Ringing in 2017 in TucsonRinging in 2017 in Tucson
Women's Basketball

Ringing in 2017 in Tucson

No. 13 Stanford (11-2, 1-0)
at Arizona (9-3, 0-1)
Sunday, Jan. 1 • 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT
McKale Center • Tucson, Ariz.
Complete Release (PDF)
Live Stream •Available via ArizonaWildcats.com
Live Statistics •Available via ArizonaWildcats.com

THE GAMENo. 13 Stanford (11-2, 1-0) ends its first conference road trip of the season at Arizona (9-3, 0-1) on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT. A free live stream will be available via ArizonaWildcats.com.


THE RUNDOWNStanford won its 17th straight Pac-12 opener on Friday night, beating No. 18 Arizona State 64-57 ... Tara VanDerveer has accumulated a 991-227 record in her 37+ years as a collegiate head coach and is nine victories away from joining Pat Summitt as the only NCAA women's basketball coaches with 1,000 career wins ... Stanford has the second most conference wins of any team this millennium with 270 ... Stanford is 106-22 (.828) on the road the last 10 years, one of only four schools to have more than 100 road wins ... Since 2007-08, the Cardinal owns a conference road record of 72-10 ... The Cardinal is one of four teams in the country in the top 15 in both field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense ... The Cardinal is 11-0 this year when shooting better than 40 percent from the field ... Brittany McPhee is the ninth-best shooting guard among Power 5 conference players in the country with a field goal percentage of .500 ... Erica McCall has had 24 double-doubles in her last 47 games, fifth in the country since the start of 2015-16 ... She became Stanford's 37th 1,000-point scorer in its win at George Washington on Dec. 21 ... Karlie Samuelson is second among active NCAA players in career 3-point field goal percentage (.426) and 10th in school history in 3-point makes (182) ... Nadia Fingall is third in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage (.641) ... Stanford signed the nation's fifth-ranked recruiting class on Nov. 9, including three top-50 recruits.


VS. ARIZONAStanford is 63-13 all-time against Arizona, 24-9 against the Wildcats in Tucson and has won 27 of the last 28 overall meetings in the series. Last season the Cardinal won at Arizona 59-34 and in Maples 82-58. The 34 points allowed in McKale on Jan. 2, 2016 tied a Stanford record for fewest surrendered in conference play. During the Cardinal's dominant run in the series, which began in March 2004, Stanford has outscored Arizona by an average of 22.1 points (78.4-56.3), outshot the Wildcats by more than 11 percent (.476-.361) and outrebounded Arizona by nearly 10 per game (41.5-32.1).


CATCHING YOU UP• Stanford won its 17th straight Pac-12 opener on Friday night, beating No. 18 Arizona State 64-57.
Erica McCall notched her sixth double-double of the season, Karlie Samuelson led all scorers with 16 and the Cardinal made six free throws in the final 71 seconds to secure its 28th win in 31 Pac-12 openers all-time.
• The win was the 991st of Tara VanDerveer's career and Stanford's first road victory over a ranked team since Feb. 2015.

Last Five Road Wins vs. AP Top 25

DateOpponentScore
12/30/16#18 Arizona State64-57
2/26/15#7 Oregon State69-58
2/2/14#21 Cal79-64
1/20/14#14 Arizona State80-56
1/12/14#17 Colorado87-77


HEADING INTO CONFERENCE• Stanford enters conference play with 10 wins for the ninth time since the formation of Pac-12 women's basketball in 1986-87. The Cardinal also reached or surpassed that total in 2015-16, 2013-14, 2012-13, 2009-10, 2007-08, 1996-97, 1991-92 and 1987-88.
• The Cardinal has reached double digits in victories for 32 consecutive seasons. Stanford has won at least 13 games every year since Tara VanDerveer took over in 1985-86. That season's 13-15 record provided her lowest win total as a collegiate head coach.
• Since 2007-08, the Cardinal owns a conference road record of 72-10 and a Pac-12 home record of 77-4.
• Stanford has the second most conference wins of any team this millennium with 270. Only Chattanooga has more (277). Connecticut is third (264), Green Bay fourth (258) and Liberty and Marist tied for fifth (236).
• Stanford's final nonconference game was a 102-44 rout of Yale on Wednesday, the Cardinal's first time in triple digits since 2011 and its fifth largest margin of victory in program history.
SETTING THE STAGE• Stanford is 106-22 (.828) on the road the last 10 years, one of only four schools to have more than 100 road wins along with Green Bay (108), Connecticut (108) and Notre Dame (100).
• The Cardinal's 71-52 victory at George Washington on Dec. 21 was its 300th since 2007-08. Now at 302 only Connecticut (346) has more the past 10 years.
• Stanford is 15th in the nation in field goal percentage (.478), 15th in field goal percentage defense (.337) and 15th in scoring margin (+21.4).
• The Cardinal is one of four teams in the country in the top 15 in both field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense along with Baylor, Duke and West Virginia.
• Stanford, which has won five straight in Pac-12 play dating back to last season, has shot better than 40 percent in seven consecutive conference games and held its opponent under 40 percent in six straight. The Cardinal is 11-0 this year when shooting better than 40 percent from the field.
TARA IS NINE AWAY• Entering her 31st season on the bench at Stanford, Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer has accumulated a 991-226 record in her 37+ years as a collegiate head coach and an 839-176 mark on The Farm. Her teams have won 20 or more games 31 times, including each of the last 15 seasons.

