Cougars Come To Maples

What's Next

Winners of seven straight at home, No. 16/16 Stanford (16-5, 6-3) goes for its 60th win against Washington State (12-8, 3-6) when it hosts the Cougars in Maples Pavilion on Sunday, Jan. 31 at noon. Krista Blunk and Tammy Blackburn have the call on Pac-12 Networks.

Against Washington State

Stanford is 59-0 all-time against Washington State dating back to Feb. 1, 1983 and 29-0 against the Cougars at home. Fifteen of the last 16 wins have come by double digits.

Last season, five Cardinal averaged in double figures scoring against WSU, including Lili Thompson (11.5), Briana Roberson (10.5) and Kaylee Johnson (10.0), who also contributed 13.0 rebounds. Stanford shot 47.8 percent from the floor, 45.2 percent from behind the arc and had an average margin of victory of 14.5 points.

Catching You Up

After playing six of its first eight conference games away from home, Stanford made a statement in its return to Maples Pavilion. Junior guard Lili Thompson poured in a season-high 27 points and No. 16 Stanford dominated No. 25 Washington, 69-53, on Friday night.

Thompson lit the Huskies up in the early going, pouring in 17 points in the first quarter on 5-of-5 shooting from deep as the Cardinal built a 26-13 advantage. Her 27 total points exceeded her output in her last three games combined (25), and was one off her career-high (28 vs. Texas on Nov. 20, 2014).

Sophomore Brittany McPhee helped Stanford consolidate its lead in the second period, scoring 10 of the team’s 14 points. The Cardinal kept its foot on the gas pedal in the third. Erica McCall tallied 10 of Stanford’s 12 points in that period to give Stanford an 18-point edge heading into the final frame.

Freshman guard Marta Sniezek set a new career high with six assists, and forward Kaylee Johnson grabbed a season-best 14 rebounds. Johnson also matched her career high with four assists.

Four blocks from Johnson helped the Cardinal stymie the Huskies’ attack, holding UW to a season-low 25.4 percent, the seventh time a Stanford opponent has been under 30 percent this season.

National scoring leader Kelsey Plum topped the Huskies with 23 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

Setting The Stage

Since 2007-08, the Cardinal sports a conference road record of 68-9 and a Pac-12 home record of 72-3.

Over the past seven seasons, the Cardinal is 64-6 in the month of January.

Stanford is 128-6 (.955) in Maples Pavilion since 2007-08.

The Cardinal, which is 59-0 all-time against Washington State, is looking to notch win No. 60 against an opponent for just the third time in program history. Stanford is 64-19 against rival Cal and 62-13 against Arizona.

This And That

In its last 13 games, the Cardinal has surrendered 48.5 points on 30.5 percent shooting (224-of-735). Oregon is the only school to score more than 60 against Stanford during that stretch. In its first eight games of the season, Stanford gave up 61.2 points on 33.8 percent shooting (179-of-529) and allowed more than 60 points six times.

The Cardinal is second in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.319), 16th in scoring defense (53.4) and sixth in blocks per game (6.4).

Stanford is 8-1 at home and 5-4 on the road, with all four of those losses coming to ranked teams. The Cardinal is scoring 74.7 points per game in Maples on 44.8 percent shooting and has a +11.6 rebounding margin. On the road, Stanford is averaging 56.1 points per game on 37.4 percent shooting and has a +0.1 rebounding margin.

The Cardinal is 3-4 against the AP Top 25 this season, with all three wins coming at home.

Karlie Samuelson is 43-of-94 from behind the arc this season and is fifth in the nation (min. two made per game) in 3-point field goal percentage (.457).In her last seven games, the junior is 15-of-25 on 3-pointers (.600).

Four of Stanford’s five losses this season have come on the road to teams ranked in the AP top 20 at the time of the game. All four of those squads are currently in the top 15 of the AP poll.

Texas (RPI No. 8), Arizona State (RPI No. 10), Oregon State (RPI No. 9) and UCLA (RPI No. 7) are all also in the top 10 of the RPI and are a combined 38-5 at home this season.

In the most recent in-depth NCAA RPI report released last Monday, Stanford sits at No. 6 and has played the nation’s fourth-toughest schedule.

Notes entering the weekend »

Against Washington

Stanford is 46-15 all-time against Washington dating back to Dec. 13, 1980 and 25-4 against the Huskies at home. Stanford hasn’t lost a home game to UW since Feb. 18, 1999 (74-62).

The Cardinal swept both meetings last season, winning 60-56 in Seattle and 82-69 on The Farm. Lili Thompson averaged 11.0 points in the pair of victories while Kaylee Johnson grabbed 15.0 rebounds per win.

