Alumnae abroad 2014-15

Eleven Stanford alumnae have signed contracts with professional basketball teams in Europe and Australia for the 2014-15 winter season.

The regular season has begun in all the countries in which Stanford alumnae will be playing. Three of the Stanford alumnae will also be playing in EuroLeague Women, the premier international professional basketball league in Europe for women’s clubs. EuroLeague play began yesterday (November 5).

These six Stanford alumnae have played abroad in the past few seasons, but are not playing this season:

Jeanette Pohlen ('11) is rehabbing from the torn Achilles tendon she suffered in May 2014.

Jayne Appel ('10) earned her Master's degree in Business and Management while she was playing pro ball. Her Tweets suggest that she has moved to New York for the winter. Perhaps she is beginning a career associated with her MBA or perhaps she is focussing on being an advocate for equality issues and mental health awareness. At any rate, there has been no report of her signing a contract for the 2014-15 season.

Michelle Harrison ('10) is coaching basketball in Denver, but she no longer plays basketball due to recurring serious knee problems,

Candice Wiggins ('08) is ??? There is no post-WNBA schedule info in Candice's website, so I don't know what she is doing now. She went to Israel to play pro ball in late November last season. She may yet show up overseas in 2014-15, but there has been no report of her signing a contract yet.

Brooke Smith ('07) is studying to be a Physicians Assistant at Stanford.

Nicole Powell ('04) is an assistant coach to Kelly Graves at the University of Oregon.

These are the eleven women that are playing this season:

Chiney Ogwumike ('14) is in Italy, playing for Famila Schio.

Schio is in northern Italy, about 60 miles northwest of Venice [map].

Chiney has made a dazzling start in her overseas career! In Schio's first six games of the regular season, she's tallied four double-doubles (22-16, 22-15, 37-13 and 23-13). She's averaging 25.3 points on 72.8% shooting, 12 rebounds, 4.2 steals, 1.8 blocks and 0.7 assists per game. She leads the Italian Serie A1 league in scoring and steals and is second in rebounds and blocks.

Chiney and Kayle got together when Lucca hosted Schio the second game of the season.

Famila Schio is playing in EuroLeague Women for the seventh consecutive season. Its best finish to-date is seventh place. Its first game is today (November 6).

The FIBA EuroLeague Women profile of Famila Schio includes:

Chiney Ogwumike is likely to be the go-to player this season. The number one WNBA draft pick is a dominant force in the frontcourt ...

Headline Writer: There is no doubt that Ogwumike is going to be the centrepiece for Schio this season and has already demonstrated this during the first few weeks of the Italian League season. Plus, there is the exciting possibility of her playing against her sister later in the competition who is representing Dynamo Kursk - a headline in itself.

In Just Ten Words: Anything is possible with power of Ogwumike and veteran experience.

Mikaela Ruef ('13) is in Sydney, Australia, playing for the Sydney Uni Flames.

Mikaela is the starting power forward for the Flames. In their first four games, she's averaged 10.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists. She hasn't launched any 3-pointers yet, but she's been fouled a lot and has made 68% of her free throws.

Mikaela is enjoying Australia and her new team. She had this to say in an interview on a WNBL (Australian League) radio show:

Q. Was the call to come to Sydney completely cold?
A. I'm not exactly sure how my agent found it out, but once I realized I had a chance to come, I jumped all over it. I definitely wanted to come to Australia. It's a great country. Everyone speaks English so it made the transition a bit easier. So yeah, it was a no-brainer — easy choice.

Q. You and Paris Johnson [San Diego State] are Sydney's imports this year. How is that working out?
A. Paris is awesome. We're roommates. She cooks for me sometimes — she's a good chef. And I love playing with her; we work really well together. So it's been good so far.

Q. Is it different playing here?
A. It's a much quicker game here [than in college]. People like shooting 3s and running a lot, so I think it suits my game a little better. College was fun, but I like this. It's more exciting with the quick run and shoot we play here.

If you want to listen to Mikaela, the radio broadcast is here. Mikaela's interview begins at about 04:15.

Joslyn Tinkle ('13) is in Turkey, playing for Canik.

Canik plays in Samsun, which is on the coast of the Black Sea, about 500 miles east of Istanbul [map].

Jos is the starting shooting forward for Canik. In their first two games, she's averaged 16.5 points on 67% shooting, and 4.0 rebounds.

Sarah Boothe ('12) is in Poland, playing for Widzew Lodz.

