Kiana_Williams_EC_20180317_028Kiana_Williams_EC_20180317_028
Erin Chang/Stanford Athletics
Women's Basketball

Sunday in Spokane

No. 8 Stanford (6-0)
at Gonzaga (7-1)
Sunday, Dec. 2 • 2 p.m.
McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, Wash.
Television • SWX-TV (Spokane)
Live Stream • WCCSports.com
Audio •GoStanford.com
Live Statistics • GoZags.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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THE GAME: Off to its best start in six seasons, No. 8 Stanford is on the road at Gonzaga on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. Tim Swartz will handle the radio broadcast also on GoStanford.com and Greg Heister and Stephanie Hawk-Freeman will call the game locally in Spokane on SWX-TV.
 
THE RUNDOWN: Stanford's 6-0 start to the season is its best since the Cardinal won its first 11 games in 2012-13 ... The Cardinal has won each of its six games by at least 22 points and is 11th nationally in scoring margin, beating its opponents by an average of 28.8 points ... Stanford's 87.0 points per game average is also 11th in the country ... Stanford's 16 3-pointers on Nov. 11 against Idaho tied a program single-game record and its 115 points are the program's fifth-highest point total ever and most since Dec. 10, 1994 ... Stanford is ninth in the country in field goal percentage (.497) Sunday's game will mark a homecoming for freshmen Lacie and Lexie Hull, who starred at nearby Central Valley High School and won a pair of state titles during their prep careers (2016, 2018) ... Stanford returns 77 percent of its minutes played from 2017-18, the fourth most among top 25 programs at the end of last season according to Her Hoops Stats' overall rating, which takes strength of schedule into account ... Alanna Smith (Australia), Jenna Brown (United States) and Alyssa Jerome (Canada) all represented their countries in international competition this summer ... The nation's consensus No. 1 recruit, Haley Jones, announced her commitment to Stanford on Wednesday morning.

VS. GONZAGA: Stanford is 8-1 against Gonzaga and recently knocked off the Bulldogs to open last season's NCAA Tournament in Maples Pavilion, 82-68, behind 21 points from Kiana Williams and 20 from Alanna Smith. Gonzaga took the last regular-season meeting, also at Stanford, on Nov. 18, 2016, 68-63. In the Cardinal's last visit to Spokane in November 2015, a 65-48 win featured a 23-point, 13-rebound double-double from Erica McCall. Stanford closed that game on a 19-1 run over the last 5:28.

SEASON SNAPSHOT »

  • Stanford's 6-0 start to the season is its best since the Cardinal won its first 11 games in 2012-13.
  • The Cardinal has won each of its six games by at least 22 points and is 11th nationally in scoring margin, beating its opponents by an average of 28.8 points. Stanford's 87.0 points per game average is also 11th in the country.
  • Stanford is ninth in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.46), ninth in field goal percentage (.497) and fourth in rebound margin (+16.8). Those categories are just a few of many where the Cardinal has seen a marked improvement year-over-year. Last season, Stanford was 126th in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.93), 87th in field goal percentage (.424) and 48th in rebound margin (+5.3).
  • Stanford returns 77 percent of its minutes played from 2017-18, the fourth most among top 25 programs at the end of last season according to Her Hoop Stats' overall rating, which takes strength of schedule into account.
  • Arizona State returns 97 percent, Virginia Tech 91 percent and Louisville 82 percent. South Carolina also welcomes back 77 percent of its minutes played.
  • The Cardinal made its 11th consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 last season, posting a 24-11 overall record and a 14-3 mark in Pac-12 play. Stanford won at least 20 games for the 17th straight season and 29th overall and had double-digit Pac-12 victories for the 31st consecutive year.

SHARP SHOOTERS »

  • Stanford is eighth in the country, averaging 10.8 3-point makes per game and 28th in 3-point percentage, making 38.9 percent.
  • Stanford's 16 3-pointers on Nov. 11 against Idaho tied a program single-game record also achieved at UCLA on Feb. 24, 2002 and at Washington on Feb. 24, 2001.
  • The Cardinal made just 31.9 percent of its attempts from behind the arc last season, the second-worst percentage in program history. Stanford also was a program-low 42.4 percent from the field overall in 2017-18.
  • Stanford won that game against Idaho 115-71, its fifth-highest point total ever and most since tying a school record with 122 against Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 10, 1994.

OHIO STATE GAME CANCELED »

  • The Cardinal's Nov. 18 home contest against Ohio State was canceled, as a significant increase in smoke from the devastating wildfires in Butte County had compromised the air quality throughout the Bay Area while causing the Air Quality Index (AQI) readings to reach, and occasionally exceed, the "Very Unhealthy" category.
  • With no guarantee that conditions would improve and the Buckeyes' Nov. 16 game at Sacramento State already canceled, it was decided the game would not be played.

