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Christmas is the time of year when our team spends just about every waking moment together. From practices to meals, watching movies and just everyday life you start to notice things. So, I'm going to spread a little holiday cheer by sharing a few of these "things" I've discovered about each of my splendid teammates.

Starting with everyone's elder, we have Rosalyn. Ros has the uncanny ability to spot a Red Lobster from miles away. Name a city, and she could probably name up to three Red Lobsters in your general vicinity. (She will drive up to 40 minutes to eat there!)

Melanie Murphy is the definition of cool. If you have yet to realize this you might be living under a rock. She has recently been seen sporting snazzy new headphones which only add to her "swag" as she calls it.

Moving on, we have the incomparable Jennifer Hones. JJ, or jota jota, has been known to whisper sweet nothings in Spanish to unsuspecting people (me in particular). She is also highly skilled at yelling things across a packed auditorium right before a final starts!

Michelle Harrison was named after a Beatles song. I don't know how life gets any better than that! Anything I could possibly follow that statement with would just be insignificant. Hence there is no need to mention her drum playing skills, artistic prowess, dunking abilities, addiction to Ritz and peanut butter, or anything else you can imagine. I don't know if you got this the first time but she was literally named after a Beatles song.

Next we have Mikaela Ruef. There is not a single Billy Joel song that she can't belt out on cue. (My personal favorite rendition, "Vienna") Not only does Ruef have a marvelous singing voice, but word on the street is that she is a semi-decent tennis player and just might be the next Roger Federer! (in her mind at least).

Our other freshie, miss Joslyn Tinkle has a similar performance quirk. Hannah Montana doesn't stand a chance when it comes to dancing the Hoedown Throwdown. Jos has perfected every step and has been known to perform in the locker room, her dorm room, probably on her way to class, and my personal favorite, the weight room. (Vocals provided by our very own Jeanette Pohlen)

Which brings me to Jeanette. I recently discovered that not only can she tell you the artist of any song ever created, but she is also a nail polish connoisseur. I know from personal experience that she is a more talented manicurist than anyone else...in the world. (Check out my nails if you don't believe me.)

Kayla Pederson might have a semi-unhealthy addiction to a television show I honestly think nobody else in the world watches. Every Friday night Kay is in an especially good mood and can be found watching the newest episode of the Ghost Whisperer. (She is anxiously awaiting the day when the coaches recruit a fellow enthusiast.)

Rounding out the junior class we have Ashley Cimino. She has been known to get a little too excited when telling a story to the point where her voice is so high it's almost inaudible. But we all love this Princess Peach voice of hers, especially Jayne.

Speaking of which, Jayne has the magical ability to call anyone out on any specific quirk they might have. For instance Boothe's very unique pronunciation of words like "dad" and "math" are never gone unnoticed by Jayne, who makes the Chicago native repeat each word several times before realizing what's going on. (Sidenote — if you didn't already know, Boothe loves cranberry sauce.)

Did I mention Jayne has the most wicked wink I've ever seen, because she does.

Continuing with the sophomores, we next have Grace. Grace might be the most photogenic player on this team. She even has patented her very own "Grace Face" which Ros has decided is the best group photo theme ever invented. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

Lindy LaRocque "Sparkster" could win a worldwide burping contest, without even drinking an ounce of soda. It's quite an endearing talent if you ask me. She can also be found creating clever rhymes that go with each of our names.

Last but not least we have the lovely Nnemkadi. As many of you have probably noticed, Mel has been sporting her hair in intricate braids recently. Nneka is the sole mastermind behind the hairstyle. She has created numerous designs, each one more incredible than the next. Oh yeah, Nnek watches 90210.

These and many other special quirks are why I absolutely love my team and could not ask for more amazing people to spend everyday with. I hope you enjoyed a little inside look at the sweetest team EVER. Happy Holidays.

Hannah

P.S. I have absolutely no quirks to speak of in case you were wondering.

Most wonderful time of the year

Hey Cardinal Fans!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No really, it is! For all of you avid basketball fans, you might think that March is the greatest month of all. Yes, March Madness is exhilarating, but nothing beats the Christmas season. Keep in mind that I am the type of person who likes to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving!

