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.