Lynx star Brittany McPhee shares sunny Christmas with twin Jordan



Athletic twins, basketballer Brittany McPhee with her sister Jordan, who is a track and field champion.Picture: Sharon Smith The West Australian





Twins Brittany and Jordan McPhee have lived in each other’s pockets for most of their lives.

But tomorrow will be one of the rare times when Jordan has watched Brittany playing basketball from the grandstand.

Raised in Seattle, the McPhees were inseparable as children.

They shared a bedroom, went to girl scouts and played basketball, tennis and soccer while growing up. 

But after graduating from Mount Ranier High School, the pair went to college almost 1400km apart.

Brittany’s outstanding basketball performances at Stanford University led to her being recruited by the Perth Lynx. 

Jordan switched colleges and sports this year, focusing on athletics while studying for her masters in business administration at Gonzaga University. 

A 1500m runner, Jordan flew to Australia last week and will spend the next month in Perth.

“It’s exciting to just be hanging out again,” Brittany said.

“We only saw each other for a couple of weeks per year at college. We’re used to being apart now and we still talk a lot but it will be good to get a solid month together. It’s super nice. 

“I haven’t been lumped in as a twin for a while. I’d like to get back to that. I miss it.”

Having come from America’s winter, Jordan is relishing Perth’s sunshine. 

The Lynx play and practise just 500m from the WA Athletics Stadium, which provides Jordan with the opportunity to watch her sister while still training. The 22-year-olds are eagerly anticipating their first summer Christmas and intend to soak up the beach while their family are shivering in America.

But Christmas pales in comparison to Jordan’s excitement at finally getting to see Brittany playing for Perth. She said tomorrow’s match against the Sydney Uni Flames would be a special moment.

“Watching her play is one of my favourite things,” she said.

“I haven’t played with her since high school and that was so much fun. Watching her play is the next best thing. I could never beat her at basketball. I was always better at running.”

Christina Bastastini (2000) returns to High School coaching

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WOONSOCKET – The two newest additions to the Mount Saint Charles Academy coaching staff don’t have much in common, but one thing’s for certain:


They have a strong admiration for the school that they will serve as head coaches.
For Christina Batastini, who will take over this winter as the girls’ basketball coach, her admiration began last winter, when during her daughter Ryanne’s Catholic Athletic League game in the Mounties’ gymnasium, she took a good look at the facility and the rest of the campus and was impressed with what she encountered.
For Drew Brissette, who will take the field next spring as the softball coach, he admired the school from afar, when as a teenager in North Smithfield, he privately “envied” the school and his friends who attended it. He wore the Northmen’s Green & Gold as a baseball player during his freshman and sophomore years, but now he’s anxious to don the Mounties’ Red, White, & Blue.
When it comes to high school girls’ basketball in Rhode Island, Batastini is one of the all-time legends. One of the greatest players to take the court in this state, the 1996 graduate of Classical High, who was a Parade Magazine and a Nike All-American) continued her hoop career at Stanford University, where she starred on three Pac-10 championship teams, and played professionally for four seasons in Europe (in Italy, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland).
After finishing her career as a practice player for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, she turned her attention to coaching. She started out as an assistant coach at Brown University, before spending seven seasons as the head coach of the Lincoln School. Under her guidance, the Lynx went from a winless team to a four-time Southeastern New England champion. She stepped down after the 2012 season and focused on coaching her daughter’s hoop teams, which ranged from ages 5-9, as well as operating her Batastini School of Basketball, which offers state-wide camps, team clinic, and individual instruction.
She didn’t think she’d be coaching on the high school level again, but when she visited the campus again, as well as met with the school’s president, Alan Tenreiro, and athletic director Ray Leveille, who was last season’s head coach before stepping down to take over as Mount’s full-time A.D., she knew she really wanted the job.
“It really sounded like they had a sustainable plan for the future of their students,” she recalled. “It was exciting and it was something I wanted to be a part of. And my daughter is in fourth grade, so the timing was really important to me that I coach at a school that she could possibly attend someday.
“She visited the school and loved it, and it really felt like a good fit, not only for our family, but in terms of their vision for what they want their athletic programs to look like.”
“Christina has succeeded as a player and coach at every level: professional, college, high school, and scholastic,” Tenreiro said in a press release. “Between her athletic and academic accomplishments, she embodies the student-athlete ideal we encourage at Mount Saint Charles. Our girls team has a strong winning tradition, and we’re confident they’ll have even more success under Christina’s leadership.”
Bastastini, who also works for the state’s Department of Health, inherits a team that went 7-11 and returned to the Division II playoffs last season, and with some of the top players from that squad expected to return to the team this season, the new head coach hopes to be competitive.
“I took a brief look at our schedule and most of those teams that we’ll be playing, at least when I played and was involved coaching high school basketball, were once Division I programs,” Bastastini added, “so it seems like there’s a really strong group of teams in this division.”
As for her long-term goals?
“Each year, I’d like to grow on the past year’s success,” she noted, “potentially move up to the top level if it’s feasible, and then ultimately grow the program to where it becomes an absolute ‘have-to’ – in terms of if you are a middle school kid or a student-athlete and you want to play college basketball, that you feel compelled to look at Mount Saint Charles because of the program that we built in the course of time that I’ll be there.”
While Bastastini was officially named the head coach last Thursday, it wasn’t long before Brissette got the nod to lead the Mounties’ softball program, which will be returning to the Division I ranks after spending the past two seasons in D-II and reaching the finals in 2017.
Note: Mount Saint Charles is off to a 3-0 start


