Jillian signs with Comense for 2010-2011

Comense has announced (as translated by Google):

Harmon still nerostellato

Gymnastics Comense informed that they have renewed the engagement for the next season 2010 - 2011 by Jillian Harmon, proved a pleasant surprise as both performance and as a sound professional.

Google can't translate nerostellato, nor can I, but nero stellato means black starry and is, I think, the team's nickname.

I hope that Jillian's second season in Italy is as successful as her first. With three games left in the season, Comense is ranked sixth in its league of 12 teams. Jillian is their second best scorer and rebounder (12.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg).

Jamie is USA Basketball Women's National Team Assistant Director

USA Basketball today announced the hiring of Jamie Carey as the Women's National Team Assistant Director. Carey is a two-time national team member and medalist with USA Basketball, who played at Stanford, Texas and for the WNBA Connecticut Sun. She recently completed her second season as the head girls basketball coach at Legacy High School (CO), leading her team to the Colorado Class 5A girls state championship finals and a 26-2 record in 2009-10. Read more...

Candice added to USA Basketball National team roster

USA Basketball announced today that Candice is one of 12 players that have been added to the 2010-12 USA Basketball Women’s National Team roster from which the 2010 USA World Championship Team and the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team will be selected.

Candice had this to say:

What does it mean for you to be named to the USA Basketball Women’s National Team?
This is an amazing honor. Playing for the USA has been a dream of mine since I was a young player, and will continue to be so in my career as a professional athlete. It’s amazing to be a part of this "dream" team’s journey, and to have a chance to compete for a spot. America is full of so many talented players and it’s great. It breeds healthy competition and I'm ready for that.

You have a lot of international experience playing with USA Basketball. What did you learn from that and how do you think it played a factor in your selection?
I’ve been playing for USA Basketball since I was 17, and it’s taught me a lot in these six years. I’ve been able to grow a healthy appreciation for the international game through my participation in the various international competitions. I’ve always seen playing on the national team as the ultimate achievement. USA sets the highest standard for women’s basketball in the world, and I’ve learned to always take pride in that.

What are your strengths, what do you bring to the mix?
I believe my strengths are not only what I can bring individually, but what I can bring to the team. I’ve matured as a player and I understand the international game much better from a basketball perspective. But I also understand what it means to sacrifice and play for a bigger cause, and that’s exactly what USA Basketball is all about. I’m honored to have the opportunity to help make this team great.

Read more...

Fenerbahce loses in EuroLeague quarter-final

Fenerbahce, the team for which Kristen Newlin and Nicole Powell play, competed in EuroLeague this season as well as in the Turkish League.

They played against Spartak Moscow in the quarter-final round of EuroLeague last week. Spartak has been the EuroLeague champion for the past three seasons and the EuroCup champion in 2006. Their coach (since 2007-08) is Pokey Chatman, and their players include Diane Taurasi, Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles.

Spartak dominated the first quarter-final game on Feb 23 and defeated Fenerbahce 90-79.

Fenerbahce came back strong for the second game on Feb 28.

With less than two minutes to go in regulation, Fenerbache was ahead by four. Then Spartak took the lead 73-71 on two three-point shots from Diane Taurasi. With 13 seconds to go, Nicole Powell made an unbelievable long two-point shot against two opponents to tie the game.

In overtime, Spartak battled to an 87-85 lead. With two seconds to go, Nicole launched a three-pointer, but that one didn't fall. (I can still hear the clank off the rim in Stanford's loss to Tennessee in the Elite Eight in Norman, Oklahoma in 2004.)

It was announced yesterday that, "Sylvia Fowles of Spartak Moscow has been named the EuroLeague Women Player of the Week after leading her team to the Final Four in a two game sweep of Quarter-Final Round opponent Fenerbahce." She had a total of 44 points and 31 rebounds and an efficiency rating of 44, eight points better than her closest competitor.

Nicole was the leading scorer for Fenerbahce with 47 points, which included nine of 19 three-pointers. Kristen did not play in either game – I don't know why.

How's Candice doing in Greece?

From the Minnesota Lynx:

We check in with Demetris Nellas of the Associated Press to get the down low on how Lynx second-year guard Candice Wiggins is progressing in Greece this offseason. Nellas offers his first-hand thoughts on how Candice has dominated the Greek competition this winter. Read more...

1990 - 2010. Twenty Years, One Story

Candice shares her thoughts on what the 1990 NCAA National Championship team has meant to her. Read more...

