Cardinal Hosts Big Red

What's Next

No. 15/14 Stanford (7-2) plays Cornell (5-4) for the first time in program history when the Big Red travels to Maples Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. Kevin Danna will handle the call on the GoStanford.com live stream and Joe Lami will broadcast the action on KZSU 90.1FM.

Against Cornell

Saturday will mark the first meeting between Stanford and Cornell. The Cardinal last played a team from the Ivy League on Dec. 17, 2011 when it defeated Princeton in Maples Pavilion, 85-66, behind 22 points from Nnemkadi Ogwumike and 21 from Chiney Ogwumike.

Stanford is 7-1 all-time against Ivy League squads. Its lone loss came to Harvard in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 14, 1998, 71-67.

Last season, the Cardinal split its two meetings with first-time opponents, Prairie View A&M (W) and Chattanooga (L).

Catching You Up

In the 33rd meeting between the two storied rivals, No. 15 Stanford beat No. 14 Tennessee in Maples Pavilion on Wednesday night, 69-55, to capture its 10th win in the series.

The win was the Cardinal’s fifth straight at home against the Lady Vols and Stanford held Tennessee to its second-lowest point total in the series.

Lili Thompson scored 19 points, including seven during a crucial stretch, and Erica McCall had 14 points and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double in nine games. Freshman Marta Sniezek set career highs in just about every category, scoring nine points in 29 minutes while handing out four assists.

The Lady Vols, who trailed by as many as 21, climbed to within 54-47 with 5:37 left, but Stanford used an 11-4 run -- including a layup, a jumper and a 3 by Thompson -- over the next four minutes to seal it.

Stanford had season lows in makes (2), attempts (11) and percentage from 3-point range (.182), but tallied a season-high 40 points in the paint.

The Cardinal hadn’t scored 40 in the paint since last year’s season opener against Boston College on Nov. 14 when it had 48 in that category.

It was the 32nd time both teams were ranked in the top 20, but the first time in series history that at least one of the teams was not ranked in the top 10.

The win was Stanford’s second against an AP top 25 opponent this season. The Cardinal is 2-1 against ranked foes this year after going 3-6 in 2014-15.

What's At Stake

Stanford is looking to move to 8-1 all-time against the Ivy League.

Following regular-season games against Tennessee, the Cardinal is 23-6 all-time. When playing an unranked opponent after such games, Stanford is 19-2, with its only losses coming at Massachusetts on Dec. 12, 1999 (74-69) and at Colorado on Dec. 28, 1998 (75-64).

Starting Lineup

In 2015-16, Stanford is without a senior starter for the first time in 13 seasons. The 2002-03 campaign was the last time the Cardinal didn’t have a senior in its first five. That 13-player roster featured two juniors and 11 underclassmen.

Schedule Strength

In the official NCAA RPI released on Dec. 14 Stanford sits at No. 2 and has played the nation’s toughest schedule. The Cardinal’s nine opponents this year have combined to go 59-18 (.766). Connecticut is second in that category and Chattanooga is third. The Huskies’ opponents have gone 52-16 (.765) and the Mocs’ have gone 57-20 (.740).

The Cardinal entered the week 5-2 against the RPI top 100. Only Connecticut (7) and Notre Dame (5) have as many RPI top 100 wins.

Applying Pressure

The Cardinal, which has held eight of nine opponent below 40 percent shooting, is second in the Pac-12 and 24th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.336).

Stanford is also 31st in the country in blocked shots per game (5.8) and has tallied five or more blocks in a game five times this season.

From Deep

In a press conference prior to the start of the season, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said that this year’s Cardinal would replace dead-eye shooter Bonnie Samuelson, 10th in Pac-12 history in 3-point makes, with at least seven consistent and capable threats from behind the arc.

At the recently concluded Gulf Coast Showcase, Stanford shot 45.3 percent (34-of-75) from deep and had four players at better than 43 percent. Briana Roberson went 9-of-14 (.643), Alanna Smith was 6-of-11 (.545), Karlie Samuelson hit 7-of-15 (.467) and Lili Thompson made 10-of-23 (.435).

As Tara predicted, Stanford has had seven different players make a 3-pointer this season. The Cardinal is 20th in the nation in percentage (.384) and 21st field goals made per game (8.4) from behind the arc.

