BERKELEY, Calif. – Jillian Harmon has delivered whatever type of play her teammates needed during her four years at Stanford.
A knee-scraping dive for a loose ball. A well-anticipated steal. An open jumper. A key rebound or a pass to set up an easy basket.
So when All-American teammate Candice Wiggins and her fiery leadership moved on to the WNBA, Harmon knew she needed to add to her repertoire to get the Cardinal back to the Final Four this season.
Stanford was getting a rare postseason challenge from Ohio State in the regional semifinals, so it was no surprise that Harmon yelled at her teammates, “Let’s go!” during a dominating game-ending run.
“Usually I’m not too outwardly emotional, but I just want it so badly right now that I’ll do anything,” she said. “I know my teammates do, too. It’s fun getting excited out there.”
A reserve with a bad back on the national runners-up a year ago, Harmon is a key contributor for the Cardinal (33-4) heading into Sunday’s national semifinal against undefeated Connecticut (37-0).
Much of her transformation into a vocal leader and a consistent outside shooter can be attributed to her “summer vacation” – a stint with the New Zealand national team at last year’s Beijing Olympics.
“It has helped her confidence. She understands the game at a different level in terms of how hard everyone plays and how well the rest of the world plays the game of basketball,” coach Tara VanDerveer said. “She is the heart and soul with how hard that she plays. There’s just a grittiness that she brings every day to the court. She just makes big plays.”
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WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR
Sunday on ESPN – Oklahoma vs. Louisville, 4 p.m.; Connecticut vs. Stanford, 6:30 p.m.