Stanford Appears Vulnerable

The Washington State University Cougars return home to Friel Court Thursday night and the Stanford Cardinal will be there to greet them.

Sure, Stanford isn’t quite up to its usual grandeur - 7-9 overall, 3-2 for fourth place in the Pac-10. Stanford had not had more than six losses in a season since 1986-87.

One of the defeats came last Saturday at home against No. 10 UCLA (14-4, 6-0), which snapped Stanford’s 67-game conference home winning streak.

The Cougars (7-7, 1-4) are the only conference team that hasn’t defeated Stanford, home or away. Stanford is 26-0 against WSU since 1983.

“We knew Stanford wasn’t the team they had in the past as far as (being a) top 1-2 team in the nation,” said Washington State coach Harold Rhodes. “But we also know they’re still a very good ball club. As soon as the young kids learn what it takes to be successful at this level, you will see Stanford right back up there.”

Stanford’s most exciting players have been 6-foot-1 freshman guard Lindsey Yamasaki (14.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and 6-0 sophomore forward Sarah Dimson (13.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg).

Its only senior is reserve guard/forward Regan Freuen from Mead High School. Freuen averages 6.4 points (36 of 95 shooting) in 17 minutes. Her career has been slowed by injuries and this year has been more of the same.

“She’s had problems with plantar fascia (a foot problem), which has been an extremely painful injury,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “Fortunately, she’s been able to play through it as best she can.”

Freuen’s most celebrated moment came early this season when her final-second free throw allowed Stanford to knock off Purdue, which was ranked No. 1.

“She is playing a very valuable role … and she is being a great leader and captain,” VanDerveer added.

The Cougars have had a lot more success against the Cal Bears, who bring a 7-7, 1-4 record into Pullman Saturday at 1 p.m. (live on FSN). Cal holds a 16-13 series edge, but the Cougs have won four straight.

A grisly year for Grizzlies

Something’s up in the Big Sky Conference, and it isn’t the Montana Grizzlies.

The Sky’s perennial NCAA Tournament representative (11 of 12 seasons) finds itself in seventh place and 5-10 overall. Coach Robin Selvig’s teams have won 20 or more games dating to 1980-81, but are already assured they won’t reach 20 this season.

The reason: Injuries. At one time, six of the top eight players were out. When UM begins a three-game homestand that includes Eastern Washington (6-9, 3-2) on Sunday, the Grizzlies will be without four players, including last year’s all-conference players, senior Krista Redpath (ACL) and junior Lauren Cooper (foot).

Some are playing injured. Junior Meggan Thompson has dislocated her shoulder 13 times and she’s running the point.

The Grizzlies’ 45-game Big Sky home winning streak was snapped by Montana State (10-5, 4-1) Jan. 3. The Grizzlies are playing home games at Sentinel High School while the UM fieldhouse is being renovated.

Because of UM’s big hurt, the conference title is up for grabs. “Nobody in the league is feeling sorry for us,” said Selvig. “I don’t think there’s a great team above everybody else this season. There’s definitely parity right now.”

Eastern has not beaten Montana in Missoula since the Big Sky Conference title game in 1986-87. But the Eagles have improved away from Cheney this season. They’re 2-1 in road conference games after 24 straight regular-season road losses.

Around the rim

Gonzaga (5-11, 1-3) returns home to play host to last-place San Francisco (5-11, 0-4) Thursday and Santa Clara (12-4, 2-2) Saturday in West Coast Conference action. GU’s little-used sophomore guard, Shennae McNairy, has quit the team for personal reasons. … Who wants to take charge in the Big West Conference’s Eastern Division? Four of the five teams, including Idaho, are 2-2. The Vandals (9-7, 2-2) visit North Texas (10-6, 2-2) Thursday.

After a weekend sweep of the Washington schools, No. 25 Oregon (14-3, 5-1) returned to the Top 25 for the first time in four years. … Washington senior guard Jamie Redd has 1,778 points and needs just 24 to break the school record set by Rhonda Smith (1992-95).

AREA WOMEN’S LEADERS

Scoring Player, school FG-FGA FT-FTA 3pt Avg. Alli Nieman, UI 125-250 78-110 5 20.8 Tricia Lamb, WSU 95-222 24-35 40 18.1 Alke Dietel, WSU 84-214 35-45 35 17.0 Susan Woolf, UI 84-182 43-48 45 16.0 Jamie Wakefield, Whwth 82-168 43-64 6 15.2 Amy George, CCS 80-189 50-69 30 15.0 Jessica Malone, GU 83-206 20-38 41 14.2 Jen Clark, CCS 106-241 19-25 7 13.6 Holly Turner, GU 49-137 21-28 28 12.3 Becki Huddle, NIC 63-153 57-79 13 12.3 Mandi Lindhe, NIC 73-162 25-36 21 12.0 Star Olson, Whwth 64-169 26-43 8 11.7 Tracy Ford, EWU, 66-161 20-33 24 11.7 Karie Pruett, CCS 71-153 14-25 41 11.5 Cathy McNeely, WSU 41-93 18-26 9 10.9

Rebounding Clark, CCS, 7.8 (133); Nieman, UI, 7.5 (124); George, CCS, 7.4 (119); Dietel, WSU, 7.3 (102); Wakefield, Whwth, 6.6 (93).

Assists Bianca Ryan, NIC, 5.0 (80); Nicole Kleopfer, CCS, 5.0 (85); Emily Stuenkel, Whwth, 4.1 (58); Rikki Jackson, UI, 3.8 (57); Katie Nyseth, WSU, 3.7 (52); Pruett, CCS 3.7 (63).

Steals Kleopfer, CCS, 2.5 (42); Huddle, NIC, 2.4 (38); Ryan, NIC, 2.3 (36); Wakefield, Whwth, 2.3 (32); Stuenkel, Whwth, 2.2 (31); Nyseth, WSU 2.2 (31); Woolf, UI, 2.2 (31).

Schedule Today: CC Spokane at Columbia Basin, 6 p.m. Thursday: Idaho at North Texas, 5 p.m.; San Francisco at Gonzaga, 7; Stanford at WSU, 7. Friday: North Idaho at Colorado Northwestern, 5:30 p.m.; Whitworth at Willamette, 6; EWU at Montana St., 6:05. Saturday: California at WSU, 1 p.m.; North Idaho at Eastern Utah, 5:30; Walla Walla vs. CC Spokane at SFCC, 6; Whitworth at Linfield, both 6; Santa Clara at Gonzaga, 7. Sunday: EWU at Montana, 12:05 p.m.