Stanford's Boothe looking for the good kind of "chills" in St. Louis

No one in Sarah Boothe's family is going to have much sympathy for her if she finds it a bit chilly this weekend in St. Louis.

Not after she had to "endure" a California "winter."

"It was such a cold winter in Illinois and I remember calling up my parents and it would be like negative something outside and they'd be huddled up in a blanket," Boothe said. "I would tell them and my friends from back home that I was out riding my bike in shorts, sweating, and they'd all be like, 'OK, Sarah, we don't want to hear anymore.' "

Normally, I would say "Ditto to that," but we'll cut Boothe some slack.

A native of Gurnee and an All-American basketball player at Warren High School last year, Boothe has seen her fair share of nasty winters. Who could blame her for relishing her temperate experience at Stanford?

"The weather is always sunny," Boothe said. "How can you not be happy here?"

Of course, the weather is only the half of it. The success of the basketball program also has Boothe in a chipper mood.

The reason Boothe will be in St. Louis is that she and her teammates qualified for the women's Final Four. The second-seeded Cardinal is making a repeat trip after advancing all the way to the national championship game last year.

Stanford, which won national championships in 1990 and 1992, lost to Candace Parker and Tennessee in the finale last April. Stanford had to beat Connecticut to move into that championship game, and Connecticut stands in the way this year, too.

Only this time, Connecticut, which takes on Stanford in Sunday's second national semifinal (8 p.m., ESPN), is 37-0 and ranked No. 1 - by a landslide.

"They looked really good last year," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said of Connecticut. "And they look really good this year."

But Stanford (33-4) is not without its weapons.

The 6-foot-5 Boothe, a true freshman, is a backup center and gets about 10 minutes a game playing behind All-American Jayne Appel. The 6-4 Appel scored 46 points - the third-highest total in NCAA Tournament history - in Stanford's regional final victory over Iowa State.

"Jayne's been an incredible leader in just sparking us and keeping us going this season," Boothe said. "She's an All-American, an amazing player and one of the best posts in the country right now.

"Going against her every day in practice is making me so much better. She gives me advice; she teaches me what she knows. I've learned a lot. Like, some of her moves are unstoppable, so I've learned to play better defense in the post.

"She's taught me how to hold my position longer and how to post up stronger."

The cram sessions must be working. Boothe, who has played in all 37 games and is averaging 5.1 points, certainly has made an impression with VanDerveer, one of the most respected coaches in the women's game.

"I think Sarah is having an excellent freshman year," VanDerveer said. "I think the No. 1 thing for Sarah is that every day in practice she gets to go against a terrific player in Jayne Appel. And Sarah has made Jayne better. (Sarah) is big and she's strong and she runs the floor well. She scores well.

"I think she's a future All-American."

For now, Boothe is simply going to enjoy the Final Four experience.

"I used to watch the NCAA Tournament on TV and be in awe of the teams and everything that was going on," Boothe said. "To actually be a part of it and go to a Final Four is incredible. I'm just trying to enjoy the moment."

And not get a nasty Midwest chill while she's at it.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com