No coach in the history of NCAA women’s basketball has won more games than Tara VanDerveer.
Now in her 35th season leading Stanford, VanDerveer has 1,109 wins to her credit, with 957 of those coming at Stanford.
Seven of VanDerveer’s wins have come against Colorado’s JR Payne, but Payne hasn’t made life easy on the Stanford legend when they’ve matched up.
On Friday, Payne and the Buffaloes (6-8, 4-7 Pac-12) will visit sixth-ranked Stanford (15-2, 12-2), looking for a rare regular season sweep of the Cardinal.
On Jan. 17, CU stunned the then-No. 1 Cardinal in Boulder, 77-72 in overtime. It was the first win against a top-ranked team in CU history.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to play Stanford, of course, because they’re one of the best teams in the country,” Payne said.
Since the start of the 1987-88 season, VanDerveer has gone 0-2 in the regular season against a conference opponent just five times. The only unranked team to do it was UCLA in 1987-88.
Although Payne is 2-7 against Stanford and VanDerveer in her career, those two wins were big upsets. As the head coach at Santa Clara on Nov. 23, 2015, Payne beat Stanford, 61-58.
A year earlier, Payne’s Santa Clara squad lost by 39 to Stanford, but every matchup between Payne and VanDerveer since then has been relatively close. CU nearly upset Stanford twice last year, but lost in dramatic fashion both times.
During Payne’s five seasons in Boulder, Stanford is the one elite Pac-12 team that CU has competed with consistently.
“Itap interesting,” Payne said. “I don’t think itap anything in particular that we do or don’t do.”
In fact, it might be Stanford’s great tradition that raises CU’s level of play.
“I think part of it is that Stanford is always a team that just does what they do and we admire their discipline, and their attention to detail so much,” Payne said. “We always want our teams to be as disciplined and detailed as they are.”
CU sometimes has fits with a team like Washington, because it throws multiple defenses at opponents throughout a game. Stanford, however, doesn’t do that, Payne said, and that will allow the Buffs to spend more time focusing on their own flaws instead of spending so much time breaking down a scouting report.
“They just do what they do, so maybe in that sense, we don’t have to adjust as much,” Payne said. “Going into a Stanford game, you’re really just trying to be a better version of yourself because you know that they’re just going to do what they do. They’re not going to all of a sudden have these new zone presses and different things. I don’t know if thatap part of it, in that our preparation we place more of a priority on ourselves and just being a better version of us, which then makes us just maybe more confident in who we are.”
As the Buffs head to the Bay Area on Friday, they are seeking to be a better version of themselves. Since upsetting Stanford, they have lost two in a row.
“When we watch film, there’s a lot of little mistakes we make that we can sure up and clean up,” CU junior Peanut Tuitele said. “But I think the biggest takeaway from that (first game against Stanford) is that we played for the entire game, the entire four quarters, so I think that helped us win.”
Although they have slipped up in the last two games, the Buffs take confidence into the matchup with Stanford and hope to regain the edge they had a few weeks ago.
“Itap just gonna be another great opportunity for us to go against a really great ballclub, Stanford,” Tuitele said. “We did learn from the last game that we had ultimate preparation, we were ready. I think we need to have that same mindset, but not only for Stanford; for other games to come, too.”
CU Buffs women’s basketball at No. 6 Stanford
TIPOFF: Friday, 7 p.m., MT, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.
BROADCAST: TV – Pac-12 Networks. Radio – 630 AM
RECORDS: Colorado 6-8 (4-7 Pac-12); Stanford 15-2 (12-2 Pac-12)
COACHES: Colorado – JR Payne, 5th season (66-72; 167-185 career). Stanford – Tara VanDerveer, 35th season (957-204; 1,109-255 career).
KEY PLAYERS: Colorado – G Sila Finau, 5-9, Jr. (4.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.2 apg); G Frida Formann, 6-0, Fr. (10.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg); F Mya Hollingshed, 6-3, Sr. (16.7 ppg, 8.9 rpg); G Aubrey Knight, 6-0, Jr. (5.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg); F Peanut Tuitele, 6-1, Jr. (6.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg). Stanford – F Francesca Belibi, 6-1, So. (10.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg); F Cameron Brink, 6-4, Fr. (9.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.5 bpg); G Lexie Hull, 6-0, Jr. (12.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg); G Haley Jones, 6-1, So. (14.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 3.4 apg); G Kiana Williams, 5-8, Sr. (13.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.6 apg).
NOTES: CU is aiming to snap a two-game losing streak. The Buffs lost on Jan. 29, 72-64, at home to Oregon State. … The Buffs broke a 16-game losing streak to Stanford on Jan. 17 with a 77-72 overtime upset of the No. 1 Cardinal in Boulder. Hollingshed had 32 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. … CU is 5-21 all-time against the Cardinal, including 0-11 at Maples Pavilion. … This will be Stanford’s first game at home since the Nov. 25 season opener against Cal Poly, a 108-40 win. Santa Clara County health regulations had kept Stanford on the road since then, as it has played “home” games in Las Vegas and Santa Cruz, Calif. … After CU handed Stanford its first loss, the Cardinal then lost to No. 6 UCLA. They are 4-0 since, however, winning each of those games by at least 22 points. … Hollingshed needs 16 points to pass Bianca Smith (2006-10) for 24th on CU’s all-time scoring list. Hollingshed has 1,123 career points.
