Stanford University Athletics

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THE GAMES: No. 14 Stanford (2-2) makes its first trip to Las Vegas since 1991 for the Play4Kay Showcase running from Nov. 23-25 at Mandalay Bay. The Cardinal opens the tournament with Kent State (3-1) on Thursday, Nov. 23 at 5:30 p.m. PT.

COVERAGE: FloHoops (subscription) will be streaming all games of the tournament. The Cardinal's radio crew of Kevin Danna (Thursday) and Tim Swartz (Friday and Saturday) will split duties calling games in Las Vegas. Their broadcasts can he heard for free on GoStanford.com.
 
THE RUNDOWN: Stanford returns 10 letterwinners, but just two starters to a team coming off its seventh Final Four in the past 10 seasons ... Marta Sniezek is the only player on the roster that has averaged over 20 minutes per game in her career ... DiJonai Carrington pulled down 22 rebounds in Stanford's win over UC Riverside, tied for the third-most in school history ... Scoring 10.5 points and grabbing 10.3 rebounds through three games, Carrington is the only guard in the Pac-12 averaging a double-double ... The season opener at Ohio State was the first college game since March 12, 1980 that Tara VanDerveer coached without Amy Tucker involved as a player or assistant ... In her last 19 games, Alanna Smith is averaging 13.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in just under 25 minutes ... Brittany McPhee averaged a team-high 16.8 points per game and made 44.4 percent from behind the arc in the 2017 NCAA Tournament ... Of McPhee's 10 career 20-point games, four have come against ranked teams ... McPhee (USA), Smith (Australia) and Alyssa Jerome (Canada) all represented their countries this summer at tournaments around the globe ...  McPhee (Ann Meyers Drysdale Award/Wooden Award) and Smith (Lisa Leslie Award) are the Cardinal's representatives on major preseason watch lists ... Stanford is 15th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.316).
 
VS. THE FIELD AND IN VEGAS: Thursday's tournament opener will be Stanford's first game against Kent State. Among potential Friday foes, the Cardinal has never played Belmont and is 7-1 all-time against Gonzaga, but lost to the Bulldogs at home in the teams' last meeting on Nov. 18, 2016 (68-63). Stanford is 1-2 against Ohio State and could face the Buckeyes just two weeks after opening its season with an 85-64 loss at then-No. 5 OSU on Nov. 10. The Cardinal is 1-1 in two previous meetings with DePaul, winning at home 96-60 on Dec. 13, 2009 and losing on the road 91-71 on Dec. 16, 2010. Stanford beat FGCU on Nov. 27, 2013 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 83-59, in what was Tara VanDerveer's 900th career victory. The Cardinal has only played Memphis once, losing 87-64 on Dec. 27, 1979 at the Queens Holiday Tournament in Flushing, N.Y. The Play4Kay Showcase will be Stanford's first time in Las Vegas since it played in the UNLV Desert Classic in Nov. 1991. The Cardinal beat the Lady Rebels (96-85) and George Washington (74-71) at the event.
 
WHAT'S BACK, WHAT'S NOT »

• The Cardinal returns 10 letterwinners, but just two starters to a team coming off its seventh Final Four in the past 10 seasons.
• Stanford posted a 32-6 overall record last season and a 15-3 mark in Pac-12 play. The Cardinal won its 12th Pac-12 Tournament championship and celebrated Tara VanDerveer's 1,000th career victory during the program's 14th 30-win campaign.
• Gone are Erica McCall, Karlie Samuelson and Briana Roberson, seniors that accounted for 45 percent of Stanford's minutes, 46 percent of its scoring and 35 percent of its rebounds in 2016-17.
• The Cardinal's young squad has eight underclassmen and just one player on the roster that has averaged more than 20 minutes per game in her career (Marta Sniezek).
• New faces include a pair of McDonald's All-Americans in forward Maya Dodson and point guard Kiana Williams. Both were also Jordan Brand Classic All-Americans and Williams was named MVP of the West Team after scoring a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED »

