Candice has signed to play professional basketball in Turkey with Besiktas.
She has arrived in Istanbul and passed the health check.
Two of her teammates in Istanbul are Cori Enghusen and Courtney Vandersloot.
If you'e like more news about the Turkish Women's Basketball League, see Jessica Lantz's story in Swish Appeal.
Eurobasket News reports that Jillian had a remarkable performance in round 10 of the Italian A1 League with a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds and continue, "Harmon is one of the most experienced players at Comense and has a reputation of one of team's most reliable players. She belongs to the best scorers in the league with 12.5ppg (#9). She also registers 9.2 boards per game (#3)." Jillian is also #8 in the league in steals per game (2.5).
Brooke's performance (18 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists) was deemed the sixth-best of the round. Brooke is #5 in the league in rebounds per game (8.0).
Brooke was named the Player of the Week by Eurobasket .com, the worldwide leader in basketball news.
She put on an amazing game in Comense's defeat of Familia Schio — a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Brooke averages 13 points and 8 rebounds per game, respectively #7 and #6 in the Italian A1 League.
Jillian had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists in that game and was named one of the top performing players of the week. She averages 10.4 rebounds per game, #4 in the league.
Comense is now standing third in the league with a 4-1 record.
Jennifer Azzi has been nominated for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Class of 2012.
Read more about Azzi's accomplishments and the Class of 2012 in this announcement from the University of San Francisco, where she is beginning her second year as head coach.
Candice has joined the Occidental College Women's Basketball staff as an assistant coach under fourth-year head coach Heidi VanDerveer.
Occidental is a liberal arts college in Los Angeles. Athletically it's a Division III school that plays in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Stanford Athletics caught up with Trisha Stevens Lamb before her induction into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame this weekend and discussed being part of Stanford women's basketball's rise to the national elite, her memories of The Farm and what she's up to these days. Read more...
In her spare time, Mel is coaching basketball at Team Esface, an athletic-based youth training and development organization.
By Dennis Punzel, Madison Sports:
The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team is moving to a different beat this season.
Most of the time that beat comes from the voice of new coach Bobbie Kelsey. Read more...
The 2011-2012 professional basketball season is well underway in Europe.
All the national club team leagues have begun play, and this is week 3 of EuroLeague Women, the highest international professional basketball league in Europe for women’s clubs.
Here is a report of nine (the most ever) Stanford alumnae who are playing abroad this season and one who may or may not be.
Kayla Pedersen ('11) begins her overseas career in Slovakia playing for Good Angels Kosice (Dobri Anjeli)
Good Angels is a strong team, which should be especially appreciated by Kayla after her unfortunate WNBA rookie season. They are a leading team in Extraliga, the Slovakian League, and are also playing in EuroLeague Women — for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.
In a preview of their Week 2 EuroLeague game, the opposing head coach said, "Good Angels Kosice is a team with a good cast of national team players. They play and compete a lot and have got an interesting rookie in Kayla Pedersen."
Here is an evaluation of Good Angels by Paul Nilsen, a European basketball journalist.
Jeanette Pohlen ('11) begins her overseas career in Turkey playing for Tarsus Belediyesi
Tarsus is in southern Turkey about 10 miles inland from the Mediterranean.
Tarsus plays in TKBL, the Turkish League. They've only played one regular season game so far — it was a good one for Jeanette, who started and had 10 points, 2 rebounds, an assist and 4 steals.
Jayne Appel ('10) is in Turkey playing for Samsun.
Samsun is on the coast of the Black Sea, about 450 miles east of Istanbul.
This is effectively Jayne's rookie overseas season. She had signed with Tarsus last season, but returned home to rehab her injuries before the season began.
Jayne is a starter for Samsun. She did very well in their first TKBL League game. She scored just 2 points, but had 11 rebounds.
Jillian Harmon ('09) is in Italy playing for Pool Comense for the third season.
Comense plays in the Italy A1 League. They finished sixth in the 12-team league last season, but have begun this season with two wins.
Cissy Pierce ('08) is in Germany for the fourth season. She has moved from Frankfurt to Berlin and is now playing for the Halle Lions.
Cissy was the top scorer in the German DBBL league in 2009-10, and the Lions were delighted to sign her to their team.
The Lions have begun poorly this season. They have won just one of five games. Cissy leads her team in scoring (16.4 ppg) and is second in rebounds (6.4 rpg).
Candice Wiggins ('08) is currently in Spain, leading her Overseas Experience Tour.