 
 

Sarah, Kayla and Brittany down under

Stanford alumnae Sarah Boothe, Kayla Pedersen, and Brittany McPhee  are playing in the WNBL in Australia. Brittany's Perth team leads the league with a record of 9 and 3. She is averaging 16pts and 7 rebounds per game. Sarah's Melbourne team is 2nd with a 9-5 record; she is averaging 5pts and 3 rbs per game in 14 minutes per game. Kayla's team Dadenong  has a 5-6 record, but in their last game upset Brittany's team and Kayla received some props for her performance. https://twitter.com/JaycoRangers/status/1072356994185617411 Kayla, last years defensive player of the year, averages 10.7 pts and 7.5 rbs per game.

Read more...

Sarah was interviewed at the start of the season about her expectations for the year.  http://wnbl.com.au/melbourne/news/boomers-courtside-chat-sarah-boothe/

Roger Pelletier, aka mb.red, FBC Feature Writer

Karlie Samuelson completed a EuroBasket Qualifier

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Karlie just completed play in the EuroBasket Qualifier with the British Women's Team during a break in play in the European Leagues. Karlie was a major contributor as the team went 5-1 and successfully qualified  for the 2019 EuroBasket event.

EuroBasket Women is a bi-annual international basketball competition held between the nations of Europe (including Israel) for women's national basketball team. Eurobasket Women is also used as a qualifying tournament for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup and also for Olympic Games.

Attached is link to video of Karlie highlights in game versus Greece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoI8qW2Qp9E

THE UNDEFEATED - A look at the intersection of sports, faith and religion.

By:  Kelly D. Evans

When Candice Wiggins scored 41 points in an NCAA tournament game during her 

senior year at Stanford University, she called it a miracle.

“It was like divine intervention,” Wiggins said. “People don’t understand there’s miracles that happen every day.”

The game on March 31, 2008, was a regional final pitting No. 2 seed Stanford against the No. 1-seeded University of Maryland. The winner would go to the Final Four. But before the game, Wiggins was struggling to stay confident.

“My WNBA status was going to be determined by the way I performed, and I was going to be remembered by the way this game went, which I thought was kind of unfair,” recalled Wiggins, 31.

Before the game, she’d read an article that compared her to her late father, MLB player Alan Wiggins, who died of AIDS when she was just 4 years old.

“I thought, Wow. It doesn’t even matter what I’m doing. All people care about is my father. They’re going to judge me by my father. No one’s going to ever judge me by me.”

She sought help from her grandmother, who in 1984 had prayed for Alan Wiggins when he was with the San Jose Padres and they were facing the Chicago Cubs in the postseason.

“The words she offered me were so comforting,” Wiggins said. “He was kind of in a similar moment where he was freaking out at the height of his moment. My grandmother, she prayed over him in the stadium. That was what she was doing during the Maryland game.”

Wiggins also offered up her own prayer: “Help. Be with me. If nothing else, God, I know you’re with me.”

She went 10-of-22 from the field, including 5-of-11 on 3-pointers. And she was 16-for-19 from the free throw line. She called the game an out-of-body moment.

“In a lot of ways, my whole four years at Stanford was a miracle,” she said. “It was like every day there was something intervening, and just with this great power. I attribute it to my belief.”

Her reliance on God started after her father’s death.

“There was always the biggest gaping hole with my father’s story,” Wiggins said. “He went on to just do all these amazing things, and as a baseball player he led the Padres to a World Series and was almost MVP of Major League Baseball [in 1984]. But when I started learning about his life, he struggled with his belief. He was just not sure that he knew if he had the faith. His lack of faith and his lack of belief was something that really swallowed him.”

