Home Stretch at Home

No. 17 Stanford (16-8, 10-2)
vs. Utah (15-8, 6-6)
Friday, Feb. 9 • 7 p.m.
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
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THE GAME: Coming off a road sweep of the ranked Oregon schools, No. 17 Stanford (16-8, 10-2) returns home to host Utah (15-8, 6-6) on Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Chris Fitzgerald and Joaquin Wallace have the call on GoStanford.com's live stream and Tim Swartz will handle the radio broadcast on GoStanford.com.
 
THE RUNDOWN: Stanford vaulted itself back into the national conversation with road wins at No. 16 Oregon State and No. 6 Oregon last weekend ... The victories moved the Cardinal up to 12th in the RPI ... Stanford has played the nation's fourth-toughest schedule ... Brittany McPhee averaged 25.5 points last weekend and was the consensus national player of the week (espnW, USBWA, Naismith Trophy) ... Kiana Williams was also voted Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the second time ... Stanford leads the nation with 11 games against ranked opponents and six against top-10 teams ... Sixteen of Stanford's last 30 games have been against top-25 teams ... The Cardinal is 13th in the country in field goal percentage defense (.351) ... Stanford has turned the ball over fewer than 10 times in four consecutive games for the first time in 18 years (records since 1999-00) ... The Cardinal averaged 16.3 turnovers in its first 20 games of the year ... Kiana Williams is the Pac-12's leading freshman scorer in conference games (10.8) ... Brittany McPhee became the program's 39th 1,000-point scorer on Jan. 26 against ASU ... Alanna Smith is eighth in the Pac-12 in double-doubles (5), 17th in scoring (13.2), 11th in rebounding (7.4) and third in blocks (2.1) ... Kaylee Johnson is eighth in program history in rebounds (912) and seventh in blocked shots (151).

VS. UTAH: Stanford is 22-0 all-time against Utah dating back to the first meeting on Jan. 13, 1986.  This will be the 11th game between the two schools as conference foes. Stanford has won each of those previous 10 matchups by an average of 20.3 points. Against the Utes in Maples last season, Stanford used an 18-0 first-quarter run to rout Utah 87-51 on Feb. 12, 2017 behind 16 points from Alanna Smith. The Cardinal used a 27-point fourth quarter to win the teams' meeting in Salt Lake City 77-58 on Jan. 13, 2017.
 
NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY »

• Stanford Athletics and the Stanford women's basketball program will celebrate the 32nd Annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Friday, Feb. 9 as part of the women's basketball game vs. Utah.
• Through this special day we hope to continue the conversation around access and equality for women in sports, celebrate trailblazers and achievements of women in sports at Stanford and beyond, and inspire the next generation of women leaders.
• The Maples Pavilion concourse will open up for fans who want to interact with current student-athletes and get autographs before the game. 

WHAT JUST HAPPENED »

• Stanford vaulted itself back into the national conversation and swept a pair of ranked opponents on the road last weekend, beating No. 16 Oregon State 60-57 and No. 6 Oregon 78-65.
• It was the Cardinal's first conference road trip against two top-25 opponents as a member of the Pac-12 and the program's first since 1983 when it played Western Collegiate Athletic Association away games at No. 10 Long Beach State on Feb. 15 (L, 95-60) and No. 11 Arizona State on Feb. 18 (L, 79-53).
• Brittany McPhee scored 31 of her career-high 33 points in the second half to lead Stanford over No. 6 Oregon 78-65 on Sunday. She scored each of the Cardinal's final 19 points and single-handedly outscored the Ducks in the second half, 31-24. McPhee shot 13-of-18 from the floor in the second half, including 9-of-11 in the final quarter. Her 31 second-half points topped her previous game high by three.
• It was Oregon's first home loss of the season after 14 consecutive wins and the Ducks were the highest-ranked opponent the Cardinal had defeated in a true road game since beating No. 3 Rutgers on its home floor, 60-58, on Nov. 11, 2007.
• DiJonai Carrington stole Oregon State's inbounds pass with seven seconds remaining and helped dribble out the clock to preserve Stanford's 60-57 victory over the No. 16 Beavers Friday night.
• Stanford had 17 offensive rebounds and outscored the Beavers 21-8 in second-chance points.
• Brittany McPhee posted her second career double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds and Kaylee Johnson pulled down 11 boards, her eighth time this season in double figures in that category.
• McPhee's double-double was her first since she went for 26 and 11 against Colorado on Feb. 10, 2017.

