Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer tied Mike Krzyzewski as the winningest coach in college basketball history with her 1,202nd victory Friday night, guiding the No 8 Cardinal past Oregon 88-63 while losing leading scorer Cameron Brink for the final three quarters with a leg injury.
VanDerveer can set the record Sunday, when she goes for 1,203 as Stanford (16-2, 5-1 Pac-12) hosts Oregon State. A couple dozen former Stanford players are expected to be on hand for the potential milestone.
Cardinal players hugged their smiling coach and lifted her up in celebration after the teams shook hands.
Brink landed awkwardly on her left leg and limped to the locker room with help at the 3:41 mark of the opening quarter. She returned to the bench just before the end of the period. Brink had made all three of her field goals for six points to go with two rebounds, an assist and a steal in six minutes.
Kiki Iriafen had 21 points on 10-for-17 shooting, 15 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots as the Cardinal bounced back from a 71-59 loss at then-No 5 Colorado on Sunday.
The 70-year-old VanDerveer is in her 38th season at Stanford and 45th as a college coach. She turned around the programs at Idaho and Ohio State before arriving in the Bay Area. VanDerveer has adapted based on her players’ strengths, cherishing the opportunity to learn something new from fellow coaches at every level.
And now she has matched Coach K’s win total with Duke and Army.
Stanford raced ahead 20-0 with Oregon missing its first eight shots before Kennedy Basham’s layup at the 3:45 mark of the first quarter.
Chance Gray contributed 19 points and five assists to lead the Ducks (11-8, 2-4), who had won their previous two after a three-game skid.