The Cardinal has won 17 of the last 18 in the series, with its only loss coming on Feb. 9, 2014 in Alaska Airlines Arena, 87-82.

Catching You Up

The Cardinal split its third straight Pac-12 road trip in 2016 last weekend in Los Angeles, winning at USC on Friday, 57-47, before dropping a 56-36 contest at No. 20 UCLA on Sunday.

In each of its league weekends on the road this season, Stanford has won the opener and lost the second game of the trip. The Cardinal beat Arizona on Jan. 2 and lost at No. 14 Arizona State on Jan. 4 and did the same against Oregon and Oregon State. Stanford won in Eugene on Jan. 15 and lost against the No. 12 Beavers in Corvallis on Jan. 17.

In Galen Center, Stanford won behind 14 points and 11 rebounds from Erica McCall, 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep by Karlie Samuelson and a season-high 13 rebounds from Kaylee Johnson.

Stanford also tied a school record with 13 blocks against the Trojans, its fourth time this season with 10 or more rejections. The Cardinal had totaled 13 in a game once before, on Feb. 3, 1989 against Arizona State.

On Sunday in Pauley Pavilion, Stanford was limited to just 36 points and 20.4 percent shooting in a 56-36 loss at No. 20 UCLA. The Cardinal’s shooting percentage was its lowest since it was held to a school-record low 19.3 percent against Connecticut on Dec. 29, 2012.

UCLA is responsible for two of the Cardinal’s 12 games shooting less than 30 percent since 1988-89, also accomplishing it in 2007-08. Arizona State (2015-16, 2011-12 and 2003-04), Tennessee (2014-15), Chattanooga (2014-15), Connecticut (2009-10 and 2012-13), Cal (2006-07), Maine (1998-99) and Arizona (1992-93) are the others.

The loss was also Stanford’s first by 20 or more points in conference play since a 73-53 setback at Arizona State on Feb. 7, 2004.

Sunday also marked the third time since 1988-89 that Stanford has had a game without a double-digit scorer, with the others coming on Jan. 4, 2016 at Arizona State and Dec. 17, 2014 at Chattanooga.

Setting The Stage

Since 2007-08, the Cardinal sports a conference road record of 68-9 and a Pac-12 home record of 71-3.

Over the past seven seasons, the Cardinal is 63-6 in the month of January.

Stanford is 127-6 (.955) in Maples Pavilion since 2007-08.

Friday’s matchup is the 17th with both Stanford and Washington ranked in the AP poll and the first since Feb. 19, 1998 when the No. 5 Cardinal beat the No. 21 Huskies in Seattle, 71-59.

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 Perspective

Four of Stanford’s five losses this season have come on the road to teams ranked in the AP top 20 at the time of the game. All four of those squads are currently in the top 15 of the AP poll.

Texas (RPI No. 8), Arizona State (RPI No. 10), Oregon State (RPI No. 9) and UCLA (RPI No. 7) are all also in the top 10 of the RPI and are a combined 36-5 at home this season.

In the official NCAA RPI released on Jan. 27 Stanford sits at No. 6 and has played the nation’s fourth-toughest schedule.

Through games as of Jan. 26, Stanford’s 20 opponents this year have the fourth-highest combined winning percentage in the country of .683 (246-114). Tennessee leads that category with opponents that have gone 243-96 (.717), Dayton is second (227-97; .701) and Ohio State is third (221-96; .683).

The Cardinal is 10-5 against the RPI top 100. Only eight schools have double-digit RPI top 100 wins and three are from the Pac-12. Arizona State (10), Baylor (10), Connecticut (10), Notre Dame (12), Ohio State (10), South Carolina (11) and UCLA (10) are the other schools that have won more games against the 100 best teams in the country.

Stanford and UCLA are the only teams to have played 15 RPI top 100 opponents. Both are 10-5 in such games.

The average RPI of Stanford’s opponents is 74. Ten other schools, including three from the Pac-12, have played a schedule in which its opponents average RPI is in the top 100 - California (89), Connecticut (97), Dayton (73), Notre Dame (81), Ohio State (84), Rutgers (81), Tennessee (79), Texas A&M (94), UCLA (81) and Washington (99).

Past and Future

On Jan. 25, former Stanford All-American sisters Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike were named as two of 25 finalists for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team. The 25 finalists were chosen by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Player Selection Committee, which will select the official 12-member U.S. Olympic Team later this year.

Go America. Go Chiney. Go Nneka. Go Stanford. @chiney321 and @nnemkadi named two of 25 finalists for the 2016 @usabasketball Olympic Team. 🌲🇺🇸 #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jan 25, 2016 at 12:28pm PST

On Jan. 17, incoming freshmen DiJonai Carrington, Nadia Fingall and Anna Wilson were named to the West roster for the 15th annual McDonald’s All American Game on March 30 in Chicago.