December is the month of joy. Bright lights glorify ordinary houses, Christmas trees fragrance homes with the refreshing smell of pine, Christmas jingles fill the airwaves, the Grinch teaches us how to use our hearts, decorated cookies stuff our stomachs, and Santa visits every house. What can be better than this? Everybody just seems to be happy and loving. I know there is the stress of having to buy presents for your family and friends and worrying about how to tame Uncle John when the family gets together, but it is all worth it in the end.

December is also a crucial and exciting part of our basketball season. We have four BIG games against the top teams in the country. It’s kind of like a mini-March Madness. It’s a preview of what is to come and an evaluating point for our team. The team is looking forward to these games and we are extremely excited to be able to just play without attending to school. So in my opinion, holiday cheer plus December Madness equals the best time of the year.

Spread the Christmas love!

Kayla

Buongiorno!

To all of our Fast Break Members and Stanford Women's Basketball fans that contributed to our trip to Italy GRAZIE!!! We had a fabulous time and on behalf of our staff and team I want to THANK YOU for making this possible. Having been on several foreign tours I have to say this one was the very best!

Basketball Travelers, along with consulting from Amy Tucker, did an excellent job of planning and organizing our tour. We spent 2-3 days in Rome, Florence, (1/2 day in Pisa), Venice and Como. Our daily routine was to get up early and eat breakfast with our group in the hotel before heading out to sight see. Our group leader (Dave) and our tour guide (Sara) were very organized and efficient. Each place we went we would also get a "local guide" and they were fabulous. (One of the advantages of the local Italian guides was that at each of the tourist sites there were LONG lines and we were able to go right to the front.) Going to the Colliseum, Vatican, Leaning Tower (we walked up!) along with seeing the David sculpture along with art museums, churches, gondola rides, Murano glass, boat rides (Venice - Lake Como) WOW it was so interesting and exciting.

The tours would last a couple hours and then our team was free to walk around on their own. Mel would find the best exchange rate, Michelle took the most pictures (Ros was in the most!) Jayne led the shopping group, Sarah tried to go to the opera, the coaches and parents had a fun wine tasting outing, the list is endless! After full days of touring we would load the bus for our games - oh yes I almost forgot we did play basketball!

Our games were challenging and very physical. This was a great opportunity for our team to play together. I was very pleased with the improvement of our players. Everyone played very well and also learned things that will be helpful for the upcoming season. It had all of our coaches working hard too. I know we will be able to look back at this trip as one of the reasons we have a great season!

A bonus of the trip was seeing Jill in Como! She has embraced the Italian lifestyle! She is excited about her team and season (she is on Brook's team and anxiously awaiting Brook's return to Italy).

All in all it was a wonderful experience. The weather was California sunshine except one torrential downpour when Kate, Amy and I were on our run in Como. The food was delicious, our hotels comfortable (well our Florence hotel was small - the shower was less than the size of a phone booth!) and you couldn't beat the company!

Thank you all again very much. You have helped make extraordinary life long memories for us. We truly appreciate your support!

Tara

Ciao Bella!

Hello from Italy! I've really been enjoying my time in Italy. It has been a great opportunity. They have a tremendous history, the food is great and so are the people

We had an amazing time in Rome and now we just left Florence for Venice! In Florence we saw the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge), the David sculpture by Michaelangelo, and drove to Pisa to see the leaning tower!

I can't tell you how awe inspiring these monuments, statues and ruins have been. It is a reminder of the potential of human creativity and intellect. I look at all of these works of art and architecture and wonder how it is we can still struggle with making a foul shot!? Ha!

Speaking of basketball, the team is playing well and winning. Last night we had a close one though. We played the Ducato Le Mura Lucca team. We were down 11 and came back to win in the fourth quarter. At this early point of the season that says a lot about our team.

After the game we had delicious pizza with the women on the other team. Despite some minor language barriers we managed to have a great time, laughing and talking with one another!

Also in Florence there are many street vendors. The best prices are in the San Lorenzo market. Needless to say, I've busied myself haggling down prices and practicing my Italian with the locals.

At night I've made sure to have a lot of fun! Mostly I make sure to eat well. But sometimes it's more exciting. One night in Florence, Sarah Boothe and I crashed a private party and rode down the river underneath the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) on a romantic and slow moving gondola with some of the local people. We sang Beyonce at a small Italian karaoke bar that we found while lost in the windy narrow rides of Florence. I have it on video! The Italians loved it, but loved it even more when we tried to sing in Italian.

I've had some fun times so far and we are only halfway through!