Stanford was 11-of-24 on threes against Dayton, 15-of-33 against Missouri State and 10-of-32 against Santa Clara. It’s the only time in the past decade Stanford has made 10 or more 3-pointers in three straight games.

Rolling Into December

Lili Thompson has scored 20 or more in five of Stanford’s nine games this season. She’s had 10 career 20-point efforts, with eight coming in the month of November. The only non-November 20-point efforts came at USC on Jan. 25, 2015 (21) and on Sunday at Texas (21).

Her 26-point outing against Missouri State on Nov. 27 was her fourth consecutive, making the junior captain the first Cardinal guard to score 20 in four straight games since Candice Wiggins in 2008.

She is also the first Stanford guard to start a season with nine straight games in double figures scoring in a decade. Candice Wiggins scored 10 or more in all 34 games in 2005-06.

In 21 career November games, Thompson is averaging 15.0 points. The junior scores 10.6 points per game in her 59 other career games in December, January, February, March and April.

At 19.4 points per page, the junior is third in the Pac-12 in scoring and 33rd in the nation. With 941 career points she is close to becoming Stanford’s 36th 1,000-point scorer.

Thompson is also second in the league in 3-pointers made per game (2.8) and is 44th in the country. She is 11th in the Pac-12 in 3-point field goal percentage and 81st in the NCAA (.421), 10th in the nation in free throw percentage (.900) and second in conference and seventh in the Pac-12 in assists (5.0) and 59th in the NCAA.

On Nov. 17, Thompson was named to the John R. Wooden Award Women’s Preseason Top 30 and she was part of the Naismith Trophy Women’s Watch List released on Dec. 9.

Another 👀 list for @_li_squared. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Dec 9, 2015 at 9:05pm PST

Flying High

Erica McCall, who entered 2015-16 with just two career double-doubles, has already more than triples that total nine games into her junior season. Against Gonzaga, McCall set a career high with 23 points, added 13 rebounds and set another personal best with four steals.

McCall has seven this season, including four straight to open the year. In the past decade, only Chiney Ogwumike has had a better start to a year for the Cardinal. Ogwumike also had four straight double-doubles to start the 2013-14 campaign. McCall’s seven double-doubles are fourth in the nation. Only Jillian Alleyne at Oregon (9), Jonquel Jones at George Washington (8) and Lexi Martins at Lehigh (8) have more.

Only five Stanford players have ever averaged a double-double for an entire season: Chiney Ogwumike (2012, 2013, 2014), Nnemkadi Ogwumike (2012), Nicole Powell (2004), Jeanne Ruark Hoff (1980) and Kathy Murphy (1978).

Among the Best Ever

The Cardinal is 984-306 (.763) all-time since its first varsity season in 1975. Stanford would join an exclusive list with 16 more wins, a total it has reached in each of the past 28 seasons. Tennessee (1,284), Louisiana Tech (1,063), James Madison (1,024) and Old Dominion (1,000) are currently the only Division I institutions with 1,000 victories. Stanford is seventh on that list, also behind Stephen F. Austin (991) and Texas (990).

Entering this season, the Cardinal is fourth in the NCAA over the last five years by both wins and percentage. From 2011-15, Stanford went 160-22 (.879). Connecticut was 182-12 (.938), Baylor was 173-14 (.925) and Notre Dame was 174-18 (.906).

More Milestone on the Horizon for Tara

Entering her 30th season on the bench at Stanford, Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women’s Basketball Tara VanDerveer has accumulated a 960-219 (.814) record in her 36 years as a collegiate head coach and an 808-168 (.829) on The Farm.

In November 2013, she became just the fifth college women’s basketball coach to win 900 career games. This past March she won her 800th game at Stanford, becoming the 10th college basketball coach – men’s or women’s – with that many victories at a single Division I school, Pat Summitt (Tennessee), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Dean Smith (North Carolina), Adolph Rupp (Kentucky), Andy Landers (Georgia), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Robin Selvig (Montana) and Jim Phelan (Mount St. Mary’s).

One of the greatest leaders in any sport at any level, VanDerveer enters the 2015-16 season as the third-winningest coach in NCAA women’s basketball history and is 40 victories away from joining Pat Summitt as the only coaches with 1,000 career wins.