Of the 24 girls selected to be McDonald’s All Americans, Stanford and Maryland have the most players suiting up next fall with three commits each.

They will be the 16th, 17th and 18th Cardinal signees featured in the nation’s premier high school basketball all-star event. Stanford most recently had a pair of McDonald’s All Americans in 2013 in current juniors Kailee Johnson and Erica McCall.

Teammates a little sooner than expected. @dijonai__, @nadia.fingall and @aplusw3 named to the @mcdaag West Team. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jan 20, 2016 at 9:00am PST

The three commits to earn roster spots ties a program record from 2007 when Ashley Cimino, Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen were each named McDonald’s All Americans.

Applying Pressure

The Cardinal has held 15 of 20 opponents below 40 percent shooting, six below 30 percent and one below 20 percent. Stanford is second in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.322) and 16th in scoring defense (53.4).

Each of Stanford’s 19 opponents (not counting the season opener at UC Davis) have been held below their season shooting average. Those foes have also put up 16.0 points less than their scoring average when facing Stanford.

In its last 12 games, the Cardinal has surrendered 48.2 points on 31.0 percent shooting (208-of-672).

One game after holding Chattanooga to 30 points on Dec. 28, the sixth-fewest for an opponent in program history, the Cardinal only surrendered 34 on Jan. 2 at Arizona, a total now tied for 10th in its record books. Stanford had never before held back-to-back opponents to less than 35 points.

At Arizona on January 2, Stanford held that program to lows for a Pac-12 game in both points and field goal percentage (.208). The 34 points allowed also tied a Stanford record for fewest allowed in a Pac-12 game, matching the same total from a 60-34 win against Washington State on Feb. 8, 2007.

Stanford has held its opponent below 10 points 20 times in 80 quarters, or 25 percent of the time this season. It did so in eight straight over games against CSU Bakersfield, Chattanooga and Arizona.

Stanford is also sixth in the country in blocked shots per game (6.5) and has tallied seven or more blocks in a game eight times this season after doing it five times all of last year. The Cardinal is on pace for 201 rejections this season, which would break the school record of 196 set in 2001-02.

The Cardinal’s 13 blocks against USC on Jan. 22 tied the school record from Feb. 3, 1989 against Arizona State. Stanford also had 12 against CSU Bakersfield, 11 against Oregon and 10 against UC Davis.

Stanford has had four games with double-digit blocks in a single season for just the second time in program history (2000-01).

Its defensive prowess this season is a return to normal for the Cardinal. Last year’s 37.0 percent field goal percentage defense mark was 43rd and the lowest in some time. Stanford hadn’t surrendered a better percentage since 2005-06 (36th; .373) and hadn’t finished a season ranked lower in that category since 2002-03 (57th; .384).

From 2006-07 to 2013-14, the Cardinal did not finish outside the nation’s top 15 in field goal percentage defense, capping that stretch with a 35.7 percent mark to check in 14th in the country in 2013-14.

Stanford was the nation’s best with a school record field goal percentage defense in 2012-13 (.316). The Cardinal was seventh in 2011-12 (.339), fifth in 2010-11 (.336), third in 2009-10 (.339), 13th in 2008-09 (.352), 11th in 2007-08 (.355) and sixth in 2006-07 (.346).

Splits

Stanford is 7-1 at home and 5-4 on the road, with all four of those losses coming to ranked teams. The Cardinal is scoring 75.4 points per game in Maples on 44.7 percent shooting and has a +10.6 rebounding margin. On the road, Stanford is averaging 56.1 points per game on 37.4 percent shooting and has a +0.1 rebounding margin.

Opponents shoot 28.8 percent against Stanford on The Farm and 33.5 percent in their home gyms.

The Cardinal is 2-4 against the AP Top 25 this season, with both wins coming at home.

Stanford started the year shooting 38.9 percent from 3-point range in its first 10 games. The Cardinal went 8-2 and averaged 8.6 makes from deep, including draining at least 10 on four different occasions. Its percentage from behind the arc was 17th and its makes ranked 19th. In its last 10 games, Stanford’s 3-point field goal percentage has dipped to 28.1 percent and its makes per game has dropped to 4.5.

Tracking Thompson

Against Colorado on Jan. 10, Lili Thompson became the 36th Stanford player to surpass 1,000 career points. Now at 1,052 she is 33rd all-time at Stanford, between Joslyn Tinkle (1,091; 2009-13) and Molly Goodenbour (1,040; 1989-93).