Hope the U.S. is treating all of you well! Rest assured that we're representing hard for the Stanford fans and supporters! Big big grazie (thank you) to all of the people who helped to make this amazing experience happen!

Ciao!
Ros

Arrivederci Roma!

I am currently writing this while on the bus leaving Rome headed to Florence.

Wow what a city Rome is! I used to be obsessed with ancient Roman things, so it was the dream of my 7th grade self finally come true. Seeing the Coliseum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and the Trevi Fountain, not to mention Vatican City (which if you did know is its own "country" with its own stamps and police) was breathtaking.

All anyone on the team could say was, "Can you imagine being here in its prime?" It is really sad how much knowledge was lost during the Medieval times, because what the Romans created back in the day was incredible.

A lot of people on this trip have mentioned to me that since I know Spanish, I should be able to understand Italian - not true! Even talking with some Italians, they have expressed the same sentiment I feel. Yes, some of it is similiar, for instance per favore (Italian) and por favor (Spanish) and I do understand other words, but it is not the same. 

Additionally, people have asked me if I've been to Rome/Italy while I was studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. Answer = no! I purposely did not travel here during my 11 weeks in Europe this spring because I knew we were coming with the team and I wanted to take advantage of other places. I traveled all around Spain (including Valencia to see Candice play), as well as the Spanish island of Mallorca, Lisbon, Portugal, and Istanbul, Turkey to visit Kristen Newlin. Also, I vacationed in the South of France, including Monaco/Montecarlo when classes were finished. I guess you could say I took a little advantage of my weekends off :)

Since this trip to Italy is also about basketball, I will tell you that we won our first game by about 30 points. No one turned the ball over, we made EVERY shot we took, and Tara didn't raise her voice once! :) It feels good to get back on the court, even if just for warmups (no need to rush back in to things, I just got cleared a little bit ago!) It makes me excited for the season, and as Tara's tweets have said, everyone has definitely improved and come back ready to make another run at the Final Four!!

Ciao!

JJ


Sent from my iPhone

Gateway to the Final Four

Lindy blogged for the Las Vegas Sun about her experiences at the women's NCAA Final Four in St. Louis with these two posts:

Gateway to the Final Four

Open practice ‘nerve-wracking’ part of Final Four

Kayla's life as a tweener

On the Stanford team, we have what are known as Littles and Bigs. In position work during practice, the Littles go to one end and work on guard skills and the Bigs/posts stay on the other end.

Everyday at this point in practice, I find myself asking the same question, “Tara, where do you want me?” I’m not technically a guard and I’m not technically a post, despite my height. This is what makes me a tweener.

A tweener is a player that can play basically any position on the floor. They shoot the three, hit the pull-up, post-up, rebound, bring the ball up the floor, run the floor... you get the point. We have three tweeners on our team: Jill, Michelle, and me. Jill plays the 1-4, Michelle plays 2-4 but mainly 3 now, and I play 2-5 (2/3 are basically interchangeable).

I love being a tweener. Tweeners can play anywhere on the floor which makes it a lot of fun because this versatility and flexibility allows us to experience every aspect of basketball. In practice, I normally switch between the 3 and 4 in position work. So as the posts practice lay-ups, I get to shoot with the guards. As the guards are working on zone defense, I get to work on my high post skills. It’s a win-win situation.

The only downfall is not knowing what position I play. Most players get security in knowing their role at all times, but I like to embrace this mental challenge. So, wherever Tara puts me is fine; I just want to play. And if you are wondering what position I will play on any given night, keep in mind that even I don’t know


GO CARD!!!
Kayla

Ashley is a fan of old records

Usually on a typical day off, I try to catch up on my sleep and do any work that I may have gotten behind on. But on our last day off, I did something a little different.

Hannah and I love music and have similar tastes, and we started to take an interest in collecting old records. For Christmas, Hannah got a really cool record player, and we had wanted to go searching for some new records. So on our day off, after classes, we searched the Internet for a record store close to campus, and found one called The Record Man in Redwood City.

We got directions, and prepared for our adventure. I didn’t try to get my hopes up, just in case the record store was a disappointment, but when we got there, I was amazed.

When we walked into The Record Man, there were various rooms of records, including rooms dedicated to Rock, Hip-Hop, Reggae, and Classical records. The walls of the store were lined from the floor to the ceiling in all these different rooms with thousands of records and there were various listening stations throughout the store. We could have spent hours in the store searching for all types of records.