I have heard it rumored that she will play overseas later in the season, but I have seen no official announcement of her plans.
Kristen Newlin ('07) is in Turkey playing for Fenerbahce for the fourth season. (The name she's known by in Turkey is Nevin Nevlin.)
Fenerbahce is one of two teams that dominate Turkish women's basketball (the other is Galatasaray). It placed second in the TKBL League last season, was the league tournament champion for the sixth consectuive season and advanced to the quarter-final round of EuroLeague Women.
The team is playing in EuroLeague Women again, for the sixth consecutive season. European basketball journalist Paul Nilsen thinks that Fenerbahce has a great chance of being one of the tournament front-runners this season in spite of the worrying storm clouds that gathered off the court last summer, which he explains in his evaluation of the team.
Brooke Smith ('07) is back in Italy playing for Pool Comense after a season in France.
This is her fifth season of professional basketball, her third with Comense.
Nicole Powell ('04) is in Poland playing for Wisla Can-Pack for the second season, her eighth in professional basketball.
Wisla had an excellent 2010-11 season. It was #1 in the PLKK Polish League, the league tournament champion and advanced to the quarter-final round of EuroLeague Women.
The team is playing in EuroLeague Women again, for the eighth consecutive season. Paul Nilsen thinks that Wisla could be one of the most interesting teams in the competition this season. Here is his evaluation of the team.
Cori Enghusen ('02) is beginning her tenth season of professional basketball, her seventh in Turkey, but with a new team. She's back in Istanbul with Besiktas. (The name she's known by in Turkey is Korel Engin.)
Kayla, after a Good Angels Kosice game in Slovakia, comments on her team's performance.
Long-time Cardinal fans may remember Christy Hedgpeth (Stanford '94) as a member of Stanford's second national championship team. Or seeing her play for the ABL Seattle Reign for three years.
Before her professional and collegiate basketball careers, Christy was a stellar basketball player at Westchester Academy in Davdison County, North Carolina.
Last night she was inducted into the Davidson County Sports Hall of Fame. Read more...
An earlier article in The-Dispatch that included bios of the prospective inductees had this to say of Christy's accomplishments:
Sometimes you never know where greatness will reveal itself. And sometimes, it comes from unexpected places.Thomasville’s Christy Hedgpeth had a stellar basketball career at High Point’s generally overlooked Westchester Academy, where she scored a career high of 3,131 points from 1986 to 1990.
Indeed, as a 5-foot-10 sharpshooting guard, she helped guide the Wildcats to a 26-2 record and a 1-A independent school state championship in 1990. She was named The Dispatch All-Davidson County Player of the Year while averaging 32.2 points per game, 12 rebounds per game, as well as six assists and five steals per game.
She was also the Guilford County player of the year and the recipient of The Winston-Salem Journal’s Mary Garber Award for top female basketball player.
She was also Westchester’s Female Scholar Athlete of the Year from 1987 through 1990.
A talented athlete, Hedgpeth also excelled on the tennis court where she was named the team’s most valuable player from 1987 through 1990. She also won a doubles state title in both 1988 and 1989.
Heavily recruited by major college basketball programs, including Duke and Wake Forest, Hedgpeth elected to attend Stanford University on a full scholarship. Good choice. The team made it to the NCAA Final Four in 1991 and won the NCAA championship in 1992.
She was ESPN’s ESPY nomination for women’s basketball player of the year in 1992. In addition, she was All-PAC-10 in 1994 and the team captain that year. She scored 1,387 career points for the Cardinal.
She played for the Seattle Reign of the American Basketball League from 1996-1998.
Hedgpeth is now living in Baltimore, Md., where she is the senior director of marketing for Under Armour.
Ros has returned from Nigeria and resumed her sports broadcasting career. Her promo reel shows highllghts of her first year broadcasting as a Color Commentator and as a Studio Analyst.
Candice contributed three of six 3-pointers, five rebounds, two assists and a steal tonight as the Minnesota Lynx swept the Atlanta Dream and won their first WNBA championship! Read more...
Ros' excellent adventure ended today as Nigeria lost to Mali 62-71.
In the championship game, Angola upset Senegal 62-54.
So Angola will play in the 2012 Olympics; Senegal and Mali will contend for one of the remaining five slots; and Ros' basketball career is probably over.
From a report of the first semifinal of Afrobasket Women 2011: "Not even the vociferous fans and top government functionary could save the host Mali from losing to determined Angola by 51-56 points."