Alan Wiggins struggled with drug abuse for many years. Wiggins was born in Baltimore when Alan Wiggins was playing for the Baltimore Orioles. He soon moved the family to Southern California. His funeral was held at Calvary CME Church in Pasadena, where her grandmother has been a member for 62 years. Wiggins still attends that church but also spends time at two others: The Promise Church in Escondido and The Rock Church in San Diego with Pastor Miles McPherson.

“I think that a lot of times your spiritual journey is seen as a private thing, and I think for a long time for me it’s been like that,” Wiggins said. “I think once I got to that public place, especially being a professional athlete, I realized a lot of my story is tied to my dad’s story in a lot of ways and ways that I wasn’t even aware of. My faith came natural for me. I think he found a lot of distress or he didn’t find solutions and answers. I actually found the answers that I was looking for.”

Wiggins earned a full ride to Stanford after leading her high school basketball team to two state titles. A guard, she was selected in the first round of the 2008 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx, winning the Sixth Woman of the Year award as a rookie. She played in Minnesota for five seasons, including a championship in 2011, and then spent a year apiece playing for the Tulsa Shock, Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty. She also spent time overseas in Spain and Greece. During her WNBA career, she averaged 8.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. When she retired in 2016, she created controversy when she called the WNBA “toxic” and said she was treated poorly because she was outspoken about being heterosexual.

“When I got to New York, my faith was very intense,” Wiggins said. “I’d have index cards of Scriptures. My confidence was something I struggled with. It’s like once you realize the power comes from the word inside the Bible, that’s when you really open up a whole world of tools that you just can’t find anywhere else.”

Attending chapel became her rock in the WNBA.

“We’d always meet and you have a little lesson, and then you’d say a prayer,” Wiggins said. “Sometimes it’s led by players, and it was my sanctuary. It was the one place that I would always go to no matter what was going on.”

During her time with the Lynx, teammate Maya Moore introduced her to gospel music.

“That year was the year we won our championship, and so I really felt like God was answering a lot of prayers for me,” Wiggins said. “Maya was like a sent package from God. When Maya was 12 years old, she was listening to Christian gospel artists Mary Mary. When I was 12 years old I had the entire Slim Shady LP memorized.

“There’s so many miracles that we pass by. We can see it and we just ignore them, and for me, I think I just believed in miracles.”

Chiney is taking it easy

Chiney won't be playing professional basketball abroad in the 2018-19 season

She's taking a break from having two full-time jobs and concentrating on her ESPN duties where she’s an NBA analyst.

Britt heading way down under

Brittany McPhee will begin her professional basketball career with the Perth Lynx on the west coast of Australia.

Craig O'Donoghue (The West Australian) reports how this came to be: Sami Whitcomb’s endorsement leads to Perth Lynx signing import Brittany McPhee.

Stanford Athletics chronicles Britt's collegiate accomplishments: McPhee signs in Australia.

Nneka is finalist for USA Basketball World Cup team

Nneka has spent the past couple of weeks at the USA Basketball Womens's World Cup training camp, and has been selected as one of the 16 finalists for the team.

The team has departed for France, where they will play in a four-team, international tournament against Canada, France and Senegal. The final 12-member USA World Cup Team will be selected prior to the start of the World Cup.

More information:

• USA Basketball announcement: Sixteen Finalists Named for 2018 USA Basketball Women’s World Cup Team


• Stanford Athletics announcement: World Cup roster finalist

Nneka shines off the court too

Nneka has earned the 2018 Seasonlong @WNBA Community Assist Award in recognition of her dedication to community outreach: Nneka Ogwumike Receives Seasonlong WNBA Cares Community Assist Award

Jamila Wideman has a new career

The NBA has hired Jamila Wideman ('97) as Vice President of Player Development:

Former WNBA player Jamila Wideman has been hired as Vice President of Player Development. In her new role, Wideman will lead outreach and collaboration with the league-wide network of team player development directors, manage partnerships with external organizations and expand the NBA’s Career Crossover program.

Wideman was selected third overall in the 1997 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks and played four seasons in the league. A former standout at Stanford University, she also played professionally in Israel and Spain. During her WNBA career, Wideman founded the Stanford Athletic Alliance and Hoopin’ with Jamila, a youth mentoring program.

Before joining the NBA, she worked as an attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative and the Civil Division of The Legal Aid Society, providing representation to incarcerated and low-income populations. Wideman graduated from New York University Law School.

