Alex Fletcher And Allen Smith Pick Up Freshman Honors

Stanford offensive linemen Alex Fletcher and Allen Smith have picked up several season-ending freshman honors each with both named to the Pac-10's All-Freshman squad.
Fletcher was also named an honorable mention Freshman All-American by the Sporting News, and a First Team Freshman All-American by Scout.com. He started all 11 contests for the Cardinal, making starts at both center and guard.
Smith added an honorable mention Freshman All-American nod from Scout.com to his Pac-10 honor. He started Stanford's final eight contests at tackle.

Stanford Downs Denver, 71-49

Matt Haryasz had 24 points and 13 rebounds and Stanford ended a three-game losing streak with a 71-49 victory over Denver on Monday night.
Dan Grunfeld added 19 points, six rebounds and five assists as the Cardinal (3-4) avoided their worst start since beginning 2-5 in 1979-80 and worst skid since dropping six in a row to end the 1992-93 season - the last time Stanford lost more than three straight.
Denver star Yemi Nicholson had 10 points and 11 rebounds after a 27-point performance in a 79-66 loss to North Dakota State on Dec. 13. He didn't score until a tip-in at the 13:51 mark of the first half.
Nicholson, the 6-foot-11, 260-pound reigning Sun Belt Conference player of the year, attracted a handful of scouts, but never got into a rhythm. He missed six of his first seven field-goal tries and finished 4-of-12 shooting for the mistake-prone Pioneers.
Nicholson became visibly frustrated when he briefly tangled with Stanford point guard Chris Hernandez and got whistled for his fourth foul with 16:01 remaining, then took a seat. He returned about three minutes later and scored soon after, then had another hoop during a 9-0 run that pulled the Pioneers within 55-44 with 8:30 left.
Alex Cox made it a 56-47 game with a three-point play for Denver at 7:53, but the Pioneers scored only two more points the rest of the way.
The Cardinal had been struggling after beginning the season ranked 13th, losing at Montana, at UC Davis and against Virginia Tech in Las Vegas on Saturday night in the team's first game back after a two-week layoff for final exams.The Pioneers (5-4), who are 0-4 all-time in California since returning to Division I in 1998, committed 20 turnovers and shot 34.6 percent on the way to their third straight defeat. Denver played its third game of a five-game road trip.
David Kummer led the Pioneers with 12 points and six rebounds.
Grunfeld, Stanford's leading scorer last season in his injury-shortened junior year, scored the Cardinal's first eight points after halftime and converted consecutive three-point plays. He is still wearing a bulky brace on his surgically repaired right knee.
Haryasz scored six points during a 13-1 run that gave the Cardinal a 28-11 lead with 6 minutes left in the first half. After the Pioneers cut it to 10, Stanford ended the first half on an 8-0 spurt for a 37-19 lead at the break. Haryasz, who made 10 of 12 free throws, dunked in the closing moments on a pretty pass from freshman Mitch Johnson.
Stanford played without forward Fred Washington, who has left knee tendinitis that likely will keep him out of Wednesday night's game against Princeton in the Pete Newell Challenge.
Denver missed its first four shots against Stanford's tight man defense, including three by Nicholson. The Cardinal made five of their first eight shots and forced the Pioneers into nine early turnovers.
Denver's Terrence Gordon picked up his fourth foul 2:18 before halftime.