The only thing reported so far of the second semifinal is that Nigeria lost to Senegal 63-89.
So Mali and Nigeria will compete tomorrow for the bronze medal and an opportunity to compete for a spot in the 2012 Olympics. I expect that the vociferous fans and government functionaries will still be rooting for Mali. Good luck, Ros!
Nigeria defeated Mozambique 77-49 today in the quarterfinals of Afrobasket Women 2011 and advance to the semifinals where they will play reigning champion Senegal tomorrow. This brief report of today's game reveals that Ros was not one of the top scorers.
Nigeria and Senegal met earlier on the first day of the preliminary round. Senegal won that game 86-62.
The other two winners today were Angola, who defeated Nigeria 67-60 in the preliminary round, and highly-favored host Mali.
Ros and Helene Ogunjimi on defense against Angola in preliminary round game
Ros's African adventure continues next weekend.
The preliminary round of Afrobasket Women 2011 finished today. Nigeria defeated Rwanda 59-49. They placed third in their group with a 3-2 record, so advance to the quarterfinal round.
The remaining rounds of the competition are "one and done", and it's going to be a rigorous weekend — quarterfinals on Friday, semifinals on Saturday and finals on Sunday. Remember that there's a lot at stake in this competition; the winner qualifies for the 2012 Olympic Games
There's not much coverage of African women's basketball on the internet. I've been able to find box scores for just the first two of Nigeria's five games. Although Nigeria lost its first game to reigning champion Senegal, Ros's performance was outstanding. She made four of five three-point attempts and led her team with 16 points. In the second game (a 60-31 victory over Guinea), she scored just five points, but also had four rebounds and three assists.
There aren't many photos either. This is the only one I found of a Nigerian game. Is that Ros peeking out in the middle?
This one is definitely Ros — in her ceremonial gown at the All-Africa Games earlier this month.
Listen to Jeanette on the indianapolis RadioNow morning show, as she talks about the Indiana Fever's upcoming game in the Eastern Conference finals, the transition from Cali to Indianapolis, and being considered a hottie!
Brooke's hometown newspaper, the Marin Independent Journal, has published a nice report on how she's enjoying life as a professional basketball player. Read more...
Earlier this summer, Brooke's team, Pool Comense, reported on her return to the team after a season in France. Read more...
Jake Curtis reviews how the WNBA season went for Kayla, Jayne and Nicole and is still going on for Jeanette and Candice in this article.
Trisha Stevens ('91) is one of the nine new members that Stanford will induct into the University's Athletic Hall of Fame.
A member of Stanford's 1990 NCAA championship-winning team, Stevens was a two-time first team All-Pac-10 selection. She led the 1990 national champion Cardinal in both scoring (17.6) and field goal percentage (54.9) and also grabbed 5.9 rebounds per game. She made 117 starts over her Stanford career and ranked second on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,649 points at the time of her graduation. She also ranked second in career scoring average (13.5), field goal percentage (53.4) and was third in free throw percentage (79.5). She was a member of USA Basketball's U-18 National team in 1989 and twice was named to the NCAA All-Regional team.
All of the inductees will be honored at a private reception and dinner at McCaw Hall in the Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center on Friday, Nov. 11 beginning at 6:00 p.m. The class will also be introduced at halftime of Stanford's football game against Oregon on Nov 12.
In addition, Trisha will be honored by Stanford Women's Basketball at halftime of the game against Gonzaga on Sunday, Nov 13.
The New Zealand women's basketball team will have to go through a tough qualifying tournament next year if they wish to make their fourth consecutive Olympic Games.
New Zealand lost all three games of the Oceania Olympic women's basketball qualifying series to Australia:
77-64, Recap, Stats
92-73, Recap, Stats
82-57, Recap, Stats
Jillian was a strong defensive force for the Tall Ferns with the team-high 20 rebounds. She scored in double-digits in each of the three games and was the Tall Ferns' third-best scorer.
Jillian may have tried another sport while the Tall Ferns were in Sydney for the third game of the series.
The Nigerian women's basketball team won their quarter-final game against Rwanda 71-63, then lost the semi-final game 70-55 to Angola.
Reaching the Final Four was a major accomplishment for the Lady Tigers, who are trying to return to former glories. Nigeria won the FIBA Africa Championship for Women in 2003 and 2005, as well as the All Africa Games in 2003. But since that 2005 gold, the medals have dried up for Nigeria and they have not competed at a major global tournament in the last five years.