Hall of Famers to be recognized at Stanford/USC game

Candice Wiggins is one of eight Stanford athletes in the 2018 Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame class. The class will be recognized at Stanford's football game against USC on Saturday.

This is her Hall of Fame bio:

Candice Wiggins ’08, Women’s Basketball:
Recruited for basketball and volleyball, Wiggins emerged as one of the most prolific two-way guards in school history. She is the program's only four-time All-American and departed as the Pac-10's all-time leading scorer with 2,629 points. As a senior in 2008, Wiggins became the first woman in NCAA Tournament history to score at least 40 points twice, netting 44 against UTEP and 41 against Maryland. Wiggins received the Wade Trophy as the best women's player in Division I. A dynamic playmaker and shooter, she led the Cardinal to a 32-3 record in 2004-05 and was the first to claim Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year honors in what is now the Pac-12. As a sophomore, she buried 90 3-pointers and repeated as Pac-10 Player of the Year. She holds career records at Stanford for highest scoring average (19.2), 3-pointers made (295), free throws made (556) and steals (281), and ranks second in points and 11th in assists (436). Wiggins hit 16 free throws in a contest twice (T-1st) and made eight 3-pointers (T-3rd) once. She was the third overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx and also played for the Tulsa Shock, Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty. Wiggins made the All-Rookie team and won a WNBA crown in 2011, later playing professionally in Spain, Greece, Turkey and Israel. She earned a degree in communication, lives in San Diego, and wants to stay involved with sports as a mentor to young athletes.

Read more from Stanford Athletics: Stellar Class

WNBA playoffs over for Cardinal alums

Neither the Los Angeles Sparks nor the Connecticut Sun survived the second round of the WNBA playoffs.

The Sparks were overwhelmed by the Washington Mystics 96-64: Mystics ease past Sparks 96-64 to reach semifinals

Candace Parker was the only Spark to score in double digits. Nneka played for 31 minutes, scored just eight points and grabbed three rebounds. Karlie got a couple of minutes of playing time in the last few minutes of the game, but did not take a shot.

The Sun fought a very close battle with the Phoenix Mercury for 37 1/2 minutes, at which point the score was tied at 86-86. Then the mature, experienced Mercury closed out the game with a 10-0 run: Griner, Taurasi help Mercury beat Sun 96-86

Chiney was suffering from a bone bruise to her right knee and spent much of the game on the sidelines on an exercise bike. She played for 19 minutes, but tallied just two points, three rebounds and two steals.

Nneka and LA Sparks advance in playoffs

For the third consecutive season, the LA Sparks and the Minnesota Lynx met in an elimination game in the WNBA playoffs. In the previous two seasons, the game was the championship game — last night, it was a first round game.

The Sparks defeated the Lynx 75-68 in a hard-fought game and will play the Washington Mystics in the second round (also single-elimination) on Thursday.

Nneka has been struggling with mononucleosis for much of the season, but found the strength to play for 37 minutes. She tallied 19 points, five rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block.

Here is more information:

• A game story from espn
• The box score.
• A preview of the second round Sparks/Mystic game from the WNBA

Markisha Coleman is Pro-Am veteran

The S.F. Bay Area Pro-Am Basketball League gets little attention from the Bay Area media. Neither does Markisha Coleman (Stanford '07), who is about to begin her fifth season as the girls' basketball head coach at Menlo-Atherton school and who is a veteran member of the Pro-Am League.

The Pro-Am finished its season this week with the championship game on Thursday.

Terry Bernal (San Mateo Daily Journal) took the occasion to write this story about Markisha and the Pro-Am: M-A coach proves iron woman in Pro-Am playoffs

Bethany Donaphin works to improve WNBA

Former Stanford ('02) and WNBA star Bethany Donaphin was named head of league operations this season and hopes to bring the player experience into the league offices. Her involvement in basketball and business will help her to be an asset in a league that is expanding.

Read more in this interview by Amanda Scurlock (Los Angeles Sentinel): Bethany Donaphin Works to Improve WNBA

Nneka reaches 3500-point career mark

Nneka Ogwumike has reached 3500 WNBA career points after the 82-81 Sparks win over the Liberty yesterday.

This places her well-down on the WNBA all-time career scoring list (Diana Taurasi is the leader with 8472 points, Alana Beard is 25th with 4678.). but she has lots of time to move up. This is Diana's 14th year in the WNBA and Nneka's seventh.

