By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR
It is a good thing Stanford standout and Mount Rainier High School graduate Brittany McPhee likes to come back to the Seattle area and play in front of hometown family and friends.
She is doing just that two weeks in a row, flying in with the Cardinal to play the University of Washington this past Friday and heading north again this week for the Pac-12 tournament.
That action runs Thursday through Sunday.
"It's a quick turn around," said the 6-foot senior. "I'm real excited. It's going to be fun." McPhee hopes to still be around for the championship game at 6 p.m. Sunday, March 4. "Good," she said of her team's chances. "We hope we just keep improving each day, and going into the postseason."
The Cardinal improved to 20-9 overall with Friday's 86-79 win over the Huskies and to 15-3 in conference play.
A lot of Stanford's success depends on McPhee, who leads the team with her average of 18.2 points per game and hit a team-high 25 at the UW. Her 22.5 scoring average for the month of February going into the game led the Pac-12.
McPhee poured it on enough in recent wins at Oregon and Oregon State to earn Pac-12 Player of the Week honors. "It was fun, but more importantly we won those two games up in Oregon," McPhee said. "That probably matters to me more."
Family also matters to McPhee, who planned on seeing them prior to and after Friday's game at the UW. "They'll come to the hotel for a bit," she said. "Not a ton of time, but a little which is great." Family includes her twin sister Jordan, who is a basketball star herself only at Seattle Pacific University.
"I've been playing with her pretty much always," McPhee said. "She's had a good time at Seattle Pacific."
And Brittany has enjoyed her stay at Stanford.
"It's a good education and good coaches -- and a really good team," she said. "It's a good atmosphere and team culture. I wanted to play at a place with a good basketball program and a good education." McPhee has been a starting guard since almost the start of her career at Stanford.
"Off and on the end of my freshman year and sophomore year and all of my junior and senior years," she said. Now McPhee finds herself as a team leader -- one of only two seniors for the Cardinal.
"A lot of young players are catching on, so it has been a lot of fun," she said.
Also following in her footsteps is younger sister Jenna, who is currently injured but plays for the state-bound West Seattle High School team.
Basketball just runs in the family.