VanDerveer is the 16th Division I women’s basketball coach in NCAA history to coach 30 or more seasons at the same institution and is one of five on the active coaching list. Pat Summitt (Tennessee; 1975-12), Harry Perretta (Villanova; 1979-15), Robin Selvig (Montana; 1979-15), Andy Landers (Georgia; 1980-15), Cindy Russo (FIU; 1978, 1981-15), Debbie Ryan (Virginia; 1978-11), Kay Yow (North Carolina St.; 1976-09), Wanda Watkins (Campbell; 1982-15), Kathleen Delaney-Smith (1983-15), Frank Bennett (Lipscomb; 1981-12), , Mike Granelli (Saint Peter’s; 1973-04), Jody Conradt (Texas; 1977-07), Marian Washington (Kansas; 1974-04), Lynne Agee (UNC Greensboro; 1982-11), Shirley Walker (Alcorn; 1979-08) are the others.

Off the court and on the gridiron, she served as Stanford football’s honorary captain for its Oct. 3 home win over Arizona, 55-17.

Does not count as career win No. 954. We checked. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Oct 3, 2015 at 10:40pm PDT

Prognostications

Stanford is No. 15 in the AP top 25 and No. 14 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

Stanford has appeared in the AP rankings a possible 483 times out of 698 total polls since 1977 (69.2 percent), with an average positioning of 6.9. It’s been in the past 264 polls, the fourth-longest active streak behind Tennessee (540), Connecticut (418) and Duke (347). Stanford has also been in 280 consecutive coaches polls.

The Cardinal’s 483 all-time appearances in the AP top 25 are fourth behind Tennessee (684), Georgia (523) and Texas (488).

Stanford was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 when the conference released the results of the preseason coaches’ poll on Oct. 14. Those results snapped Stanford’s 15-year streak at the top of the league’s preseason rankings. Before that announcement, UCLA was the last team to finish atop the preseason poll, receiving the honor two straight years in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.

The Cardinal, last year’s Pac-12 Tournament champion, totaled 104 points. Oregon State, the league’s 2015 regular-season winner, was the leading vote-getter, garnering 11 first-place votes and 121 points.

So International

Stanford forward Erica McCall won her fourth gold medal representing the United States at the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea in July.

A United States co-captain, McCall finished the event tied for eighth overall in scoring (15.2), was eighth in rebounds (8.5), tied for third in blocks (1.8) and led all players in South Korea in field goal percentage, converting 37 of her 62 attempts from the floor (.597). Team USA went a perfect 6-0 and defeated its opponents by an average of nearly 22 points per game.

Champ. 🏆🇺🇸 @birdstheword_24 @gostanford @usabasketball #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jul 13, 2015 at 12:20pm PDT

In July, freshman Alanna Smith led Australia to a third-place finish and was named to the All-Star Five at the FIBA U19 Women’s World Championship in Chekhov, Russia.

The first international recruit in Stanford women’s basketball history, Smith tied for 12th in the entire tournament in points per game (12.6), tied for 15th in rebounds (7.0), tied for third in blocks (2.7), tied for 23rd in steals (1.3) and led Australia in each of those categories.

.@alannas96 » @gostanford freshman and one of the best at the @fiba U19 Women's World Championship. #GoStanford #FIBAU19 @basketballaus

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jul 27, 2015 at 10:22am PDT

Always Learning

Last year it was Mike D’Antoni, Joe Prunty, Jenny Boucek and others who helped Tara VanDerveer and her staff learn the intricacies of a more guard-oriented, fast-paced, pick-and-roll offense as Stanford moved away from the triangle for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

This year it has been a give-and-take with the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors. The Warriors practiced at Stanford on Oct. 5 before preseason game in San Jose and assistant coach Kate Paye attended another Golden State practice in the East Bay. When the Warriors were on the road in San Diego, VanDerveer’s sister and UCSD women’s coach, Heidi VanDerveer, attended a practice.