Mikaela is re-habbing in Tasmania

Mikaela Ruef ('15) tore her ACL four months ago while playing in France. She has returned to Tasmania to recover from her surgery and joined her former team, the Launceston Tigers, at training last Saturday.

She will be helping the team off the court and also be participating in school clinics and community events for the rest of the season.

Read more from the Tasmania Examiner:

• Tornadoes favourite Mikaela Ruef takes one for the team
• Mikaela Ruef talks about recovery, love of Launceston and that incident with close friend Lauren Mansfield

Val Whiting helps girls gain self-esteem

Val Whiting ('93) had a cruel adolescence.

“I had low self-esteem,” she said. “I didn’t feel accepted. I felt ugly. I was teased for being tall, for being shy, for being smart and for being a nerd. I just wanted to be accepted.”

Now she’s giving back. Whiting runs after school girls-only basketball programs in the Northshore and Lake Washington school districts.

Read more in the Woodenville Weekly: Bullied as a child, former pro helps girls gain self-esteem through basketball

Nneka to miss All Star game

Nneka will not be able to play in the WNBA All Star game on Saturday due to illness. She has been suffering from fatigue and headaches and has missed the lat three Sparks games.

Click here for the ESPN announcement.

Chiney is on Bleacher Report Power 50 list

Ros Gold-Onwude explains why Chiney is on the Bleacher Report Power 50 — a list of the most influential people in sports culture right now:

We should all try to get up and go like Chiney Ogwumike

Candice inducted to Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame

Candice Wiggins is one of the eight Stanford athletes in the 2018 Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame class. She is the eleventh women's basketball player to be so honored.

This is her Hall of Fame bio:

Candice Wiggins ’08, Women’s Basketball:
Recruited for basketball and volleyball, Wiggins emerged as one of the most prolific two-way guards in school history. She is the program's only four-time All-American and departed as the Pac-10's all-time leading scorer with 2,629 points. As a senior in 2008, Wiggins became the first woman in NCAA Tournament history to score at least 40 points twice, netting 44 against UTEP and 41 against Maryland. Wiggins received the Wade Trophy as the best women's player in Division I. A dynamic playmaker and shooter, she led the Cardinal to a 32-3 record in 2004-05 and was the first to claim Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year honors in what is now the Pac-12. As a sophomore, she buried 90 3-pointers and repeated as Pac-10 Player of the Year. She holds career records at Stanford for highest scoring average (19.2), 3-pointers made (295), free throws made (556) and steals (281), and ranks second in points and 11th in assists (436). Wiggins hit 16 free throws in a contest twice (T-1st) and made eight 3-pointers (T-3rd) once. She was the third overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx and also played for the Tulsa Shock, Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty. Wiggins made the All-Rookie team and won a WNBA crown in 2011, later playing professionally in Spain, Greece, Turkey and Israel. She earned a degree in communication, lives in San Diego, and wants to stay involved with sports as a mentor to young athletes.

Molly Goodenbour is USF's winningest coach

After two years as head coach at the University of San Francisco, Molly Goodenbour ('93) has become the winningest coach in USF history through 50 games (27-23), as well as through two seasons at 34-28 (.548). Goodenbour is the first coach to post winning overall and conference records in her first two seasons on the job.

USF Director of Athletics has announced that Goodenbour has been signed to a multi-year extension that will keep her on the sideline through 2024.

Read more: Excitement on The Hilltop Builds, Goodenbour Signs Multi-Year Extension

All-Star Sisters

Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike have been selected to the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game following a vote of fans, fellow WNBA players, head coaches and media.

Click here for more.

Sparks sign Karlie for rest of season

The WNBA's revolving door has slipped open again for Karlie: Sparks Sign Karlie Samuelson

Lili "drafted" by Harlem Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters has announced its 2018 player draft. Lili Thompson ('17) is one of five players — and the only female — drafted by the group known for its entertainment and circus-like traveling show.

• Announcing the 2018 Harlem Globetrotter Draftees!


• From Mansfield Timberview to the Harlem Globetrotters? Meet Lili Thompson

Catching up with Chiney

Catching up with Chiney is not an easy thing to do, but blogger Lindsey Gibbs does a good job of reporting how the 2018 season is shaping up for Chiney in:

Three questions with Chiney Ogwumike: Multitasking with the Connecticut Sun, ESPN and the Marvel Universe

Kayla returns to Dandenong

Although Kayla Pedersen ('11) has retired from the WNBA, she's continuing to play professional basketball overseas and has signed with Dandenong for the 2018-19 season.