• After dropping its first two games of the season, Stanford opened up its home schedule and evened its record with a pair of wins over UC Riverside (53-43) and CSU Bakersfield (57-34) last weekend.
• Alexa Romano scored a career-high 13 on 4-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-5 from deep, in the victory against CSUB on Sunday. Stanford limited the roadrunners to 24 percent shooting and just 34 points, tied for the 10th-fewest by an opponent in program history.
• DiJonai Carrington had her first career double-double in her first career start, going for 13 points and 22 boards, in Stanford's 53-43 win against UC Riverside on Friday night.
• Alanna Smith added 11 points for the Cardinal and Kaylee Johnson had eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks and made four of her six attempts from the field.
• The teams combined to go 4-of-29 from 3-point range and Stanford was held under 30-percent shooting (.297) for the first time since Jan. 24, 2016 at UCLA when it made 20.4 percent (10-of-49).
• It was only Stanford's second win when shooting under 30 percent since 1999-00. The Cardinal beat Arizona State on March 9, 2012, 52-43, despite making just 15-of-51 shots (.294).

CARRINGTON EMERGES »

• One game after scoring a career-high 21 against UConn on Nov. 12, Carrington pulled down a personal best 22 rebounds in the win over UC Riverside five days later.
• The 5-foot-11 guard's rebound total is now tied for third in school history with Kaylee Johnson (twice) and Mikaela Ruef. Chiney Ogwumike (24) and Nneka Ogwumike (23) are the only Cardinal players with more rebounds in a game.
• Scoring 10.5 points and grabbing 10.3 rebounds through three games, Carrington is the only guard in the Pac-12 averaging a double-double.
• Carrington came off the bench in 35 games during her debut season and averaged 2.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per outing. In Stanford's trip to Italy in September she was the team's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 10.5 points and 7.3 rebounds in the Cardinal's four games against professional teams.
• Carrington's brother Darren is a senior wide receiver at Utah and was second team All-Pac-12 in 2015 while at Oregon. Her father, also Darren, played football at Northern Arizona and was a fifth-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos in the 1989 NFL Draft. He appeared in Super Bowl XXIV with the Broncos and Super Bowl XXIX with the Chargers.
• Carrington herself played two years of tackle football in middle school with the Clairemont Hawks in San Diego.

TOUGH START »

• The Cardinal fell to 7-14 all-time against the Associated Press' No. 1 team when it lost to UConn at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Nov. 12, 78-53.
• Two days prior, Stanford snapped a 16-game winning streak in season openers with its 85-64 loss at No. 5 Ohio State on Nov. 10. The Cardinal last lost an opener on Nov. 17, 2000 at Saint Mary's (74-63).
• It was also the largest margin of defeat for Stanford in an opener in program history, surpassing a 19-point loss, 68-49, against San Jose State on Jan. 9, 1976.
• The Buckeyes beat Stanford on the glass, outrebounding the Cardinal 64-41, including 28 offensive boards which led to a 32-3 edge in second-chance points.
• It's the most total rebounds Stanford has surrendered in the past 18 seasons. With readily available records dating back to 1999-2000, the previous high belonged to Texas, which grabbed 55 on Nov. 23, 2013, a 63-54 Cardinal victory.
• Stanford suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since for the first time since Feb. 2015 at Arizona State (53-52) and Arizona (60-57) had consecutive nonconference losses for the first time since Dec. 2014 at Chattanooga (54-46) and Tennessee (59-40).
• It's the program's first back-to-back, double-digit losses since Dec. 2010 at DePaul (91-71) and Tennessee (82-72 [OT]) and its first time losing two straight games by 20 or more points since Tara VanDerveer's first year on The Farm when the Cardinal dropped road games against USC, 88-62, on Feb. 20, 1986 and UCLA, 65-43, on Feb. 22, 1986.
• Combined with last season's Final Four loss to South Carolina, the Cardinal was on its first three-game losing streak since Jan. 2001 when it fell to Arizona (68-65), Oregon State (81-65) and Oregon (72-54).

