PALO ALTO – Tara VanDerveer will have to reach basketball immortality on Sunday without star center Cameron Brink.
Brink, the two-time All-American, will miss Stanford game against Oregon State because of a leg injury. If the Cardinal can overcome her absence and win, VanDerveer will have recorded her 1,203rd career victory — more than any other coach in college basketball history.
Brink left Friday night’s game against Oregon after she collided with Ducks guard Sofia Bell. After limping off the court to the locker room, she returned to the bench and appeared to try to stretch her legs. But Brink was ruled out for that game.
After Stanford’s blowout win over Oregon, Brink underwent an X-ray. The team announced that she’d be a game-time decision before ruling her out about an hour before their 2 p.m. tipoff.
Brink’s injury didn’t look too serious, as she watched most of Friday’s second half from the bench. In the postgame celebration as VanDerveer notched her 1,202nd win to tie Mike Krzyzewski’s all-time record, Brink lifted her head coach off the court.
Stanford’s all-around best player, Brink is averaging 17.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game. She helped lead the Cardinal to the 2021 national championship and was last year’s Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year.
Without Brink, Stanford will likely rely more on freshman forward Nunu Agara. Kiki Iriafen, who has put together three straight excellent games, will be even more of a focal point on offense.