• In November 2013, VanDerveer became just the fifth college women's basketball coach to win 900 career games and is 10 victories shy of joining Pat Summitt as the only NCAA women's basketball coaches with 1,000 career wins.
• Summitt (1,098) along with Mike Krzyzewski at Duke (1,055) and Herb Magee at Philadelphia University (1,040) on the men's side are the only college basketball coaches with 1,000 wins.
AMONG THE BEST EVER• With a 1,015-314 overall record, the Cardinal is the seventh-winningest program in women's college basketball history behind Tennessee (1,307), Louisiana Tech (1,079), Connecticut (1,058), James Madison (1,051), Old Dominion (1,020) and Texas (1,019).
• The Cardinal's .764 winning percentage is fourth all-time in Division I, trailing Tennessee (.812) and Louisiana Tech (.782) and Connecticut (.781).
McPHIRE• Brittany McPhee is 13th in the Pac-12 averaging 14.3 points per game, a nearly eight-point improvement from last season.
• McPhee has scored 20+ four times, one of seven players in the Pac-12 to have at least four 20-point efforts along with Kristine Anigwe (Cal), Kelsey Plum (Washington), Kennedy Leonard (Colorado), Emily Potter (Utah), Ruthy Hebard (Oregon) and LaBrittney Jones (Arizona).
• McPhee is the ninth-best shooting guard among Power 5 conference players in the country with a field goal percentage of .500. She is shooting 28.1 percent on threes (9-32) and 56.1 percent from inside the arc (64-114).
• Ten of her 20 career games scoring in double figures have come this season.
• The junior torched then-No. 8 Texas on Nov. 14 for a career-high 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting (.733) and followed that up with 22 points against Gonzaga her first back-to-back 20-point games.
• Her performance from the floor against the Longhorns was the most efficient for a Stanford guard against a ranked opponent with records dating back to 1999-00 (minimum 10 field goals made).
• Four-time All-American Candice Wiggins is second on that list, converting 55.6 percent in games against No. 16 Minnesota on Nov. 20, 2005 (10-of-18) and No. 23 UTEP on March 24, 2008 (15-of-27).
• Including McPhee, Stanford guards have made 10 field goals in a game against top-25 teams nine times since 1999-00. Wiggins has seven of them.
BIRD SOARING• Since the start of her junior year, Erica McCall is averaging 15.3 points on 51.1 percent shooting, 9.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.
• McCall and Utah's Emily Potter are the only players in the country averaging those numbers since the beginning of last season.
• McCall, on watch lists for the Naismith Trophy, Wade Trophy and Wooden Award, became Stanford's 37th 1,000-point scorer at George Washington on Dec. 21. She is currently 34th in program history with 1,041. Next up is Joslyn Tinkle (1,091).

• Her 157 career blocks rank fifth at Stanford behind Jayne Appel (278), Chiney Ogwumike (202), Val Whiting (201) and Kristen Newlin (163).
• McCall's 26 career double-doubles are tied for 13th among active NCAA players and she's had 24 in her last 47 games. Only Alaina Coates of South Carolina (27), Nia Coffey (26) of Northwestern, Lexi Martins of George Washington (25) and Brionna Jones (25) of Maryland have had more since the start of the 2015-16 season.
TAKE AIM• Karlie Samuelson is second in career 3-point field goal percentage (.426) among active NCAA players and with 182 3-pointers made is nine shy of tying Jennifer Azzi for ninth in Stanford history.
• Samuelson, Oregon's Lexi Bando (.463; 2015-17) and Cal's Kristin Iwanaga (.422; 2002-05) are the only Pac-12 players to shoot better than 42.0 percent from behind the arc for their career this millennium (minimum 100 3FGM).

Active 3-Point FG% Leaders

RankPlayerSchoolPercentage
1.Lexi BandoOregon.463
2.Karlie SamuelsonStanford.426
3.Sydney WieseOregon State.409
4.Jessy WardUT Martin.408
5.Kelly HughesBoston College.404

• In her last 34 games, Samuelson is 81-of-163 on 3-pointers (.497). She is currently 30th in the country in percentage from behind the arc this season (.460).
• As a junior, Samuelson was 80-of-169 on 3-pointers in 2015-16 and checked in at third in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.473).
• More than 71 percent of her career attempts are from 3-point range and more than 80 percent of her points have come on 3-pointers and free throws. Samuelson is 86-of-175 (.491) on two-point shots.
• Samuelson returned to practice on Nov. 8 for the first time in roughly six weeks after she recovered from a hairline fracture in her wrist.
FINGALL FINSHES• Nadia Fingall, who made her first career start against Yale on Wednesday, is third in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage (.641).
• Among freshmen in the country with a minimum of 60 field goals attempted, her clip from the floor is third nationally behind Oregon's Ruthy Hebard (.747) and Ohio State's Tori McCoy (.646).
APPLYING PRESSURE• The Cardinal finished sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.338) and ninth in blocks per game (6.0) last year. Its field goal percentage defense was third in Stanford history and its 211 total blocks set a school record.
• The Cardinal is third in the nation in field goal percentage defense the past 10 years, holding its 343 opponents to 34.5 percent shooting (7,169-of-20,806).