SETTING THE STAGE »

• At 10-2, Stanford is tied atop the Pac-12 with No. 8 UCLA and No. 9 Oregon and two games ahead of both No. 16 Oregon State and No. 25 Arizona State. By virtue of its wins last weekend, the Cardinal will own tiebreakers over both the Ducks and Beavers for Pac-12 Tournament seeding purposes.
• Currently, the Cardinal's 16-8 record is its worst through 24 games since it was 15-9 at the same point in 2000-01. Stanford would eventually finish that year 19-11 overall, tie for first in conference with a 12-6 mark and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Stanford entered conference play with a 6-6 record, the program's first time heading into league action with at least six losses since 1998-99. Stanford was 4-7 in its regular-season nonconference slate in that season, which was also the last time the Cardinal lost multiple regular-season, nonconference home games as it has this year with results against Western Illinois and Tennessee.

OF LATE »

• In its first 20 games of the season, Stanford was averaging 16.3 turnovers per game. In the last four it has turned the ball over just 28 times (7.0 per game). Before now, the Cardinal hadn't had less than 10 turnovers in any more than two straight games in 18 years (records back to 1999-00).
• The Cardinal's starting lineup didn't turn the ball over once and combined for 15 assists against Arizona on Jan. 28. Stanford assisted on 27 of its 30 made baskets, its highest the best the Cardinal has done in conference since at least the year 2000, surpassing the 88.5 percent it assisted on (23-of-26) in a win at No. 23 Arizona on Dec. 29, 2002.
• In the last four games, which includes three ranked opponents, Stanford has 66 assists and just 28 turnovers and leads the nation with a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Stanford's defense in conference is some of the best in the nation. The Cardinal is giving up just 57.0 points on 35.3 percent shooting in its 12 Pac-12 games.
• Among Power 5 conference teams in league play, that opponent points per game number is fourth in the country and the field goal percentage defense is third.
• Baylor is surrendering an average of 54.8 points in 12 Big 12 contests, North Carolina State is at 56.3 in 11 ACC games and Mississippi State is giving up 56.7 points per game in 10 SEC matchups. In terms of field goal percentage defense in conference games, Baylor leads in that category (.322) and Georgia is second (.352).

SCOUTING REPORT »

• Stanford has done a good job of limiting the efficiency of its opponent's top offensive threat in Pac-12 play. Through 12 games the leading scorers below have combined to shoot just 29.6 percent (45-of-152) from the floor and average 11.8 points.       

• Stanford's defense came up big in last weekend's road trip. The Cardinal held Oregon State, which entered Friday's game first in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.415) and fifth in the country in field goal percentage (.490), to just 6-of-22 shooting (27 percent) from beyond the arc and 40 percent from the floor overall.
• Stanford was also able to limit the Beavers' top two scorers – Marie Gülich and Kat Tudor – to a combined seven points on 3-of-11 shooting. It was the first time all season Gülich was held to single-digits scoring and Tudor, who was averaging 19.2 points in her previous five games, was held scoreless.
• Tudor, fourth in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage, attempted just two shots and neither were from behind the arc. She had been making 44.5 percent of her 3-pointers on 146 attempts.
• All seven of Gülich's points came in the first half. She attempted only two field goals in the third and fourth quarters and missed both. Gülich and Tudor entered the game averaging a combined 30.4 points on 57.5 percent shooting.
• Oregon came into Sunday fourth in the nation in field goal percentage (.494), sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (.400) and 10th in scoring (83.3). 
• Stanford held the Ducks to its third-lowest scoring performance of the season (65) on 40.4 percent shooting (23-57) and 31.6 percent from deep (6-19). Oregon scored just 24 second-half points and shot 28.0 percent across the third and fourth quarters.
• Ruthy Hebard, who scored 16 in the first half, played all 20 minutes in the second half, but did not score and only attempted one field goal. Oregon didn't score over the game's final 5:08.
• Stanford has finished in the top 15 nationally in field goal percentage defense 10 of the last 11 years.

IN THE POLLS »

• The Cardinal dropped out of the AP rankings for the first time in 17 years on Dec. 25, worked its way back a week later at No. 24 following its home victories over UCLA and USC and dropped out again for three consecutive polls after it lost at No. 25 Arizona State on Jan. 7 (73-66).
• Stanford is back and up to No. 17 this week. Its seven-spot jump from the previous poll was the largest in program history.
• The Cardinal is 12th in the RPI and has played the nation's fourth-toughest schedule.
• This season is the first Stanford has been unranked since 2001, when a 72-54 loss at No. 20 Oregon on Jan. 13 knocked the No. 24 Cardinal out of the polls. It wouldn't get back in until opening the next season at No. 9.
• The Cardinal has been in 524 AP polls, the fourth most all-time, and had its stretch of 312 in a row snapped when it was unranked Dec. 25. Stanford's streak is tied for the third longest in the history of the poll. Tennessee had the longest run at 565 weeks, Connecticut has an active 464-week streak and Duke also appeared in 312 consecutive rankings.