The next event of Ros's African adventures is AfroBasket Women, which will take place in Mali later this month (Sep 23 - Oct 2). The winner of that tournament will qualify for the 2012 Olympics.
The photo was taken a week ago at the opening ceremony of the All-Africa games in Mozambique. This is a multi-sport competition in which 48 African nations participate.
Wikipedia reports that the Nigerian women's basketball team has won three of four games in the preliminary round and has advanced to the quarter-finals which will take place tomorrow.
Here's another great story about Candice's indomitable spirit — by Jeffrey Williams (Sportspage Magazine).
There hasn't been much media coverage of Candice, the basketball player, this season as she continues to work her way back from her Achille's tendon injury.
But all her hard work is paying off.
Roman Augustovis (Star Tribune) writes: "Overcoming her injury problems of a year ago, Candice Wiggins is back to being a dangerous outside shooter off the bench for the Lynx." Read more...
Joseph Staszewski (New York Post) writes about three former New York high school basketball players who are members of the Nigerian national team that is hoping to compete in the 2012 Olympic games.
Adeola Olanrewaju quickly learned this was going to be a different go around with the Nigerian women’s national basketball team.
At the team’s tryouts in July, the former all-city standout at Bishop Loughlin, who made the squad for the third time, was approached by one of her new teammates. Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, a former Archbishop Molloy and Stanford star, recognized Olanrewaju and told her she was a fan growing up. Read more...
Jeanette & Kayla played against each other yesterday for the second time this season — a good time to check up and see how they're doing.
During the game, they were even matched up against each other for stretches in the second half.
"That was awesome and I'm glad we got to guard each other too for a while," Kayla said. "She's doing so well for them and it's so great to see her out there."
Jeanette is coming off the bench for the Indiana Fever and is playing an average of 19 minutes per game.
In her report on Friday's game, Mechelle Voepel (ESPN) says that Jeanette has done exactly what head coach Lin Dunn hoped she would — shoot effectively coming off the bench. She has made 24 of 46 attempts from beyond the arc for an average of 0.522, which is the best in the league! She ranks #16 in 3-pointers per game.
Mechelle Voepel says that Kayla has been one of the Tulsa Shock's bright spots in a bleak (1-18) 2011 season.
She has started in all but three games this season and plays an average of 30 minutes per game (#19 in the league). She averages 9.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.47 steals (#9 in the league) per game.
Jayne, writing for espnW, describes life on the road as a WNBA player.
She say that life on the road can be a challemge, but playing in front of different family and friends is something she really enjoys. Read more...
John Reid (Palo Alto Daily News) brings us up to date on Melanie Murphy, who has begun to fulfill her lifelong ambition to make money — lots of it — with a job in Palo Alto as an investment advisor. Read more...
I don't know if Ros said, "Well, it's worth a try." But she must have said something to that effect as she tried out for the Nigerian National Women's Basketball Team and a chance to play in the 2012 Olympics. It was definitely worth a try — she was named a member of the team yesterday.
The Nigerian National Team will compete in Belgium and France this summer before going to Mali for the AfroBasket Women tournament from Sept 23 to Oct 2.
The winner of that tournament will qualify for the 2012 Olympics. The 2nd and 3rd place finishers will qualify for the 2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, a 12-team tournament that will take place in June/July 2012. The top five teams will earn a place in the Olympic Basketball Tournament.
There could be as many as five Stanford alumnae playing in the 2012 Olympics.
The USA Basketball National Team has already qualified for the 2012 Olympics by virtue of winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Jayne Appel and Candice Wiggins are on the 24-member national team roster as of April 26, The selection of the Olympics team will be made sometime next year.
Kristen Newlin is a member of the Turkish National Team, which has qualified for 2012 Olympics Qualifying Tournament by virtue of taking 2nd place in the EuroBasket Women tournament last month.
Jillian Harmon is a member of the New Zealand National Team, which will compete in the FIBA Oceania Tournament Sept 7-11. The winner will qualify for the 2012 Olympics. The runner-up will qualify for the 2012 Olympics Qualifying Tournament
By Jim Paulsen (Minneapolis Star Tribune):
What should have been the bleakest time in Candice Wiggins' basketball life turned out to be far brighter than even she could have hoped ...
But it didn't take long for her to start thinking that her glass wasn't just half-full, it was spilling over the edges ...
The time off helped her see past her basketball career and get a feel for what the next chapter in her life might be.