BAPTISM BY FIRE »

• As difficult an opening weekend as Tara VanDerveer has put together for her team in some time, Stanford played ranked teams in the first two games of its season for the first time since Nov. 1998 when it lost to No. 18 Arkansas (76-71) and No. 4 Duke (77-57) at the Nike Four in the Fall in San Jose, Calif.
• On Nov. 10 at No. 5 Ohio State, the Cardinal opened on the road against a ranked opponent for the first time since beating No. 24 Texas in Austin, 72-59, on Nov. 11, 2011.
• The Buckeyes were the highest-ranked team the Cardinal has played in a season opener since beating No. 2 Alabama at home on Nov. 17, 1996 (74-65).
• Stanford dropped its first two games for the first time since the 1998-99 season when it lost three consecutive contests to begin that campaign - the aforementioned games against Arkansas and Duke and the third to No. 24 Illinois (76-58).
• Before playing UC Riverside, Stanford had played six ranked teams in a row, tying a program record last done in 1998-99 when it played six top 25 opponents to begin the season. The win over the Highlanders was the Cardinal's first contest against an unranked opponent since it beat New Mexico State to open the tournament on March 18, 2017, 72-64.

FROM DOWN UNDER »

• A candidate for this year's Lisa Leslie Award, in her last 19 games dating back to last season Alanna Smith is averaging 13.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in just under 25 minutes.
• In last year's NCAA Tournament, Smith was second on the team in scoring (15.4) and rebounding (8.8) and first in blocks (2.4). She shot a team-high 52.5 percent from the floor (32-of-61) in the postseason.
• Of her 23 career games in double figures scoring, 14 came since the start of Stanford's conference slate last year, including in each of the last six games of the 2016-17 season.
• In last season's first 23 games, the first international recruit in program history averaged just 5.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.

McPHIRE »

• Senior Brittany McPhee had a breakout junior campaign and was named All-Pac-12 and to the Lexington Regional All-Tournament Team as a result. She was second on the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game and improved her scoring average by 6.8 points over her sophomore season.
• A candidate for this year's Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and John R. Wooden Award, McPhee scored in double figures 25 times, had seven 20-point efforts and led Stanford offensively in its run to the program's 13th Final Four, averaging a team-high 16.8 points per game and making 44.4 percent from behind the arc in the NCAA Tournament.
• In the season opener at No. 5 Ohio State, McPhee poured in 24 points on 11-of-21 shooting. Of her 10 career 20-point games, four have come against ranked teams.
• A human biology major with a 3.73 cumulative GPA, McPhee was also honored at the 2017 Final Four as women's basketball's Elite 90 award winner, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships.
• In her first 33 games of 2016-17, McPhee shot 24.2 percent on 3-pointers (23-of-95). In the final four games against Kansas State, Texas, Notre Dame and South Carolina she was 12-of-22 from deep (.545).
• McPhee made her USA Basketball debut this summer at the U24 Four Nations Tournament in Tokyo. She averaged 9.3 points on 61.1 percent shooting (11-of-18) and 4.0 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per game and the United States swept its three games against Australia, Canada and Japan.
• McPhee made the 12-person roster from a group of 36 hopefuls following a week of camp at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Athletes eligible were U.S. citizens, 23 years old or younger and were freshmen, sophomores or juniors during the 2016-17 collegiate season.
• She has missed the past two games with a right foot injury and is day-to-day.

SO INTERNATIONAL »

• Prior to Alanna Smith's arrival in 2015, Stanford had not recruited an international prospect to The Farm and now has three on its 2017-18 roster in Smith and a pair of Canadians (Brewer/Jerome).
• This summer, Smith was a late add as an injury replacement to the Opals' roster, Australia's senior national team, for the FIBA Asia Cup in Bangalore, India. She showed well at the program's selection camp in Phoenix in late June and didn't disappoint in her first action at the senior level, finishing second on the team in scoring and field goal percentage and third in rebounding.
• One of two Opals to score in double figures for the tournament, Smith averaged 10.8 points on 58.3 percent shooting and 5.3 rebounds. Australia took home silver and qualified for the 2018 FIBA World Cup by virtue of its top-four finish.
• Jerome captained Canada to bronze at the U19 World Cup in Udine and Cividale del Friuli, Italy, its first podium finish at the event. In her fourth FIBA tournament, Jerome averaged 7.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 26.3 minutes per game.
• Brewer was invited to Canada's U19 National Team tryouts in July 2017 for the FIBA U19 World Cup, but elected to remain on campus to prepare for her sophomore season.