This will be Kayla's second consecutive season with Dandenong (her third in all) and they're very pleased to have her back: Kayla Pederson back with Dandenong

Jillian signs with fifth Italian team

Jillian Harmon ('09) has signed a contract with Passalacqua Spedizioni Ragusa for the 2018-19 season.

Ragusa is located in Sicily (see map).

This will be Jill's tenth season as a professional basketball player, her ninth in Italy (Comense, Parma, Lucca and Naples). She's also played in Australia and New Zealand

Jillian has been a winner wherever she played. Among other honors she's been named to the Eurobasket.com All-Italian 2nd team in 2013 and '14, the Australiabasket.com All-New Zealand 1st team in 2015, and the Eurobasket.com All-Italian 1st team in 2016, '17, and '18. She was named the New Zealand Female Player of the Year in 2017 and '18.

Ragusa sports director Giovanni Criscione comments , "We are thrilled to have added to our group of confirmed athletes Jillian Harmon, player of undoubted quality and experience, but above all an extremely competitive and ambitious professional.

Karlie released by Sparks

The LA Sparks were very short-handed a couple of weeks ago. Two players had not returned from overseas play and Candace Parker was out with a day-to-day injury. Under a special WNBA hardship ruling, the Sparks were allowed to extend their roster and signed Karlie.

Now the three veteran players are back and Karlie's contract has been waived.

Karlie made a fine showing in her short stint in the WNBA. She played in four games for about ten minutes per game. She tallied 14 points, five rebounds, an assist, a steal and two blocks. She made 45.5% of her field goal attempts and 40% of her three-pointers.

This isn't the end of basketball for Karlie. She's signed a contract to play in Belgium in the 2018-19 season.

Alumnae Abroad: 2017-18 Season-end report

Four of the ten Stanford alumnae who played abroad in the 2017-18 season took home a medal (or two).

Amber, with Keltern, won the German DBBL regular season and the league championship:

(Click photos to enlarge)

Bird, with Atomeromu was the Hungarian A Division regular-season co-champion, took the gold in the Hungarian Cup (an interleague competition), and won the silver in the league championship:

Sarah, with Montana 2003, won the bronze medal in the Women's Adriatic Basketball Association (WABA) championship.

Nneka, with Dynamo Kursk, won the bronze medal in FIBA Euroleague Women, was the Russian PBL League regular-season co-champion, and won the silver in the league championship.

Erica McCall ('17), Atomeromu KSC Szekszard (Hungary)

Atomeromu had an excellent season.

The team went 4-2 in FIBA EuroCup group play, and advanced to the Round of Eight — not bad for its first-ever international competition!

Bird averaged 10.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists in the EuroCup games.

Atomeromu won the Hungarian Cup, which is kind of a preview of the league playoffs. It's a competition among the top 8 teams in the Hungarian A Division played before the last regular season game.

Atomeromu was the Hungarian A Division regular season co-champion with Sopron; each had a 14-2 record and one of its losses was to the other.

Atomeromu fell to Sopron again in the league playoff finals, where it was swept 3-0 in the best-of-five series and earned the silver medal.

Bird led her team in scoring (13.6 ppg, sixth-best in the league), rebounding (7.0 rpg, tied for eighth-place in the league) and blocked shots (0.5 bpg) in the Hungarian league games.

Bird was named to the All-Hungarian 2nd Team and All Imports Team by EuroBasket.com.

Briana Roberson ('17), PEAC Pécs (Hungary)

PEAC went 2-4 in FIBA EuroCup group play, and did not advance to the playoffs.

It placed seventh in the Hungarian A Division with an 8-12 record and ended its season in seventh place in the league playoffs.

Bri was PEAC's starting point guard. She averaged 12.5 points, 1.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game in EuroCup; 10.4 points, 2.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game in the Hungarian League.

Amber Orrange ('15), Gruner Stern Keltern (Germany)

Amber and Keltern had a splendid season!

The team went 1-5 in FIBA EuroCup group play, and did not advance to the playoffs. But at home, it won the German DBBL regular season with an 18-4 record and took home the gold medal at the league playoffs with a 3-0 sweep of 4-year reigning champion Wasserburg in the best-of-five final round.

As Keltern's starting point guard, Amber was a strong member of the team. She averaged 23 points and four steals per game in the final round and was named the Finals MVP.

For the season, she led the team in scoring (15.4 ppg, tenth-best in the league) and steals (2.3 spg, third-best in the league). She added 3.2 assists (eighth-best in the league) and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Amber was named to the All-German DBBL 1st Team and All-Imports Team and was named the DBBL Player of the Year, Guard of the Year, and Import Player of the Year by EuroBasket.com.