Stanford up 28-21 on Colorado at the half. @_li_squared just became the 36th Cardinal to surpass 1,000 career points. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jan 10, 2016 at 12:57pm PST

Thompson has scored 20 or more five times 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 Dec. 13 at Texas (21).

In 21 career November games, Thompson is averaging 15.0 points. The junior scores 10.5 points per game in her 70 other career games in December, January, February, March and April.

At 14.3 points per game, Thompson is 10th in the Pac-12 in scoring to go along with 10th in the league in assists (4.0).

On Nov. 17, she 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.

She has also won a pair of Pac-12 Player of the Week awards this season (Nov. 24 and Dec. 21). Her most recent nod came after averaging 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in Stanford’s wins over then-No. 14 Tennessee and Cornell.

Flying High

Erica McCall, who entered 2015-16 with just two career double-doubles, has more than quintupled that total in her junior season.

McCall has 11 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 11 double-doubles are tied for 14th in the NCAA.

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). McCall is currently averaging 12.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per outing.

Good Stretches

Brittany McPhee has made 12 of her last 29 attempts from 3-point range (.414) after starting her career going 9-of-48 (.188) in her first 37 career games.

Kaylee Johnson has come on strong in Stanford’s last 12 games, averaging 7.8 points on 67.9 percent shooting (36-of-53) to go along with 6.2 rebounds.

The sophomore opened the year averaging 1.1 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting just 22.2 percent from the floor in the Cardinal’s first eight games. Johnson has scored 10+ five times in those 12 games after doing it all of six times as a freshman.

Different Samuelson, Same Story

Stanford lost Bonnie Samuelson to graduation after a career in which she finished third in school history and 10th in Pac-12 history in 3-point makes (237), but younger sister Karlie Samuelson has stepped in to keep up the family’s sharpshooting legacy.

Karlie is 41-of-91 from behind the arc this season and is 11th in the nation (min. two made per game) in 3-point field goal percentage (.451). A career 39.9 percent 3-point shooter, Samuelson has made 114 from deep in her career and one away from setting a new personal best for a single season.

When you leave Karlie open.... pic.twitter.com/klFOrYfIkJ

— Stanford WBB (@StanfordWBB) November 27, 2015

Seventy-nine percent (422-of-536) of her career points have come on 3-pointers (342) and free throws (80). The junior captain has almost made twice as many field goals from behind the arc as she has from inside, converting 57 2-point attempts. She is 19-of-37 (.514) on such shots this season.

In her last six games, the junior is 13-of-22 on 3-pointers (.591).

Among The Best Ever

The Cardinal is 992-309 (.762) all-time since its first varsity season in 1975. Stanford would join an exclusive list with nine more wins. Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, James Madison and Old Dominion are currently the only Division I institutions with 1,000 victories. Stanford is seventh on that list, also behind Stephen F. Austin and Texas.

Entering this season, the Cardinal was 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 Milestones 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 968-222 (.813) record in her 37 years as a collegiate head coach and an 816-171 (.827) on The Farm.

In November 2013, she became just the fifth college women’s basketball coach to win 900 career games. Last 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, P. Summitt (Tennessee), M. Krzyzewski (Duke), G. Auriemma (Connecticut), D. Smith (North Carolina), A. Rupp (Kentucky), A. Landers (Georgia), J. Boeheim (Syracuse), R. Selvig (Montana) and J. 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 32 victories away from joining Pat Summitt as the only coaches with 1,000 career wins.

Off the court, she served as Stanford football’s honorary captain for its Oct. 3 home win over Arizona. In another football connection, former Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh and one of Tara’s coaching confidants delivered a pregame address to the team before its win over Utah on Jan. 8.

On Tuesday night, VanDerveer was honored with the 2016 Coaching Corps Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization’s 2nd Annual Game Changer Awards at The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. VanDerveer’s award was presented by former Stanford All-American and current San Francisco head coach Jennifer Azzi. The event supported Coaching Corps’ mission to provide youth from under-resourced communities access to trained coaches and the benefits of sports activities and team-based learning. The ceremony will air on Comcast Sports Net Bay Area on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m.

Game changers. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Women's Basketball (@stanfordwbb) on Jan 27, 2016 at 8:50am PST

Checking The Polls

Stanford is No. 16 in the AP top 25 and No. 16 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

Stanford has appeared in the AP rankings 488 times out of 703 total polls since 1977 (69.4 percent), with an average positioning of 6.9. It’s been in the past 279 polls, the third-longest active streak behind Tennessee (562) and Connecticut (424). Stanford has also been in 286 consecutive coaches polls.

The Cardinal’s 488 all-time appearances in the AP top 25 are fourth behind Tennessee (689), Georgia (522) and Texas (494).

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.”