Solid start to the first day of practice. Warriors warmed up the court for the Cardinal. #GoStanford #Warriors pic.twitter.com/JyPwgPlEHo

— Stanford WBB (@StanfordWBB) October 5, 2015

Warriors assistant coach and former Stanford star Jarron Collins » “It goes back to, men’s team or women’s team, basketball’s basketball and we’re all trying to improve. There’s this synergy of just talking shop. We’ve had a level of success, obviously, and you just want to borrow from those that have achieved a certain level. Our practices are very open to coaches who want to come and watch and observe. It’s pretty cool for us getting to interact with Coach VanDerveer.”

VanDerveer, who also asks former Stanford guard and now-Warriors sideline reporter Rosalyn Gold-Onwude of her observations on what Golden State is doing, says “it’s kind of a little clinic happening every two or three nights on television.”

Fab Four

On Nov. 11, the Cardinal announced the signings of four prep standouts to National Letters of Intent in Mikaela Brewer (Barrie, Ontario/Innisdale Secondary School), DiJonai Carrington (San Diego, Calif./Horizon Christian Academy), Nadia Fingall (Navarre, Fla./Choctawhatchee) and Anna Wilson (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue).

Collectively, the Cardinal’s class is rated No. 8 by espnW HoopGurlz and No. 6 by Prospects Nation.

Brewer, a skilled perimeter prospect, is a veteran of Canada Basketball and most recently represented her country at the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women in the Czech Republic.

A versatile perimeter performer, Carrington is a five-star talent rated as the 34th best player in the country according to espnW HoopGurlz and 16th by Prospects Nation. Her brother, Darren Jr., is a wide receiver at Oregon and her father Darren Sr., was an NFL defensive back with 22 career interceptions. Mother, Vickie, was a sprinter at Northern Arizona University where Darren Sr. played football.

2010 Stanford Women's Basketball Camp -----> 2015 Stanford Official Visit!!! Crazy realizing that picture was 5 years ago and tomorrow I will be signing my National Letter of Intent to play for this amazing Hall of Fame coach!!!!!! I cannot begin to explain how blessed I am! Tomorrow at the San Diego Hall of Champions all of the early signees will be singing their NLIs !!!! Come support us ! The event starts at 8am and will be covered on tv! #GOCARD #FearTheTree #TheFarm #NerdNation #dComebackWillBeReal #AllGloryToGod ✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽❤️❤️❤️🌲🌲🌲🤓🤓🤓🏀🏀🏀📚📚📚

A photo posted by ∂ιʝσиαι ¢αяяιиgтσи✞ (@dijonai__) on Nov 10, 2015 at 8:57pm PST

Fingall is a certifiable blue-chip prospect ranked 26th in the nation by espnW HoopGurlz and the seventh-best forward. The five-star post also checks in at No. 23 overall and No. 4 at her position according to Prospects Nation.

Wilson, a 5-foot-8 guard from Bellevue, Washington, will give Stanford another dynamic player in the backcourt and is rated as the 58th overall player in the class of 2016 by espnW Hoopgurlz and 34th by Prospects Nation. She is the younger sister of Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson.

On Nov. 22, the Naismith Trophy announced that Carrington, Fingall and Wilson are among 50 players on the watch list for the Girls High School Player of the Year award.

Another Tournament Trip

Stanford made its 22nd overall trip to the Sweet Sixteen and eighth straight in 2014-15.

Since its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1982, Stanford has won two national championships (1990, 1992), reached 12 Final Fours (1990-92, 1995-97, 2008-12, 2014), 17 Elite Eights, 22 Sweet 16s and compiled an NCAA Tournament record of 77-27 (.740).

Overall, last year marked the Cardinal’s 29th NCAA Tournament appearance and 28th straight.

Stanford’s 12 Final Four appearances are the third-most by any school and its 29 overall tournament appearances rank third behind only Tennessee (34) and Georgia (31).

Tennessee is the only school that has a longer active streak of NCAA Tournament appearances than Stanford’s 28. The Lady Vols have earned a bid to all 34 NCAA Tournaments.

The Cardinal’s 77 wins in the NCAA Tournament are third all-time behind Tennessee (120) and Connecticut (103) as are its 104 tournament games. Tennessee has appeared in 146 and Connecticut 120.

Stanford’s .740 NCAA Tournament winning percentage is fourth all-time among programs with a minimum of 20 appearances behind Connecticut (.858), Tennessee (.822) and Baylor (.750).