Mikaela Ruef ('14), Toulouse Metropole (France)

Toulouse placed third in the French LF2 Division with a 15-7 record and ended its season with a loss in the playoff quarterfinals.

Mikaela was Toulouse's starting center and a huge asset for the team. She was the second best scorer (17.5 ppg) and rebounder (12.0 rpg) in the LF2 league. She was also Toulouse's leading shot-blocker (0.6 bpg) and thief (1.7 spg). She tallied 14 double-doubles and was named Eurobasket LF2 Player of the Week six times.

Regrettably, Mikaela's season ended in Toulouse's second game of the playoff quarterfinal round with a suspected ACL injury. She is expected to be sidelined for a year.

Mikaela was named to the All-French LF2 1st team and was named the French LF2 Forward of the Year and Import Player of the year by EuroBasket.com.

Sarah Boothe ('12), Montana 2003 (Bulgaria)

Montana played in the Bulgarian NBL league and in the Women's Adriatic Basketball Association (WABA). About 1/3 of the Montana players participated in both sets of games; the remainder played only in one set or the other. Sarah played only in the WABA games.

Montana placed first in the Bulgarian NBL league with an 11-1 record and won the gold medal in the playoffs.

Montana placed third in the WABA competition with a 9-5 record and won the bronze medal in the playoffs.

Sarah helped win the WABA bronze medal with a double-double, scoring 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists. She averaged 14.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.8 assists in the WABA games

Sarah was named All-WABA Player of the Year and Center of the Year and named to the All-WABA First Team by Eurobasket.com.

Nneka Ogwumike ('12), Dynamo Kursk (Russia)

Reigning FIBA EuroLeague Women champion Dynamo Kursk advanced to the playoffs as the only unbeaten team in the competition, but dropped the semifinal game to its Russian rival UMMC 77-84. It defeated Turkish team Yakin Dogu in the consolation final and ended with the bronze medal.

Nneka averaged 12.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists in the EuroLeague games.

Dynamo Kursk tied for first place with UMMC in the Russian PBL league with a 19-1 record. Their only loss was to each other. They met again in the league playoff final — UMMC swept Dynamo Kursk in the best-of-five series, so Dynamo Kursk went home with the silver. (In the deciding game of the series, Brittney Griner scored 35 points and Maya Moore scored 26, including 10 of 10 free throws for UMMC.)

Nneka led her team in scoring in the Russian PBL games with 12.7 ppg, which ranked ninth-best in the league. She also tallied 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game (tied for sixth place in the league).

Nneka was named to the All-Russian PBL 2nd Team and Imports Team by EuroBasket.com.

Kayla Pedersen ('11), Dandenong Rangers (Australia)

Dandenong, which has been among the top three teams in the Australian WNBL league for the prior six seasons, was hit hard by injuries this season. They lost ten of their last 13 regular season games after their star player, Sara Blicavs, suffered a devastating knee injury. and finished the season in seventh place with a 7-14 record.

Kayla held down the front court all season as Dandenong's starting shooting forward. She was their leading rebounder with 8.2 rpg, which ranked sixth-best in the league. She added 11.1 points and 2.4 assists per game and tallied six double-doubles.

Kayla was named the AustraliaBasket.com Defensive Player of the Year and the WNBL Robyn Maher defensive player of the year (See video).

Jillian Harmon ('09), Dike Napoli (Italy)

Napoli placed fourth in the Italian Serie A1 league with a 12-10 record and ended its season with a loss in the semifinals of the league playoffs.

Jillian had an outstanding season. She led her team in scoring with 18.3 ppg (best in the league) and in rebounding with 9.4 rpg (fourth-best in the league). She also dished 3.2 assists per game (No. 8 in the league). She played an average of 38 minutes per game and tallied a double-double in twelve of them.

Jillian was named the All-Italian A1 Forward of the year and to the 1st team and All-Imports team by Eurobasket.com.

Jillian was named Female Player of the Year for the second year running by Basketball New Zealand.

Alissa (Cissy) Pierce ('08), Goettingen Veilchen Ladies (Germany)

Goettingen had a tough go in its first season in the DBBL, the premier German league. It finished 10th in the league with a 6-16 record and did not advance to the playoffs.

Alissa started as shooting forward for the Violet Ladies. She averaged 10.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

Kristen Newlin ('07), Bottasspor Adana (Turkey)

Botas placed fourth in the Turkish KBSL League with a 15-9 record and ended its season with a loss in the quarterfinals of the league playoffs.

