When freshman forward Jayne Appel was getting ready for the first game of her Stanford career, head coach Tara VanDerveer came up to Appel and told her “It’s the same basket, just a bigger stage.”

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Alvin Chow

Freshman center Jayne Jayne Appel leads Stanford in shooting percentage and is third in points per game with 12. The Cardinal travels to Washington and Washington State this weekend.

One hundred and four baskets — or 168 points — later, Appel has found it’s the truth.

“[What VanDerveer said] helped me realize that it’s really just basketball and the game hasn’t changed,” Appel said. “The setting may be different, and the pace may be different, but that’s all.”

It’s with this attitude that Appel has stepped up as one of the leading scorers for the Cardinal. She has averaged 12.0 points per game over the Cardinal's first 15 contests, third best on the team, and leads the squad shooting 53.8 percent from the field.

Appel made her debut in the Nov. 13 BYU game. Coming off of an injured left shoulder, which had kept her on the bench for a month, Appel came on the court with 17:19 left in the first half, and in just 14 minutes she had five rebounds, four points, and two blocks. It wasn’t enough, though, to stop the then-No. 24 Cougars from scoring a 55-52 upset over then-No. 4 Stanford.

With her nerves wracked throughout the close game, Appel said she looked toward the seniors who “have seen it all” for their leadership.

“It was really hard losing that game, but I think I took a lot away from it,” Appel said.

An even bigger challenge came in Appel’s third game against then-No. 4 Tennessee. Among the Cardinal’s longtime rivals, and one of the best teams in the country, with one of the best players in the country (sophomore forward Candace Parker), the Lady Vols faced Appel with a mighty challenge — literally.

“Candace Parker hit her first few shots [including a dunk] right in my face,” Appel said. “I just thought, ‘It has to go up from here; it can’t get any worse than that.’”

With that mentality, Appel said she was actually relaxed, and it led to her breakthrough performance of the season. Nearly keeping up with Parker, she led the Cardinal with 23 points, five rebounds and five blocks in 30 minutes of play.

Continuing to step up for a lagging Cardinal against its toughest competition yet, Appel went on to put in another 16 points and nine rebounds against then-No. 8 Georgia two days later.

“I was really nervous,” she said. You can’t imagine a bigger stage than [being on the court with those top-ranked teams].”

With more experience, though, Appel feels she’s learning the ropes. She said that she feels that every day she is expected to come out and truly play, even if it is just for practice.

And at gametime, Appel shines even more. Including her career-high 23 points against Tennessee, she’s had nine double-digit scoring performances and five in a row entering this weekendís play: 11 points at UCLA Dec. 22, 15 against Arizona Dec. 28, 16 against Arizona State Dec. 30, 15 at Fresno State Jan. 2 and 19 points at Cal Jan. 6.

Appel also has contributed on the glass, where she has tallied six rebounds per game, and a team-leading 27 blocks. With those escalating numbers, Appel said she needs to continue improving.

“I need to extend my game outwards and be able to guard quicker players,” she said.

But Appel isn’t letting her own exceptional start to the season get in the way of an even better finish for the team. She’s still at the beginning of her Stanford career, but the season is rapidly progressing and everyone, including Appel, will need to step up to take the Cardinal to the Final Four after three straight Elite Eight losses..

“I’m really just playing for my other teammates,” she said. “It’s all about compiling as many wins as we can as a team, and winning the tournaments.”