By Ashley Westhem on November 28, 2013

No. 6 Stanford women’s basketball ended its week of play in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with an 80-60 win over South Dakota State to capture the 2013 Hardwood Tournament of Hope title.

Thursday’s win, however, wasn’t as big of an accomplishment for the team or for head coach Tara VanDerveer as the night before — an 83-59 win over Florida Gulf Coast which marked VanDerveer’s 900th career win.

VanDerveer is only the fifth women’s basketball coach to reach the 900-win mark, joining an exclusive club that includes former Tennessee head coach Pat Summit. In her storied career, VanDerveer is 901-204, with 748 of those wins occurring while at the helm of Stanford’s program.

“It goes fast,” VanDerveer said. “I can remember my first game, playing a lot of games in different places. Obviously, some really big games, but it goes really fast. I’m very thankful for the places I’ve coached, the assistants I’ve worked with, the athletic directors I’ve worked for, the outstanding players I’ve coached, and the fabulous fans at Idaho, Ohio State and Stanford.”

Stanford went 3-0 while in Mexico, improving its record to 7-1. Its first win was an 86-69 romp against Purdue. Stanford shot a season high 61.7 percent from the field led by senior forward Chiney Ogwumike’s 22 points. Despite having to sit out much of the first half due to early foul trouble — only playing nine minutes — Ogwumike scored 17 points in the second half.

“This was a big momentum game because a lot of people made big contributions, like Sara James and [Erica McCall],” Ogwumike said. “So I think that we can build off the things we had today and get better from it. Our aggressiveness, especially in the second half, overcoming the foul trouble helped us separate and win.”

In its win against Florida Gulf Coast, the Card was led by the double-doubles of Ogwumike and fifth-year senior Mikaela Ruef. Ogwumike had 27 points and 13 rebounds while Ruef had a career-high 14 points, finished six of eight from the field and grabbed 12 rebounds. A quick stake to a 34-12 lead within the first 12 minutes of the game left no doubt that VanDerveer would only need the one game to go from win 899 to win 900.

On Thanksgiving Day, the Card came out sluggish, trailing South Dakota State 10-8 five minutes into the first half before taking command with a 32-11 run to lead 40-19 heading into halftime. The Card outrebounded the Jackrabbits 41-28 and out-played them on the defensive end, forcing 22 turnovers and snagging a season-high 14 steals, five of them coming from junior point guard Amber Orrange. Orrange also impressed on the offensive end, shooting five for six from the field for 13 points.

Also contributing for the Card were the four active freshmen players: Karlie Samuelson, Lili Thompson, Kailee Johnson and Erica McCall. The freshmen combined for 30 points, led by Johnson’s 10. In addition, Ruef dished out a career-high seven assists and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Ogwumike wrapped up the three-game trip with 29 points, averaging 26 points and 11 rebounds per game while shooting 78 percent to win tournament MVP honors.

“This was a great trip for us this week. I think we’ve grown a lot. We’re playing a lot of people, a lot of young people,” VanDerveer said. “Now we’ll go home and get ready for finals, and Gonzaga, New Mexico and Tennessee.”

The Card will take a break from play during Dead Week and Finals Week before returning to Maples Pavilion on Dec. 14 to take on Gonzaga at 1 p.m.

Contact Ashley Westhem at [email protected]