FG% Defense Leaders (Since 2007-08)

RankSchoolPercentage
1.Connecticut.319
2.Baylor.338
3.Stanford.345
4.Liberty.348
5.Duke.355


IN THE POLLS• Stanford is No. 13 in the AP top 25 and No. 14 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
• It has been ranked 503 times out of 718 total AP polls since 1977 (70.1 percent), with an average positioning of 7.1. It's been in the past 294, the second-longest active streak behind Connecticut (439). Stanford has been in 302 consecutive coaches polls.
• The Cardinal's 502 all-time appearances in the AP top 25 are fourth behind Tennessee (696), Georgia (522) and Texas (508).
• Stanford was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 when the conference announced the results of the preseason coaches' poll. It's the second consecutive season Stanford has come in second in the preseason poll. The Cardinal had topped the rankings for 15 consecutive years beginning in 2000-01.
AGAINST RANKED• From 2000 to 2012, Stanford played 22 conference games against ranked opponents and went 16-6. In just the last five seasons, the Cardinal has played a ranked Pac-12 team 21 times, going 14-7.
• Stanford is 65-30 (.684) against AP ranked opponents since 2007-08, fifth in the country in such wins over that span and fourth in percentage.
• Only Connecticut (.902), Baylor (.754), Notre Dame (.709), Stanford (.684), Tennessee (.613), Duke (.556), Maryland (.543) and Texas A&M (.519) have winning records against ranked teams the past decade.
CARDINAL FOURTUNE• On Nov. 9, the Cardinal announced the signings of Maya Dodson (Alpharetta, Ga./St. Francis), Alyssa Jerome (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Harbord Collegiate), Estella Moschkau (Mount Horeb, Wisc./Edgewood) and Kiana Williams (San Antonio, Texas/Karen Wagner), a group collectively rated No. 5 by espnW HoopGurlz.

• Dodson is a five-star talent and the No. 11 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100, Moschkau is a five-star prospect rated No. 44 and Williams is a five-star point guard and the No. 8 prospect overall.
• Williams is Stanford's first top-10 recruit since Chiney Ogwumike signed as the top player in the country in Nov. 2009.
• Jerome is a veteran of Canada Basketball and represented her country this summer at the both the aforementioned FIBA U17 World Championships in Spain and the FIBA Americas U18 Championships in Valdivia, Chile.
• Dodson and Williams were named to the 50-person Naismith Trophy High School Girl's Preseason watch list on Nov. 16.
FOREVER STANFORD• It was a big summer for Stanford alumnae, headlined by Nneka Ogwumike '12 winning the 2016 WNBA MVP award and hitting the game winner in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals with 3.1 seconds left to lift the Los Angeles Sparks to the championship.
• Ogwumike is Stanford women's basketball's seventh WNBA champion and the third Cardinal to win a league most valuable player award in any sport, joining NFL quarterbacks John Brodie (San Francisco 49ers; 1970) and John Elway (Denver Broncos; 1987).
• On Oct. 17, the 2012 Stanford graduate was voted president of the WNBA players' union executive council, a post she will hold for three years. She will serve alongside her sister Chiney '14, who will serve as the organization's vice president. Jayne Appel Marinelli, who retired this September after a seven-year WNBA career with the San Antonio Stars, will begin her post-playing days as the union's Associate Director of Player Relations.

• Sebnem Kimyacioglu '05, the fifth Stanford alumna to compete in the Olympics, helped Turkey advance to the quarterfinals in the country's second appearance in women's basketball at the Games.
• Kimyacioglu was one of 39 Stanford athletes to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Cardinal contingent in Rio hailed from 10 countries and spanned 17 varsity sports. The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games resulted in a school-record 27 medals, the most of any NCAA institution.
THAT'S HIM• Those who came to a Stanford practice during the fall quarter may have recognized a familiar face in two-time All-American Casey Jacobsen, who was a practice player for the Cardinal women and men.

• Jacobsen left Stanford after three seasons and was the 22nd pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. He enjoyed a five-year NBA career and also played professionally in Spain and Germany.
• Jacobsen finished his degree in communication this month and will walk with his class next June.
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM• Sophomore guard Alexa Romano was among 40 student-athletes from Stanford and Duke who traveled to one of five countries during the summer for three weeks as part of the Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement Program.

• Romano served as a coaching assistant for sports activities, taught English as a second language courses and promoted computer literacy initiatives for youth at a community center in New Delhi.
• She is in the process of copying her journal from the trip - 50 typed pages on the computer - to a leather-bound version she purchased the Dili Haat open-air craft bazaar in New Delhi.