Stanford Heads to Washington to Start the Pac-10 Season

Shooting from the Outside...Stanford has made 10 three-pointers in a game twice this season - against Fresno State on Nov. 23 and at Pacific on Dec. 1. In those two games, Krista Rappahahn was nine-for-ten from behind the three-point line. Even 6-4 freshman Morgan Clyburn got into the mix, making her first three-pointer in her college career against Rice on Dec. 17. Rappahahn currently leads the Pac-10 in three-point shooting percentage with a 53.3% mark, through games on Dec. 19.
Rankings Report...Stanford began the 2005-06 season with a No. 11 ranking in the AP poll and a No. 10 ranking in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches' poll. Prior to its first game, Stanford moved up to No. 9 in the USA Today poll. After the loss at No. 16/17 Minnesota, the Cardinal dropped back to 15th in the AP poll and 13th in the USA Today Poll, but the Cardinal has come back to No. 10 in AP and No. 11 in USA Today.
Stanford Stats...Stanford is off to a 5-2 start this season, with a 1-2 record versus ranked opponents. The Cardinal lost at #16/17 Minnesota on the first Sunday of the season, but rebounded with a three-point victory at #14/16 Texas Tech a week later. On the third Sunday of the season, Stanford lost to No. 2/1 Tennessee at Maples Pavilion.
VanDerveer's Victories...Stanford's match-up against Utah in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last March was the 600th game of head coach Tara VanDerveer's coaching career at Stanford. Last year, she also coached the 800th game of her career, a 73-69 win versus USC in the Pac-10 Tournament Semifinal. One of the winningest active coaches, her overall record stands at 639-173 (.787) in 27 years, while her record at Stanford is 487-122 (.800) in 20 years.
Washington State Bullets...* With a 6-2 record, WSU has already equaled its win total from each of the past two seasons, it is the best start by the program entering its first conference game since the 1995-96 season.* WSU will face ranked opponents in two consecutive games (at No. 14 Minnesota, vs. No. 10/11 Stanford) for the first time since 2001.
The Stanford-WSU Series...This will be the 41st match-up between Stanford and Washington State. The Cardinal has won all 40 meetings in the series (by an average of 22.2 points per game). Only six games have been decided by fewer than 10 points, most recently on Feb. 22, 2001, when the Cardinal posted a nine-point victory. The largest Stanford win was a 47-point victory on Jan. 17, 2002.
Stanford vs. the Pac-10...The Cardinal owns an overall record of 324-101 (.762) against current Pac-10 foes and a 291-51 (.851) record in regular season conference action, the best percentage in the league. Stanford won its fifth-straight regular season Pac-10 title and its third-straight Pac-10 Tournament title last season.
Washington St. vs. the Pac-10...The Cougars are 112-307 (.267) all-time against current Pac-10 foes. In regular season action, Washington State ranks tenth in the conference with 88 wins in their 20th year of Pac-10 play. The Cougars have never finished higher than fourth in the conference (1990-91) and finished ninth last season.
Newlin Notes...Junior forward Kristen Newlin was diagnosed with a stress reaction in her left femur and will be on the sidelines for this week's games against Washington State and Washington. Newlin, who was averaging 12.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in her first six games, pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds at Texas Tech and scored a career-high 20 points against Tennessee. She will be re-evaluated on a week-to-week basis. Newlin has four double-doubles in six games this season, with double-digit scoring and rebounding against all three of the Cardinal's ranked opponents (Minnesota, Texas Tech and Tennessee) as well as at Pacific. Newlin has also accumulated 12 blocks so far this season, upping her career total to 93.
Looking at the Lineup... Stanford has used three lineups this season, adding sharp-shooter Krista Rappahahn to the starting five in the fifth game of the season. The Cardinal used a three-guard starting rotation, with Clare Bodensteiner, Rappahahn and Candice Wiggins in the backcourt to go along with Kristen Newlin and Brooke Smith in the front court. Dec. 1 at Pacific was the first career start for senior guard Rappahahn. Freshman Jillian Harmon returned to the lineup after Newlin's injury, starting the first four games of her collegiate career and returning to the starting rotation against Rice.
Preseason Praise...Sophomore Candice Wiggins was named to the Preseason Watch List for the Wooden Award and the Wade Trophy. A Kodak All-American last season, Wiggins is currently Stanford's leading scorer at 18.0 points per game in the first six contests.
Pac-10 Pride...Stanford finished atop the preseason coaches' poll with nine first-place votes (81 points). It is the sixth-consecutive time and sixth time overall that Stanford has been favored by the coaches to win the Conference title since the poll's inception in 1998-99.
Maples Magic...Tara VanDerveer's teams have compiled a 262-29 (.900) record at home during her tenure and, with the 13-0 mark last year, have posted seven perfect seasons at Maples. The Cardinal has won 58 of its last 62 games at Maples and, before the Tennessee loss on Dec. 4, 23 straight since Dec. 27, 2003.
Season Openers...With the Cardinal's 69-28 victory over Long Island on Nov. 19, Stanford is 21-11 all-time in season openers, picking up a win in the first game in each of the last five years. This year's opener in Minneapolis marks the 22nd time that the Cardinal has kicked off the season on the road. Stanford owns a 15-7 record in season openers away from home.
Cardinal Catalogue...Three Cardinal players are scoring in double digits and nine are averaging at least 14 minutes per game. Through all games on Dec. 12, Stanford is ranked in the top-25 nationally in scoring offense (No. 14, 79.5 ppg), blocked shots (No. 18, 5.7 bpg) and assists (No. 19, 18.0 apg). Ranked in the top-5 is Krista Rappahahn, who is No. 2 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, shooting a 57.1% from the beyond the arc. Kristen Newlin is also ranked No. 28 in rebounds per game with a 10.3 rpg average.
Katrina Assist...Assistant coach Charmin Smith is spearheading a year-long fund-raiser by the Stanford Women's Basketball team this year, as the program collects pledges for every Stanford assist in order to help the Peninsula Habitat, our local chapter of Habitat for Humanity International, build houses for Operation Home Delivery, a tremendous nationwide effort, that will shipped new homes to the Hurricane Katrina-devastated Gulf Coast area. The California Golden Bears are also launching a Katrina Assist program. More information and pledge forms can be found at GoStanford.com.
History Lesson...The Stanford-Cal series will be even more special this season, as the squads mark the 110 year milestone since Stanford beat Cal 2-1 on April 8, 1896, in the first-ever women's intercollegiate basketball game. Stanford and the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative are sponsoring the Inaugural Bay Area Leadership Lunch prior to the Jan. 14 game at Maples. Cal Athletic Director Sandy Barbour will be the featured speaker and will be joined by both head coaches.