Nate Parham (Swish Appeal) presents his pick of the top 10 rookies in the WNBA after one month of play.
He ranks Kayla as #1, with this overall evaluation: Every single player on this list does something better than Pedersen: defensively, passing, rebounding or shooting. So as usual, it's easy to overlook Kayla Pedersen, only made easier because she's playing on the team with the worst record in the league right now. But here's the thing about Pedersen: there isn't much she doesn't do. Pedersen is proving that she's exactly what she was at Stanford: the ultimate teammate.
He ranks Jeanette as #8 because of her scoring efficiency and three-point shooting.
Turkey couldn't keep up with a very strong Russian team and lost 42-59 in the EuroBasket 2011 championship game.
Not quite making it all the way is disappointing, as Cardinal fans well know. But, still, what a run for the Turkish team, who had never before even made it to the final eight. As New twittered, "Proud to bring home the silver. #goturkiye"
Here is the game card.
The second-place finish qualifies Turkey to compete in the 2012 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, a 12-team tournament that will take place in June/July 2012. The top five teams will earn a place in the 2012 Olympic Basketball Tournament.
Listen to New's reaction to Turkey's victory over France in this video from FIBA
Turkey defeated reigning champion France 68-62 in overtime in their semifinal game of EuroBasket Women 2011.
New was declared the game hero: "Nevin Nevlin (Kristin's Turkish name) was restored into the Turks' starting line-up to nullify the power of the French. It was the perfect tactic and she delivered 23 points and 8 rebounds."
Here is the game card, which includes a game highlights video as well as the usual game report, box score and play-by-play.
Turkey will play Russian for the gold medal on Sunday July 3 at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time. You can watch the game online here
These are exciting times for the Turkish National Team and one of its members, Kristen Newlin. They are playing in EuroBasket Women, a bi-annual competition between European national teams that also serves as a qualifying tournament for the FIBA World Championship for Women and the Olympic Games.
On Monday, Turkey advanced to the quarterfinal round for the first time in the 61-year history of the competition. Today, they defeated Montenegro 56-44 and advanced to the semifinals. Here is the game card (game report, box score and play-by-play).
New scored 11 points along with seven rebounds, two assists and a block.
Of the quarterfinal game, New said, "Montenegro really put their country on the map with the way they ran through the tournament. But we came in very focused. We always knew we had a chance and as long as we have a chance we will keep fighting. We don't want it to end."
She was less restrained in her twitter, "Ohhhhh Turkiye!!! Final 4 baby!!"
Turkey will play France in the semifinals on July 1 at 18:30 GMT (11:30 a.m. PST). You can watch the game online here. The other two semifinalists are Russia and the Czech Republic. The bronze and gold medal games will be played on July 3.
Tom Reitmann, writing for the Indiana Fever reports that coach Linn Dunn says, "The broadest measure of success for the Indiana Fever's bench players is whether they are providing “positive energy” when inserted in the lineup."
He goes on to say of Jeanette:
For Pohlen, the only rookie on the Fever roster, finding instant energy is the goal. Her decorated career at Stanford prepared her for many, but not all, aspects of the WNBA.Jeanette sealed the Fever's win against the New York Liberty on Sunday night by sinking two free throws in the last five seconds of the game. Read more in this Indianapolis Star game report.At the professional level, the game is faster and the players are more aggressive. WNBA offenses rely heavily on pick-and-roll maneuvers instead of the motion and five-player screening that Stanford used in its triangle attack.
But the injury to Katie Douglas compelled Pohlen to do some fast, on-the-job learning.
“It kind of goes to show that you have to be ready for anything at any time,” said Pohlen, who has hit 8-of-11 field goal attempts and 7-of-8 3-point tries in the past two games.
The Tall Ferns lost all three games of the first round of the Four Nations Tournament by fairly narrow margins. They lost 70-77 to China, 74-79 to Australia, and 62-73 to Brazil.
Jillian was the leading scorer for the Tall Ferns in the first two games with 19 points against China and 21 against Australia. She was New Zealand's second-best scorer against Brazil with 14 points.
The second round of the tournament began better for the Tall Ferns — they upset China 83-82. Jillian was again the top scorer with 18 points and eight rebounds. Read more...
Kayla is playing major productive minutes for the Tulsa Shock. In the first seven games of her professional career, she's averaged 31 minutes, 11 points, five rebounds and three assists per game.
Read more in this post by Jessica Lantz in Swish Appeal.