New had a very good season as Botas' starting center. She averaged 9.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists while playing 28 minutes per game.

Sarah is playing in Australia again this summer

Sarah Boothe ('12) is playing basketball with the Bulleen Bombers again this summer.

The Bulleen Bombers are a member of the BigV (Victoria) League, which is one of seven Australian State Basketball regional leagues. They play from mid-March to the end of July.

She played as the Bombers' starting center last summer and, as their leading scorer and rebounder helped them win the silver medal in the State Championship

Sarah is the Bombers' starting shooting forward this summer and, after playing for Hungary in the winter season, joined the team for its last five games.

Sarah is one of the most experienced players at Bulleen, has averaged 12 points and 17 rebounds per game, and has a reputation of one of team's most reliable players.

Karlie signs with Sparks at the last minute

On Thursday, Karlie's name appeared in the large last group of women whose WNBA training camp contract was waived.

The cut came as a surprise because Karlie had put together a stellar preseason in which she averaged 9.7 points on 68.8 percent shooting (11-of-16) and a 62.5 percent clip from behind the arc (5-of-8).

This morning, the Los Angeles Sparks tweeted:

This just in... KARLIE IS BACK!🙌 We are pleased to announce that we have signed @ksam44 and that she will be available for todays game vs the Lynx!🏀 #GoSparks #All4LA pic.twitter.com/cELgjKzcCj

— Los Angeles Sparks (@LA_Sparks) May 20, 2018

*** You can watch Karlie play this afternoon at 2:00pm PT on ESPN2.

Who's playing ball this summer?

Just a very few Stanford hoopsters.

Neither Karlie Samuelson ('17) nor Brittany McPhee ('18) made it through training camp. They were both waived just before the regular season started.

Jeanette Pohlen-Mavunga ('11), who had played for the Indiana Fever for six seasons was also waived at the end of training camp.

Kayla Pedersen ('11), has retired from the WNBA to pursue ministry opportunities.

The leaves just:

• Erica (still "Bird") McCall ('17) back for her second year with the Indiana Fever after a very successful 2017-18 winter season in Hungary.


• Chiney Ogwumike ('14) for her third season with the Connecticut Sun.


• Veteran Nneka Ogwumike ('12) for her seventh season with the LA Sparks.

One-on-one with Chiney

David Barron (Houston Chronicle) chats with Chiney: One-on-one with Chiney Ogwumike, basketball star, announcer

And here's a video of Chiney from WTNH (a Connecticut TV station) after the Sun's first game of the 2018 season: Ogwumike looking good after being lost for the last two season-- due to some major injuries.

Bethany Donaphin Named Head of WNBA League Operations

The WNBA announced today that Bethany Donaphin (Stanford '02) has been promoted to Head of WNBA League Operations. Bethany has been serving as Associate Vice President, NBA Basketball Operations for almost two years.

As head of operations, Bethany will oversee all on-court basketball operations, including playing rules, scouting, scheduling and venue compliance. She also will oversee the management of referee operations and the administration of player-related policies and programs.

Read more in the WNBA announcement.

Karlie's plans for next season

Karlie Samuelson ('17) is currently at WNBA training camp, competing for a spot on the LA Sparks roster. She won't know whether she makes the cut for a couple of weeks, but a reliable source reports that she would have made it last summer, had she not re-injured the ankle that she had sprained in the Final Four a couple of months earlier.

Regardless of the WNBA outcome, Karlie will play professional basketball in Belgium (the first Cardinal alumnae to play in that country) in the 2018-19 season. She has signed a contract with Mithras Royal Castors Braine , which is located in Braine l'Alleud, Belgium (see map), and is expected to arrive there at the end of September or in early October.

Castors Braine is an excellent team. It had a perfect 2017-18 season (22-0) and won the Belgian Top Division championship for the fifth consecutive season.

Britt's dream comes true

“It’s a dream come true,” said Britt on how she felt after inking a training camp deal with her hometown team."

Read more: McPhee Continues Family Tradition of Basketball in the State of Washington

Chiney's careers are flourishing

In a couple of weeks, Chiney will finally return to her primary career as power forward for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun.

But also, as reported by Ben Carfardo (ESPN): Chiney Ogwumike Becomes Full-Time Multi-Platform ESPN Commentator

Kayla has retired from the WNBA

Kayla Pedersen ('11) has retired from playing professional basketball in the WNBA. She plans to continue playing abroad and pursuing off-court ministry opportunities.

Read more from the Connecticut Sun: Pedersen Treasures Sun Experience In Final WNBA Season