Freshmen Boost Cardinal Stanford Will Face Connecticut When Women’s Final Four Begins

Depth played a central role in Stanford’s return to the women’s Final Four, and it figures to come into play again in Saturday’s semifinal against top-ranked Connecticut, the nation’s only unbeaten team.

“We will work very hard this week, but our depth is a real asset,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “It gives us a chance.”

Much as it did all season, Stanford put together an effective combination of youth and experience in Saturday night’s 69-58 West Regional final win over Purdue.

“I thought if we could stay close down the stretch we could win against a great team without playing particularly well,” Purdue coach Linn Dunn said. “But give Stanford credit, and we came awfully close to going back to the Final Four again.”

A year ago, Purdue, which finished at 24-8, took advantage of Stanford’s shortage of post players to beat the Cardinal in the regional final.

This time, instead of miscasting perimeter players in the post, VanDerveer was able to complement center Anita Kaplan and forward Rachel Hemmer with such players as Kristin Folkl, Naomi Mulitauaopele, Moscow, Idaho’s Heather Owen and Olympia Scott, all 6-foot-plus freshmen.

“The difference between this year and last year was depth,” said Kaplan, who had 18 points in the Purdue game and was chosen the region’s most valuable player. “The young players have brought so much to this team.

“They’ve taken the pressure off (the seniors), and that’s made us all play better. But when you get to crunch time like this, I think you need to have senior leadership.”

Stanford (30-2) is making its fourth trip to the Final Four and first since winning the title in 1992. Kaplan, Hemmer and guard Kate Paye, probably the team’s best defender, all were members of Stanford’s last championship team but for the most part saw only limited duty.