The Tulsa Shock won their first game of the season with a big contribution from Kayla.
She scored 12 points and had seven rebounds and seven assists. She made 71% of her field goal attempts, including a pair of three-pointers.
Here's a story from Kayla's hometown newspaper, the Flint Journal and the box score.
Jillian has joined the New Zealand Women's National Team to compete in a Four Nations Tournament.
The Tall Ferns fly out of Auckland today and will face Australia, Brazil and China in a seven-day tournament beginning on Friday.
The tournament is part of their build-up to their three-test Olympic qualifying series with Australia in September for a place in London next year.
In celebration of Arizona's centennial, the Arizona Daily Star is showcasing 100 of Arizona's best athletes, moments and teams.
Nicole is one of Arizona's great athletes — at Grosse Point High School in Phoenix, at Stanford, and in the WNBA. Read more...
Here's a report on how Stanford alumnae and their teams are doing 10 days into the 2011 WNBA season.
Nicole Powell '04, New York Liberty
This is Nicole's eighth season in the WNBA, her second with the New York Liberty following five seasons with the Sacramento Monarchs. The Monarchs were disbanded after the 2009 season, and Nicole was selected by the Liberty in the dispersal draft.
Nicole's production dropped last season &mdash from her career-high 16.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 2009 to 9.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists.
She's hitting her stride again this season, with a now-familiar team and a familiar coach — John Whisenant, who coached the Monarchs during Nicole's first two seasons there, is now head coach of the Liberty. In three games this season, Nicole has averaged 12.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
The Liberty are off to a good start: 2-1.
Candice Wiggins '08, Minnesota Lynx
This is Candice's fourth season with the Minnesota Lynx. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported a few months ago that her usual enthusiasm was in overdrive in anticipation of playing basketball again after rehabbing the Achilles tendon that she tore almost a year ago.
She wears a heavy brace on her right leg, but is moving well and in no apparent pain. Head coach Cheryl Reeve said during training camp that Candice looked the healthiest she has ever seen her.
Candice is expected to be a key player off the bench again this season, but hasn't played major minutes so far — about 15 per game. In four games, she has averaged 5.0 points and made 44% of her three-point attempts.
The Lynx lost the first game of the 2011 season (to the L.A. Sparks), but have won the last three.
Jayne Appel '10, San Antonio Silver Stars
This is Jayne's second season with the San Antonio Silver Starts. She had minor surgery about three weeks ago to repair the torn meniscus that was discovered during training camp. If the prognosis made then holds true, she'll be back on the court next weekend.
Although Jayne hasn't played yet this season, she's on the 2011 All-Star ballot.
The Silver Stars have begun the season very well. They've won three games and are the only undefeated team in the WNBA.
Kayla Pedersen '11, Tulsa Shock
The Tulsa Shock are off to a miserable start with four losses and no wins.
Kayla, however, is off to an impressive start in her professional career — playing major minutes very well and helping to provide some of the leadership the Shock needs so badly.
She has started three of the four games and played about 27 minutes per game. She has averaged 9.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
Kayla keeps improving. In the Shock's most recent game, she played 39 minutes, scored a career-high 15 points, grabbed the game-high 8 rebounds and made 5 assists.
Jeanette Pohlen '11, Indiana Fever
Jeanette started her professional career modestly, as most rookies do. She played just four minutes in her first game and two in her second.
But she burst into prominence last Saturday when the Fever rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the New York Liberty. Jeanette came off the bench for 24 minutes and scored 14 points on 71% shooting. She launched four three-pointers and sank all of them — the fourth one in the last minute of the game sealed the victory for the Fever.
The Fever are 2-1 for the season.
Kayla has a 66-game homecourt winning streak going — 3 at Mountain View High, followed by 63 at Stanford. She hopes to continue the streak tomorrow night when the Tulsa Shock play their first home game of the season against the San Antonio Silver Stars.
Read more... by Jimmie Tramel in the Tulsa World.
Jayne writes about her recent torn meniscus injury in this post to ESPNw.
Kayla discusses her expectations for 2011 in a story from the Tulsa Shock.
“Our fans can expect some great basketball to be played,” she said. Read more...
Silver Stars center Jayne Appel had arthroscopic surgery Friday to repair a minor tear of the meniscus in her left knee, the team said.
She is expected to be sidelined three to four weeks. Under that timeline, Appel could miss the team's two preseason games next week against Connecticut, and the first four games of the regular season.
The tear was discovered on Wednesday. When the injury occurred wasn't known.
From the Huffington Post:
Nicole took a break from preseason training camp to recall her first athletic test — freshman-year high school P.E. — and to remember that the stage she's on has changed but that the game remains the same. Read more...
