STANFORD, Calif. – Two games against teams that advanced to the Elite Eight a season ago and the program's first trip to Mexico since Tara VanDerveer notched her 900th career victory highlight the 2016-17 Stanford women's basketball nonconference schedule, which was announced in full on Thursday.
Tip times and complete broadcast information along with Stanford's Pac-12 schedule will be announced in the coming weeks once television arrangements have been finalized. Season tickets for the 2016-17 campaign are on sale now and fans can also place $50 deposits for mini plans by visiting gostanford.com/tickets or calling 800-STANFORD.
The Cardinal, which is coming off the 10th Elite Eight appearance of its own in the past 13 seasons, opens with four straight at home beginning with Cal Poly on Friday, Nov. 11. Three days later, Texas comes to Maples for a nationally-televised game on ESPN2 at 5 p.m. PT. The Longhorns were 31-5 in 2015-16 and made the school's first trip to the Elite Eight since 2002-03. Texas finished seventh in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll released after the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament while Stanford checked in at No. 11.
The following weekend, the Cardinal hosts Gonzaga on Friday. Nov. 18 and CSUN on Sunday, Nov. 20. Stanford is 5-0 all-time against the Mustangs and 2-0 against CSUN. The Matadors were last in Maples in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on March 21, 2015, a 73-60 Cardinal win.
Stanford hits the road for the first time when it heads to the already-announced Cancun Challenge for games against Northeastern (Nov. 24), Wichita State (Nov. 25) and Purdue (Nov. 26). The program's last trip to Mexico was a memorable one. The Cardinal's 83-59 win over Florida Gulf Coast at the Hardwood Tournament of Hope in Puerto Vallarta on November 27, 2013 was the 900th in the career of Tara VanDerveer, the Cardinal's Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketball and Naismith Hall of Famer.
VanDerveer enters this season with a 980-225 (.813) record in 37 seasons as a collegiate head coach and is 20 wins shy from joining Pat Summitt as the only NCAA women's basketball coaches with 1,000 career wins.
2016-17 Nonconference Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 4 | UC San Diego (Exhibition) | Stanford, Calif. |
| Nov. 11 | Cal Poly | Stanford, Calif. |
| Nov. 14 | Texas | Stanford, Calif. |
| Nov. 18 | Gonzaga | Stanford, Calif. |
| Nov. 20 | CSUN | Stanford, Calif. |
| Nov. 24 | vs. Northeastern | Cancun, Mexico |
| Nov. 25 | vs. Wichita State | Cancun, Mexico |
| Nov. 26 | vs. Purdue | Cancun, Mexico |
| Dec. 1 | at CSU Bakersfield | Bakersfield, Calif. |
| Dec. 4 | UC Davis | Stanford, Calif. |
| Dec. 18 | at Tennessee | Knoxville, Tenn. |
| Dec. 21 | at George Washington | Washington, D.C. |
| Dec. 28 | Yale | Stanford, Calif. |
On Thursday, Dec. 1 Stanford will make the drive to Bakersfield, California for the first time to take on the Roadrunners. The game will be a homecoming for senior forward Erica McCall, whose father Greg is the head coach at CSUB. On The Farm last season, the younger McCall went for 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in 22 minutes to lead Stanford to the 83-41 victory.
The Cardinal hosts UC Davis on Sunday, Dec. 4 before making its biannual journey to Knoxville, Tenn. to maintain its storied rivalry with the Lady Vols on Sunday, Dec. 18. Stanford has won five of the last seven meetings between the two schools. The two titans of women's college basketball have played 33 total games and at least once in each of the past 28 seasons. Stanford won last season's meeting in Maples, 69-55, its fifth consecutive home victory in the series. Tennessee went 22-14 a year ago and rallied for the program's fourth Elite Eight appearance in five seasons.
Stanford continues east for a game in the nation's capital at George Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 21. Sophomore point guard Marta Sniezek starred at National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C. and was a two-time D.C. Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year. Also the 2015 Washington D.C. Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year and an NSCAA High School Soccer All-American, she's the only female to win Gatorade Player of the Year in two different sports in Washington, D.C. history.
The Cardinal's nonconference slate ends on Wednesday, Dec. 28 when Yale makes its first visit to Stanford since Jan. 11, 1979.
Stanford kicks things off with a home exhibition on Friday, November 4 at 6 p.m. against head coach Heidi VanDerveer and UC San Diego.