Nicole to compete in shooting contest

Next Saturday, Feb 13th, Nicole will participate in the seventh annual Haier Shooting Stars competition.

The Haier Shooting Stars contest features one current NBA player, one current WNBA player and one TNT on-air talent and legend on each team. There are six numbered shooting locations of increasing difficulty, with each team attempting to make all shots in numeric order in the fastest time. Each team will select a specific player rotation to follow throughout the competition. Each shot must be made before the next player begins shooting in succession. Teams have up to two minutes to complete the entire shooting course and the team that completes all six shots in the least amount of time is declared the winner. In the case of a tie, a shoot-off will be used to determine the winner.

Nicole will compete as a member of Team Sacramento, along with Sacramento Kings’ Tyreke Evans and NBA TV analyst Chris Webber.

You can watch the fun on NBA All-Star Saturday Night at 8:00 pm Eastern Time. Read more...

Starbird's research helping in Haiti

By Michelle Smith, FanHouse

Kate Starbird and her research partners at the University of Colorado in Boulder have developed social media technology that is aiding workers and volunteers in Haiti in getting help where it's needed most. Read more...

Catching up with Nicole

Ben York, SLAM online, interviewed Nicole recently to get her thoughts on her roller-coaster 2009 season, her excitement to be a member of the Liberty, and updates on her off-season in Turkey. Read more...

Alumnae Abroad - Midseason Update

This is how our Stanford alumnae are doing midway through the European professional basketball season.

Comense, Brooke Smith & Jillian Harmon

Comense's win-loss record is 6-5. They rank sixth of 12 in the Italy A-1 League.

Brooke and Jillian are both in Comense's starting five.

Brooke leads the team in points (16.1), rebounds (9.0),blocks (0.9) and assists (0.8) per game. She ranks 6th in the league in scoring, 2nd in rebounds and 5th in blocks.

Jillian is second in points (11.9) and rebounds (6.0) per game.

Fenerbahce, Nicole Powell and Kristen Newlin

Fenerbahce is playing both in the Turkish TBBL league and in Euroleague this season. The team is #1 of 12 in TBBL with a 9-0 record. They placed third in their group of six in the Euroleague qualifying round with a 5-3 record, and so advance to the eighth-final playoff round (16 teams) which begins the first week of February.

Nicole and Kristen are both in Fenerbache's starting five.

Kristen averages 12.0 points and 3.2 rebounds – both second-best of the team – in the TBBL games. She has made six of seven three-pointers, which gives her the best percentage of the team (85.7%)! She averages 9.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in the Euroleague games, and has made just two of 11 three-pointers there.

Nicole averages 11.8 points and 4.7 rebounds and has made 21 of 35 three-pointers (60%) in the TBBL games. She averages 15.0 points (best of the team) and 4.6 rebounds and has made 19 of 39 three-pointers (48.7%) in the Euroleague games.

Mersin, Olympia Scott and Cori Enghusen

Mersin is in the Turkish TBBL league too. They rank second of 12 in the league with an 8-1 record. They've played Fenerbache once – Fenerbache won 71-61.

Olympia averages 10.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Cori averages 5.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and one block per game.

Sony Athinaikos, Candice Wiggins

Sony Athinaikos is playing both in the Greece A-1 league and in Eurocup. They are #1 in the Greece league with a 10-0 record. They placed first in their group of four in the Eurocup qualifying round with a 5-1 record and advanced to the sixteenth-finals round (32 teams) where they won the first game against ZKK Medvescak in Croatia. The two teams will play again on Jan 14th in Greece.

Candice is in the starting five. In the Eurocup games, Candice was the top scorer (17.3 points per game). She made 23 of 51 two-point field goal attempts (45.1%), 15 of 41 three-pointers (36.6%) and 88.2% of her free throws. She averaged 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game. She is also Athinaikos' top scorer (15.6 ppg) in their Greece League games, where she makes 39% of two-point field goal attempts, 45% of three-pointers and 87% of free throws.

Rhein-Main Baskets, Cissy Pierce

Rhein-Main Baskets' win-loss record is 3-9. They rank 10th of 12 in the German DBBL League.

Cissy is in the starting five. She leads the team and the league in points per game (22.9). She is ninth in the league in assists per game (2.4). She has 5.8 rebounds per game. She has made 93 of 190 two-point field goal attempts (48.9%), 15 of 45 three-pointers (33.3%) and 83% of her free throws.