BAPTISM BY FIRE »

• Stanford leads the nation with 11 games against top-25 teams, is 4-7 in those games and has won three in a row. Oklahoma and Oregon have played 10 ranked teams and Notre Dame, Kansas State and South Carolina have played nine.
• The Cardinal also leads in games against top-10 teams with six, including five from the nonconference portion of its schedule. For comparison, Stanford played five top-10 opponents all of last year, which was the program's most since 2010-11 (7).
• Dating back to last season, 16 of Stanford's past 30 games have been against ranked opponents, including nine in the top 10 and four in the top five.

AGAINST RANKED »

• From 2000 to 2012, Stanford played 27 conference and conference tournament games against ranked opponents and went 21-6. In just the last six seasons, the Cardinal has played a ranked Pac-12 team 36 times in conference and conference tournament games, going 24-12.
• Stanford is 75-41 (.647) against AP ranked opponents since 2007-08, fifth in the country in such wins over that span and fourth in percentage.
• Stanford has won multiple games against top 25 opponents for each of the last 16 seasons.
• Stanford's 24-point margin of victory over No. 25 Arizona State on Jan. 26 was Stanford's largest over a ranked team in four seasons, since the Cardinal routed No. 14 Penn State 82-57 in the Sweet 16 on March 30, 2014.

OFFENSE/DEFENSE »

• After shooting just 39.3 percent in 12 nonconference games, Stanford has hit 43.9 percent in its first 12 Pac-12 contests.
• Overall, the Cardinal is shooting 41.5 percent from the field (123rd in the country), 30.1 percent (232nd) from deep and 62.3 percent (325th) from the free throw line.
• The program's all-time lows in those categories are 42.6 percent from the field (2015-16), 31.1 percent on 3-pointers (2011-12) and 64.8 percent on free throws (1978-79).
• Stanford's turnover margin (-2.0) is also 260th in the nation.
• At the other end of the court the Cardinal is 13th in the country in field goal percentage defense (.351), 18th in blocks per game (5.58) and 21st in rebounds per game (43.2).

McBUCKETS »

• Brittany McPhee was the consensus national player of the week (espnW, USBWA, Naismith Trophy) following her performances at Oregon State and Oregon in which she averaged 25.5 points on 55 percent shooting.
• Her 33-point outing at No. 6 Oregon was the first 30-point game for a Stanford player on the road against a top-10 team since Candice Wiggins dropped in exactly 30 in a 73-65 win at No. 10 Arizona State on Jan. 27, 2007.
• McPhee, who missed nine nonconference games with a right foot injury, became Stanford's 39th 1,000-point scorer early in the fourth quarter of its win over No. 25 Arizona State on Jan. 26 and is currently 36th on the Cardinal's all-time scoring list with 1,076. Joslyn Tinkle (2009-13) is next with 1,091 career points.
• McPhee was also named espnW National Player of the Week on Jan. 1 after averaging 23.5 points on 54 percent shooting, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in Stanford's home victories to start conference play.
• McPhee, Louisville Asia Durr and Florida State's Shakayla Thomas are the only players to be named espnW National Players of the Week multiple times this season.
• McPhee has scored 20+ six times this season and is averaging 17.4 points per game to go with 5.1 rebounds. She is one of 13 Power 5 conference guards in the country averaging 17.0 points and 5.0 rebounds. Because she missed so much time, McPhee won't appear in the national statistical rankings until the NCAA Tournament should Stanford advance to play 36 total games this season.
• Of McPhee's 15 career 20-point games, eight have come against ranked teams and her five highest-scoring performances have come against top-15 foes. In addition to the 33 she put up at No. 6 Oregon, she scored 28 against No. 8 Texas on Nov. 14, 2016, dropped in 27 in the Elite Eight against No. 2 Notre Dame on March 26, 2017, had 27 against No. 7 Tennessee on Dec. 21, 2017 and 26 against No. 11 UCLA on Dec. 29, 2017.
• In fact, 13 of McPhee's last 19 games dating back to last season have come against top-25 teams and she is averaging 18.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists in those ranked contests.
• She made her USA Basketball debut this summer at the U24 Four Nations Tournament in Tokyo. McPhee 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.
• A human biology major with a 3.71 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.

