Folkl's numbers for the season arejaw-dropping. The 6'2 junior finished the yearaveraging a team high 18.9 points and 9.2 reboundsper game, shooting an incredible 69.5 percent fromthe field. Making these numbers all the moreimpressive is the fact that they were all achievedcoming off of the bench--the Stanford standouthasn't started a game all season and only averaged25 minutes per contest.
The Cardinal may also have to face the Crimsonwithout another one of its stars, senior forwardVenessa Nygaard. Nygaard, an Honorable MentionAll-American, tore her ACL in the regular-seasonfinale against Oregon St. The 6'1" standoutaverages 14.9 points per game, shooting anoutstanding 46 percent from three-point land.
"Other than Nygaard, Stanford isn't that greatof an outside shooting team," Basil said. "So ifshe can't play we can focus more on stopping theirinside game, since they won't be able to hurt usas much from the outside."
Although Nygaard definitely will needoff-season surgery on her swollen knee, she isable to walk on it. Additionally, doctors havemedically cleared her to play, saying thatalthough the knee can give out at any time, italready requires surgery, so no extra damage willbe done by playing.
Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer has stated,however, that Nygaard will be held out of theHarvard game. Nygaard, though, insists that shecan play, and now faced with Folkl's injury, theCardinal may be forced to use her against theCrimson.
Harvard is not without injury problems of itsown. Sophomore forward Laela Sturdy suffered atorn medial collateral ligament in the Crimson'sloss to Dartmouth, leaving Harvard's front linedepleted heading into the Tournament.
Even without Folkl and Nygaard in the lineup,Stanford's strength will still be in itsfrontcourt, where the Cardinal boasts 6'2 seniorOlympia Scott--an Honorable Mention APAll-American--and 6'4 senior Heather Owen. Scottaverages 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds a game,while Owen drops 10 points and hauls in 5.2 boardsper contest.
"Stanford has an excellent frontcourt, so we'vebeen working really hard on our defense in thepaint," Basil said. "You can't stop them fromscoring, but with a tough inside presence, we canslow them down."
To contain Stanford's front line, the Crimsonwill look to its own Honorable MentionAll-American, Feaster. With an Ivy League-leading3.4 steals per game--16th best in thenation--Feaster likely would have been matched upagainst Folkl in key situations, setting the stagefor one of the better match-ups in the Tournament.With Folkl sidelined, how-ever, Feaster'sattention will turn to Scott and Owen.
Feaster will need help from Janowski to containStanford's bigger front line. Janowski will needto use her 6'2 frame and paint presence to deterScott and Owen.
Harvard, though, cannot focus solely on theStanford front line. Sophomore guard Milena Floresadds solid play from the point to the alreadypotent Cardinal attack. Flores has a 9.8points-per-game average to go along with her solid6.2 assists average, so she presents a threat toeither score on her own or dish off to openteammates.
Stanford will certainly miss the contributionsof Folkl and Nygaard. But even without them,Stanford is clearly a deep, talented team, theodds-on favorite to represent the West region inthe Final Four.
Despite being a huge underdog, the Crimson isnot discouraged. The entire team still believesthat it can shock the basketball world and pulloff what would rank as one of the greatest upsetsin Tournament history.
"We definitely feel that we have a chance towin," Feaster said. "We match up very well againstStanford, and if we play hard and everyone stepsup, we can give them a really tough game."
Even if Harvard falls short of its ultimategoal, a strong showing against Stanford will onlybe an additional positive to another superbseason. A good performance by the Crimson in theTournament will also do much to improve thereputation of the Ivy League, giving it therespect that it has long desired.
Also, as the end of the college careers ofseniors Feaster, Basil, Seanor, Brandt and KarunGrossman draws near, the Crimson would likenothing better than to go out with the same effortand quality of play that has marked the IvyLeague's all-time winningest class.
"We feel very confident, and the five seniorson this team have a lot of pride," Seanor said."This is our last season playing basketballtogether, and we want to end it with a bang."