No Final Four

... for Ros Casares or Candice this season. They couldn't hang in against the two-time defending champion on its home court — not with Sylvia Fowles scoring 23 points and pulling down 13 rebounds and Diana Taurasi scoring 22 and Sue Bird 15 and Lauren Jackson 12 and ...

Spartak won 79-70 and advances to the Euroleague Final Four. That made them very happy. Here's the Game Card: Game report, box score, play-by-play and photo gallery.

Another Final Four for Candice?

European Women's basketball teams have been competing in the Euroleague quarterfinals, which are best two-out-of-three contests. Ros Casares (Candice's team) are playing against two-time defending champion Spartak, the Russian team that starts Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson and Sylvia Fowles.

Spartak won the first game and Ros Casares won the second one.  Candice has taken a back seat to her more experienced colleagues, but contributes valuable time off the bench. The teams meet again in Moscow on Wednesday night, Feb 25th, to determine which advances to the Final Four. The Final Four games will be played on April 3rd and 5th.

Fenerbahce, the team on which Kristen and Nicole play, also made it to the quarterfinals playing against UMMC, a Russian team from Ekaterinburg. New (whose Turkish name is Nevin Nevlin) was the top performer in the first game with 23 points and seven rebounds, but Fenerbahce was trounced by UMMC. UMMC scraped out a win in the final seconds of the second game, so Fenerbahce is out of the competition.

New writes about those two games and more in the most recent post to her blog.

Happy Birthday, Candice!

Today, Valentine's Day, is Candice's 22nd birthday. LynxBasketball took the occasion to call Candice and ask about her birthday and Valentine's Day plans, her time in Spain and what she thinks of her new teammates. Read more...

Candice, a star for Ros Casares

Candice has signed with Spanish team Ros Casares for the remainder of the season. Ros Casares is reported to have the best team in its history. They lead the Spanish league with a current record of 12-1. The team is located in Valencia. Read more in this announcement (translated to English by Google)

Wiggins' Picture of Inspiration

Tom  Shanahan, sports columnist for voiceofsandiego.org, reports:

When Candice was a student at La Jolla County Day, her inspiration was a mural of Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan  Salaam.  A mural of her next to Salaam's was unveiled last week at LJCD as she was honored for the accomplishments that make her an inspiration to young athletes.  Read more ...

Alumnae Abroad 2008-09

This report was premature. Most of the European teams have posted their 2008-09 rosters now.  Corrections below in green

Seven  Five of our alumnae are playing professional basketball in Europe this season. Here are Seb and Kristen in Istanbul not playing basketball.

Kristen Newlin ('07) is playing for Fenerbahce in Istanbul, Turkey. She had a very successful start with her new team in a preseason tournament where she was selected MVP after scoring 17 (team high), 10 (some foul trouble), and 29 (game high). New had a very eventful summer, which included travelling to Turkey several times to get her Turkish citizenship, sign with Fenerbahce, and train with the Turkish national team. You can read all about it in her blog and see more pictures in her online photo albums.

Brooke Smith ('07) is playing in Italy again, but for Pool Comense in Como, scenically a great change from Rome. She too has started well. In her first game (against Viterbo, her team last season), she started, scored 8 points and had 6 rebounds. Being a leading member of the team must be a welcome change after her summer with the Phoenix Mercury.

Sebnem Kimyacioglu ('05) is playing for Galatasary in Istanbul, as she did last season.

Nicole Powell ('04) is playing for Fenerbahce. For the first time, she and New will be teammates.

Cori Enghusen ('02) is also playing her second season with Galatasary.

Bethany Donaphin ('02) : Familia Schio, the team with which she played the prior four seasons reports that she has retired.

Enjoli Izidor ('02) is not playing for Sibenik in Croatia, nor does her name appear on any other European team roster.

Candice rehabbing from knee surgery

See Candice rehabbing from knee surgery at Stanford, photographed and narrated by Mel and read about her surgery, her rehab, her favorite TV shows and more in her blog.

Candice rehabbing from knee surgery

See Candice rehabbing from knee surgery at Stanford, photographed by Mel and read about her surgery, her rehab,her favorite TV shows and more in her blog.

Candice is WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year

Candice had an outstanding first season in the WNBA, and was a shoo-in for the Sixth Woman of the Year award. Although she came off the bench in all but one of her 30 games as a Minnesota Lynx, she was second on the team in points, assists, and minutes per game. Her 15.7 points per game  set a new all-time WNBA record for scoring by a player off the bench. 

Read more about her achievements in this report from the WNBA.  And in this report by Michelle Smith in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Jennifer Azzi, Basketball Ambassador

Jennifer Azzi continues her work to motivate and inspire young women through involvement in sports, representing the women's contingent of a recent NBA awareness and recruiting trip to South Africa. She shared playing tips and techniques at the first NBA-sponsored basketball camp for 60 young women in Johannesburg and spoke about the impact of athletics in women's lives. Read more about it in an article in the International Herald Tribune.