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Stanford Athletes
 After a record-breaking four
years at Stanford, Kate Starbird heads for the pros.
By the time she finished high school, she was the state’s leading scorer
and not just of the girls. She won every statewide honor available (and
a few national) and decided to come to Stanford. She leaves this year
with a degree in computer science and the new world of professional
women’s basketball at her feet.
In four years at the Farm, she constantly broke records and set
the Pac-10 Conference pace to win the Naismith Award this year as the
country’s top women’s basketball player. “For some reason,” she says, “I
just thrive in this system. Perhaps I got this award just because our
team does so well consistently.”
But there’s much more to Kate Starbird than record-breaking. What
has left sold-out crowds in Maples on their feet in disbelief is her
ability to steal the ball or get a pitch from a rebound and go
coast-to-coast, changing directions and speed as defenders practically
fall on their faces while she zigs past them in overdrive. If they crowd
her, she simply suspends gravity for a second or so, changes hands,
twists her body and tosses in a reverse layup from the other side of the
basket. A couple of great moments came due to her high-flying
double-play:
Point guard Jamila Wideman is tearing down the court and zings a
half-court pass to Vanessa Nygaard under the basket. But Nygaard, who
leaps into the air to catch the ball, doesn’t shoot. Before her feet hit
the ground, she flips the ball to Starbird, who has driven toward the
basket from the other side and already is in the air. She catches the
ball and does a silky lay-in.
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