The good news for the Cardinal: Chiney Ogwumike, considered the No.1 prospect in the 2010 prep class, signed Thursday. She'll be joining sister Nneka Ogwumike, a sophomore and emerging star.

Other weekend highlights include:

• Baylor's 6-8 Brittney Griner, who dunked 52 times last year and once in an exhibition game last week, makes her college debut Sunday as the No. 4 Lady Bears play at No. 9 Tennessee in the State Farm Tipoff Classic, formerly a doubleheader and now a single game.

• No. 15 Xavier, with dynamic posts Ta'Shia Phillips and Amber Harris, plays Friday at Southern California, where ex-NBA player and WNBA coach Michael Cooper makes his college coaching debut.

• Ohio State opens the Preseason Women's NIT Friday against Eastern Illinois, without two players, including Shavelle Little, suspended three games for what the school calls "secondary violations."

• No. 6 Duke plays Saturday at Houston Baptist and Sunday at No. 16 Texas A&M.

•Debbie Ryan shoots for career win No.700 Sunday when her No. 18 Virginia team plays Friday at Maryland Baltimore County.

Sister act:  Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, whose team is experiencing flooding in Norfolk, Va., got the news she was hoping for Thursday when Chiney Ogwumike called from Cypress, Texas, to tell her she'd be signing with the Cardinal. Stanford was considered to have the inside track against Connecticut and Notre Dame, Chiney's other two finalists.

VanDerveer, who won NCAA titles at Stanford in 1990 and '92 and whose team has been to the last two Final Fours, couldn't recall recruiting sisters before. "I think it is different," she said, "because someone like Nneka wanted her to come but also wanted her to make her own decision. I think it worked for us."

VanDerveer also think it can work with the two in the lineup in succeeding seasons. The 6-2 Nneka, who had a strong summer playing USA Basketball, is a power forward-center; the 6-3 Chiney is a small forward-power forward. They had two seasons together at Cy-Fair HS and also played on AAU teams together.

"They play different games, but they know each other's games, which is a big advantage," VanDerveer said. "(Chiney) plays with a lot of enthusiasm. She's very aggressive. I think she's very versatile. I think she can be a great defender."

Stanford, which will lose senior starter and 6-5 center Jayne Appel after this season, also signed two guards, 5-10 Sara James of El Dorado Hills, Calif., and 5-11 Toni Kokenis of Hinsdale, Ill.

"We expect all three of the young women who signed to make major contributions," said VanDerveer, whose class is ranked No.4 nationally by ESPN HoopGurlz.

Enlarge By Bob Pearson, The Dallas Morning News Chiney Ogwumike signed with Stanford on Thursday, giving the Cardinal some good news before they head east for a tough road trip to start the season.