Fortunately, we went into the store with certain artists in mind, so we wouldn’t be there forever. I ended up getting records by Fleetwood Mac, Lenny Kravitz, and the Eagles and Hannah got Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin records. It was a really successful trip, and the records have been on rotation in our room ever since.

If you happen to be a fan of listening to old records, I highly recommend checking out The Record Man. You won’t be disappointed!

Go Card!!
Ashley Cimino #24

HAIR!

Hello Peeps!

The topic of my blog today is: HAIR!...

Let me start by saying that hair is very important to our team. You may be surprised on how hard it is to keep your hair nice, fresh and styled during season. Some of us struggle, but a lot of us also make it a high priority when we have the time.

You can only imagine the amount of product that we have in our locker room, mainly because of Grace Mashore. One of her father’s friends decided to send her a gigantic box of hair product. We are definitely set until we are seniors! Thank you Grace!
I will now give you some insight on our hair…

Well, recently I have had my hair cut and highlighted! I was in much need and I finally gave in to my sister’s phone calls every week to get my hair done. Yes, I know my style is very similar to JJ Hones, but what can I say! We are pretty much sisters! Also, Jayne has updated her hair getting more highlights so it’s a little bit blonder and getting a nice trim. JJ also gets her hair cut and highlighted frequently.

Jillian Harmon and I have very similar hair, except hers is dark. We both have so called fly aways, wispies, wings, baby hairs, whatever you want to call the little curls that occur around our face and hair line, especially during games when we get sweaty. With that being said, I don’t mind my little baby curls. I like them!

Jill on the other hand is not a big fan. So if you haven’t noticed, her fly aways have flown away. Recently, Jill got her hair Japanese straightened, which means she paid a good amount of money to have it chemically straightened for like 6 months. Whatever makes Jill happy, makes us all happy!

Another hair update is Nneka’s newly done hair. We can always count on Nneka for some sort of good hair surprise. Considering, last week in practice she had an amazing huge afro! It was great! Nneka attributes her nicely done hair to her mother. If her mom comes to a home game one week that is a great sign that Nneka will have new hair the next week. Also, Nneka has inherited some of her mother’s skills. Nneka is Melanie Murphy’s own personal hair stylist! Without Nneka, Mel tends to struggle with her hair. We all appreciate Nneka’s talent.

We are still waiting on Hannah to do something with her hair. She has by far the longest hair on the team. She has very nice, long hippie hair but she uses on average 5 hair ties just to put her hair in a bun for practice or games. We all feel bad for Hannah when she stands in the bathroom for 20 minutes after taking a shower untangling the knots in her hair. It’s a shame. Hannah admits her need of a haircut but she is having a hard time trusting anyone other than her friend at home to cut it. Which is kind of surprising, considering her friend is her age, how much hair experience can she have?

As far as the rest of the team goes, there isn’t anything drastically new. When we had our short break, I believe almost everyone got their hair trimmed and styled, in some way or another. We have the girls that belong to the regular pony club. That includes Sarah, Kayla, Ashley, Ros, Morgan, Michelle, and Grace. Jeanette is a member of the group as well but she has definitely toned down her hair and going for a much speedier look than last year. If you can recall, she had the super long pony whip that would smack her and her defenders in the face during games.

I think our team has started to rub off on our coaches as well. Bobbie has made time to get her hair done recently. Her hair is one of her highest priorities on game days. But I must admit that it looks very nice. Also, Kate is beating all of us players with how often she gets her hair highlighted and cut. She most definitely wins any hair competition for number of different styles and colors. We can really tell what kind of mood Kate will be in by the way her hair is. As of late, our team has been trying to talk Amy into growing out her hair. We really think that her ball of curly hair could really turn into some nice long locks. We are still waiting though.

So now you see that hair is really a big deal to us. You can’t blame us for always wanting to look cute!

Well that’s all for now. I could tell you many more facts and superstitions about hair and our team, but then I would have to hurt you! Just kidding. But really I can’t tell you, just know that with every hair style there is a reason and purpose.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my blog! See ya around!

Go Card!!!
Lindy La Rocque #15

P.S. Tara has had the same hair style for 30 years! But things wouldn’t be the same if she changed it.

Melanie's Video Blog

Mel brings a personal, inside look at how she prepared for a game. Brought direct to you by Melevision.