Lodz is right smack in the middle of Poland [map],

This is Sarah's second season with Widzew. She's their starting center. In their first five games, she has led the team in scoring (13.2), rebounding (7.8) and blocks (1.6).

Nneka Ogwumike ('12) is in Russia, playing for Dynamo Kursk.

Kursk is in southwestern Russia, about 330 miles south of Moscow [map]

Russia is four games into the regular season. Their season began just over two weeks after the FIBA Women's World Chanmpionship, and Nneka got off to a slow start. But she soon picked up the pace and is currently averaging 18.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. She's the leading scorer in the Russian PBL league.

Dynamo Kursk is playing in EuroLeague Women for the first time. It will play its first game next week.

The FIBA EuroLeague Women profile of Dynamo Kursk includes:

There is excitement with recent USA gold medallist Nnemkadi Ogwumike coming into the power forward slot ...

Headline Writer: Ogwumike is back in EuroLeague Women and could be about to remind us all of the great attitude and displays she posted during her first stint when at CCC Polkowice. She has the ability to be a difference-maker and a real consistent threat.

Kayla Pedersen ('11) is in Italy, playing for Lucca.

Lucca is a beautiful old walled city in western Italy, just 11 miles from Pisa [map]

Kayla is the starting power forward for Lucca. After their first five games, she leads the team in scoring (13.8), rebounds (8.2) and blocks (0.6). She has tallied two double-doubles (15-14 and 23-13).

Unfortunately, the team announced on November 2 that Kayla has injured her knee:

The company Basketball Le Mura stated that the response of recent findings that underwent the player Kayla Pedersen showed rupture of the anterior tibial spine consists of the right knee.

The recovery time for this type of injury ranging from 4 to 5 weeks. As soon as the knee permits, Kayla will begin rehabilitation under the supervision of medical staff.

The injury is not an ACL tear. It's an injury to the area where the ACL attaches to the tibia (read more) and is apparently not season-ending.

Jillian Harmon ('09) is in Australia, playing for the Townsville Fire.

After five years in Italy, Jillian has moved to Australia. Townsville is on the northwest coast of Australia, on the Coral Sea, about 200 miles south of Cairns and 1300 miles north of Sydney [map].

Townsville has won its first three games and is leading the WNBL League. Jillian is Townsville's starting shooting forward. She has averaged 6.0 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Cissy Pierce ('08) is in Germany, playing for Marburg.

Cissy's playing time has been cut short in past seasons by shoulder and foot injuries. She was able to play only five games last season. But she's back for 2014-15, her sixth season in Germany.

Marburg is in central Germany, about 60 miles north of Frankfurt [map].

The German regular season began late in September and is about 1/3 of the way through. Cissy starts as shooting guard for Marburg. After seven games, she's averaging 6.4 points and 4.0 rebounds.

Kristen Newlin/Nevin Nevlin('07) is in Istanbul, Turkey [map], playing for Istanbul Universitesi.

This is New's eighth season of playing professional basketball in Turkey. She's still in Istanbul, but after six seasons with Fenerbahce, she's now playing for the University team. Her husband, Emre Vatansever (they married this summer at Stanford) is the assistant coach at Galatasaray, which is also in Istanbul.

Universitesi has played two regular season games. New did not play in either one.

Sebnem Kimyacioglu ('05) is in Istanbul, Turkey [map], playing for Galatasaray.

Seb played in Turkey for three seasons after graduating from Stanford. Then she took four seasons off from basketball to study for her law degree. Since earning her degree, she has chosen basketball over a law career, and has returned to Galatasaray for the third consecutive season.

Galatasaray has played two regular season games. Seb only played in the first one, and there's nothing significant to report about her performance.

Galatasaray has returned to FIBA EuroLeague Women for the 15th season. It won the championship last season. It played its first game of this season yesterday and lost to BLMA (Montpelier, France) 59-65; Seb did not play.

The FIBA EuroLeague Women profile of Galatasaray includes:

Sebnem Kimyacioglu will forever be linked with the historic night in Russia after stepping off the bench to drain two huge triples and she also returns.

Cori Enghusen/Korel Engin ('02) is in Turkey , playing for Hatay.

This is Cori's thirteenth season of professional basket ball, her tenth in Turkey. Hatay is a new team for Cori. It's located in deep southeastern Turkey, just 10 miles from the Syrian border [map].

Hatay has played two regular season games. Cori only played in the first one, and there's nothing significant to report about her performance.