STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford earned its 29th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid when the NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Committee announced the field Monday.
The Cardinal (24-7), seeded fourth, was placed in the Lexington Regional. As one of the nation’s top 16 overall seeds, Stanford will host first and second-round games in Maples Pavilion on Saturday, March 19 and Monday, March 21. The Cardinal will open its 30th overall NCAA postseason with No. 13 San Francisco (21-11) at 6 p.m. on Saturday in a game televised on ESPN2. No. 5 Miami (24-8) and No. 12 South Dakota State (26-6) will play in the other first-round matchup at 3:30 p.m. with the winners meeting in Monday’s second-round contest at a time to be determined.
Tickets are now on sale by visiting gostanford.com/tickets or by calling (800)-STANFORD. All-session prices are $50 for lower reserved, $40 for upper reserved, $25 for upper adult general admission and $15 for upper student/youth/senior general admission. Single-day tickets cost $30 for lower reserved, $25 for upper reserved, $15 for upper adult general admission and $10 for upper student/youth/senior general admission.
Fans interested in bringing a group of 15 or more to a game can email groupsales@stanford.edu or call (800)-STANFORD (option 3) to purchase tickets for a special group ticket rate. Limited free student tickets will be distributed on game day. Details will be shared via the Red Alert email as they are finalized.
Stanford is 21-9 all-time against its neighbor to the north and 1-0 in the Jennifer Azzi era at USF, beating the Dons 100-45 on Dec. 22, 2010. USF’s head coach starred at Stanford as an All-America point guard from 1987-90 and led the Cardinal to the 1990 NCAA title.
As a city, Stanford, Calif. has served as a host for 62 NCAA Tournament games, the third-most behind Knoxville,
Tenn. (82) and Norfolk, Va. (67). Each of those games has been played in Maples Pavilion, which has hosted more NCAA Tournament games than any other facility except Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena (66).
The Cardinal is 32-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament games at Maples Pavilion and has won 12 straight. This season will be the 20th in which Stanford has hosted NCAA Tournament games in Maples Pavilion since staging its first in 1989 and the 19th in which the Cardinal has opened up its postseason at home.
Stanford earned its 29th consecutive and 30th overall NCAA Tournament bid via an at-large selection into the field. 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).
Stanford's 12 Final Four appearances are the third-most by any school entering this year's tournament, and its 30 overall appearances rank third behind only Tennessee (35 appearances) and Georgia (32 appearances).
Tennessee is the only school that has a longer active streak of NCAA Tournament appearances than Stanford’s 29. The Lady Vols have earned a bid to all 35 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.
The Cardinal is a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second time after advancing to last year’s Sweet 16 from the same position. No. 4 seeds are 208-136 all-time in the tournament.