THE ART OF THE ASSIST »

• Marta Sniezek, who has handed out five or more assists in 29 of her 77 career appearances, averaged 4.4 assists per game as a sophomore and has 17 this year.
• In the last 20 years, only Nicole Powell, Milena Flores, Jeanette Pohlen and Amber Orrange have averaged more assists for Stanford over the course of a season. Powell averaged 6.3 in 2001-02 and 4.7 in 2000-01. Flores averaged 7.3 in 1998-99, 6.1 in 1997-98 and 5.9 in 1999-00, Pohlen averaged 4.8 in 2010-11 and 4.5 in 2009-10 and Orrange averaged 4.5 in 2013-14.
• She played at least 20 minutes without committing a turnover five times and handed out 75 assists against just 28 turnovers in the final 16 games of the year.
• Her 2.68 assist to turnover ratio from Feb. 1 to the end of the season was 12th nationally.

NEW LOOK ON THE BENCH »

• On April 13, Amy Tucker stepped away from coaching following an illustrious career spanning more than 30 years at Stanford. She remains with the program in an administrative role.
• Tucker arrived on The Farm with Tara VanDerveer in 1985-86 and helped guide the Cardinal to an 889-183 (.829) overall record. She was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 1996-97 season. When VanDerveer was tabbed to lead the USA Basketball National Team during the 1995-96 campaign and for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Tucker was named interim head coach. Stanford's 29-3 season, which included the program's fifth NCAA Final Four appearance of the 1990's, earned Tucker UPI (United Press International) National Coach of the Year and Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors.
• Tucker began coaching soon after completing her successful playing career at Ohio State. She joined VanDerveer on Ohio State's bench as a graduate assistant in 1983-84 and a year later was promoted to assistant coach.
• The season opener at Ohio State was the first college game since March 12, 1980 that Tara VanDerveer coached without Tucker involved as either a player or assistant. Cal State LA beat VanDerveer's Idaho team that day, 84-81, in the AIAW Tournament.
• Stanford hired alumna Lindy La Rocque to fill Tucker's coaching role. La Rocque, who spent the past two seasons on staff at Belmont, played in 138 career games for Stanford, the eighth most in program history. She was instrumental in helping the Cardinal compile a 137-12 record during her four years, including a 71-1 mark in conference. Stanford appeared in the Final Four each season during her undergraduate career and advanced to the national title game in 2010.
• La Rocque is from Las Vegas and starred at nearby Durango High School.

#TARA1K »

• In her 32nd season on the bench at Stanford, Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer has accumulated a 1,014-233 record in her 38+ years as a collegiate head coach and an 862-182 mark on The Farm.
• Her teams have won 20 or more games 32 times and collected at least 30 victories 14 times. Pat Summitt (36) and C. Vivian Stringer (34) are the only coaches to lead their teams to more 20-win seasons.
• In November 2013, VanDerveer became just the fifth college women's basketball coach to win 900 career games and on Feb. 3, 2017 she joined her good friend Pat Summitt as the only NCAA women's basketball coaches with 1,000 career wins.
• Summitt (1,098) along with Mike Krzyzewski at Duke (1,076) and Herb Magee at Philadelphia University (1,056) on the men's side are the only college basketball coaches with 1,000 wins.
• VanDerveer has more career wins than 341 of the country's 349 Division I programs.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS »

• On Nov. 20, Stanford remained at No. 14 in the Associated Press women's basketball poll.
• It has been ranked 517 times out of 732 total polls since 1977 (70.6 percent), with an average positioning of 7.2. It's been in the past 308 polls, the second-longest active streak behind Connecticut (453). The Cardinal's 517 all-time appearances in the AP top 25 are fourth behind Tennessee (700), Texas (523) and Georgia (522).