbles; the run-and-gun, the fast break, the full-court passes, the contact inside the lane. Get the pass and turn and shoot -- quick! -- because she's in my face. The statistics prove it Before the road trip to Oregon, the Cardinal were fourth in the nation in scoring (87.9 points per game), third in scoring margin (28.0) and third goal percentage (50.1 percent)

Why Stanford? How did this San Francisco Bay-area campus become a Mecca for the masterful, a training ground for the young and talented? Never mind its beautiful campus with some of the finest facilities in the country. Ask the freshmen why they decided on Stanford and to a woman they cite academics.

"Women don't have the same opportunities (as men do) to play after college," Benton says. "I wanted to make sure I had a good education to fall back on."

There are no stars in these players' eyes. They know most women do not get agents or shoe contracts, and they must invest in other areas of their lives, which means education. For female athletes, college is not a means to an end; college is the end. That's why Stanford attracts so many blue-chip players. It's the total package -- education and athletics.