WATCH WILLIAMS »

• Kiana Williams was voted Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the second time this season on Feb. 5.
• Williams, who was also the league's top freshman on Jan. 8, scored 14 points in each game of Stanford's road sweep at Oregon State and Oregon.
• The freshman settled Stanford early in the third quarter when the Cardinal was down six at OSU, consistently knocking down mid-range pull-up jumpers. She finished with her 14 on 6-of-11 shooting. Against Oregon, Williams was one shy of her career high was four made 3-pointers as part of her 14-point effort.
• Williams has scored in double figures in 12 of her last 17 games and leads Pac-12 freshmen in scoring in league games, averaging 10.8 points in 12 conference contests.
• Williams averaged 3.1 points and shot 20.7 percent (6-of-29) in her first seven collegiate games. In the last 17 she's scoring 11.2 per game on 39.3 percent shooting (68-of-173). She is making 50 percent of her two-point baskets (31-of-62) during those last 17 games.
• She had a career-high seven assists in the win over Arizona on Jan. 28 and has 14 assists and two turnovers in her last four games.

FROM DOWN UNDER »

• Alanna Smith was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the first time on Nov. 27 following her three games in Las Vegas. She averaged a double-double of 23.7 points and 11.7 rebounds in Stanford's 2-1 week, shot 64.6 percent from the field (31-of-48), 40 percent from deep and also averaged 2.0 blocks per game.
• Smith's 33-point, 16-rebound performance against No. 9 Ohio State was the nation's first 30-point, 15-rebound double-double against an AP top-10 team since Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike went for 32 points and 20 boards against No. 3 Tennessee on Dec. 21, 2013.
• On Dec. 13, Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan also did it with a 35-point, 19-rebound effort as part of a 90-79 Bulldog win against No. 9 Oregon.
• Smith's is just the fourth by a Pac-12 player against a top-10 team since 2000 and the others are all Cardinal. In addition to Ogwumike's in 2013, Nneka Ogwumike had 42 points and 17 rebounds against No. 6 Tennessee on Dec. 20, 2011 and Nicole Powell put up 32 points and 16 rebounds against No. 2 Tennessee on Dec. 14, 2003.
• Her five double-doubles are eighth in the Pac-12 and she is 17th in the league in scoring (13.2), 11th in rebounding (7.4) and third in blocks (2.13).
• Of her six career games with 20+ points, three have come this season. She is also tied for eighth in Stanford history with 136 career blocks.

GETTING ON THE GLASS »

• Kaylee Johnson's 912 career rebounds are eighth in program history. Next on the list is Erica McCall, who grabbed 976 from 2013-17. She is eighth in the Pac-12 this season at 7.6 per game.
• Johnson's 912 rebounds are third among active Pac-12 players behind UCLA's Monique Billings (1,054) and Utah's Emily Potter (959) and her 151 blocked shots are fourth behind Potter (258), Billings (211) and Oregon State's Marie Gülich (172).
• She is the seventh Stanford player with 150 in a career joining Jayne Appel (273), Chiney Ogwumike (202), Val Whiting (201), Erica McCall (200) and Kristen Newlin (163).
• Her 7.4 career rebounds per game average would be eighth in Stanford history. Johnson has pulled down 10 or more 40 times in 123 career games and owns a pair of 22-rebound outings as a freshman.
• Johnson had her 10th career double-double against Washington State on Jan. 12 with 10 points and 15 rebounds. It was her first since she went for 11 and 12 in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals against Oregon last March 4.
• She has eight double-digit rebound games already this season after just three last year.

CARRINGTON EMERGES »

• After averaging 2.5 points and 2.3 rebounds as a freshman, sophomore DiJonai Carrington has emerged as Stanford's third-leading scorer (9.6 ppg) and third-best rebounder (6.3 rpg) this season.
• She started seven games during the nonconference portion of the schedule and has come off the bench in Pac-12 play after missing Stanford's final three non-league games due to injury.
• If the Pac-12 had a Sixth Woman of the Year Award, Carrington would have as strong case. In 14 games as a substitute she is averaging 8.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.64 steals. Those rebound and steal numbers lead the conference's non-starters and she's fourth in scoring.
• She dropped in 21 points against No. 1 UConn on Nov. 12 and pulled down a career-high 22 rebounds one game later against UC Riverside on Nov. 17.
• The 5-foot-11 guard's rebound total is tied for third in school history with Kaylee Johnson and Mikaela Ruef. Chiney Ogwumike, who totaled a school-record 24 rebounds against Oregon on Feb. 24, 2013, and Nneka Ogwumike, who had 23 at Oregon on Jan. 23, 2010, are the only players with more.
• Carrington scored a career-high 24 points and had 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season in Stanford's 79-54 win over Kent State on Nov. 23.
• Carrington's brother Darren just finished his career as a wide receiver at Utah and was a two-time All-Pac-12 second teamer. 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.