COMING HOME »

  • Sunday's game will mark a homecoming for freshmen Lacie and Lexie Hull, who starred at nearby Central Valley High School and won a pair of state titles during their prep careers (2016, 2018).
  • Lexie, who has missed the past three games with a left foot injury, started the season's first three games and averaged 10.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.7 steals. She had an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double in the season opener against UC Davis and is believed to be the first freshman in Stanford history to record a double-double in her debut.
  • Lacie finished off the team's Rainbow Wahine Showdown with a pair of strong performances. Her seven steals last Saturday against American were the most for a Stanford player since Candice Wiggins had the same number in a win over Old Dominion on Nov. 24, 2007.
  • She followed that up with personal bests of eight points, six assists and two blocks Sunday against Hawaii.

FOUR TO THE FARM »

  • Stanford bolstered an already strong recruiting class for next season with the addition of the nation's consensus No. 1 recruit, Haley Jones (Santa Cruz, Calif./Archbishop Mitty), who committed on Wednesday morning.
  • Jones joined the  earlier signings of top-50, five-star talents Fran Belibi (Aurora, Colo./Regis Jesuit), Hannah Jump (Los Altos Hills, Calif./Pinewood School) and Ashten Prechtel (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon) in Stanford's class, which is ranked second nationally by espnW HoopGurlz.
  • Jones is the first No. 1 prospect to sign with Stanford since Chiney Ogwumike came to The Farm as the top player in the country in Nov. 2009. She is also the first woman to have her college commitment covered by ESPN and SportsCenter.

SO INTERNATIONAL »

  • Alanna Smith, Jenna Brown and Alyssa Jerome all represented their countries across the globe in various tournaments this summer.
  • Smith, the program's first international student, became the sixth Stanford player to appear in a FIBA World Cup in helping Australia to a silver medal in late September. The senior was one of two Stanford players at the tournament in Tenerife, Spain along with alumna Nneka Ogwumike (United States) and was a late arrival to campus for the fall quarter. Classes started on September 24.
  • It was the 22-year-old's second go-around with her country's Senior Women's National Team. She made her debut and won silver at last summer's FIBA Asia Cup in Bangalore, India and was one of two Australian players to score in double figures for the tournament, averaging 10.8 points on 58.3 percent shooting and 5.3 rebounds.
  • Brown and the USA Basketball U18 National Team won gold at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Mexico City in early August. The freshman averaged 7.5 points on 57.1 percent shooting, 2.8 assists and 2.3 rebounds in six games. She had her best performance in the semifinals against Colombia, going for a team-high 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including hitting three of her four 3-point attempts.
  • In her first taste of FIBA competition two years ago, Brown took home bronze alongside current Cardinal Maya Dodson at the 2016 FIBA U17 World Cup in Zaragoza Spain.
  • Jerome was the youngest player on Canada's Senior Women's National Team roster that participated in a four-game exhibition series in China and Japan from August 1-7.

SUMMERS OFF THE FLOOR »

  • Senior center Shannon Coffee spent her summer interning with the Stanford Center for Clinical Research, working on a study to address growing concerns over concussions in sports through research and data collection.
  • The project involved mouthguards developed by engineers at Stanford with the ability to track impact, force and more in collisions between high school football players.
  • Senior guard Alexa Romano was in Peru all summer as part of an archaeological excavation and research team led by Stanford professor Dr. John Rick at a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Andes.
  • It was Romano's second academically-oriented international trip with Stanford. Two summers ago she spent three weeks in India as part of The Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement Program, serving 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 Dakshinpuri, New Delhi.

FROM DOWN UNDER »

  • Alanna Smith is on a laundry of preseason watch lists, including the Naismith Trophy, Wade Trophy, John R. Wooden Award, Katrina McClain Award and Senior CLASS Award and also was selected to the preseason All-Pac-12 Team as voted on by the media who regularly cover the conference.
  • An All-Pac-12 performer as a junior, this season Smith is shooting nearly 60 percent from the field (41-of-69), 50 percent from behind the arc (14-of-28) and averaging a team-high 19.0 points per game to go with 6.0 rebounds.
  • She is second in the conference and 32nd in the country in field goal percentage and fifth in the league in scoring and leads the nation's 6-foot-4 players in 3-point shooting percentage and 3-pointers made.
  • She is 35th in school history in scoring (1,118) and seventh in blocks (156).
  • In the Cardinal's win over San Francisco on Nov. 15, Smith had 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists, four blocks and made 3-pointers. She is the eighth player with those numbers in a single game in the past 20 years and the only one to do it in less than 30 minutes (26).

WATCH WILLIAMS »

  • Kiana Williams is also on a handful of watch lists for the Naismith Trophy, John R. Wooden Award and Ann Meyers Drysdale Award.
  • The sophomore is second on the team in scoring (14.8 points per game) and makes an average of 3.0 3-pointers per outing, second in the conference to Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu (3.33).
  • Williams had a standout freshman campaign in 2017-18, was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention and also landed on the Pac-12 All-Freshman and Pac-12 All-Tournament teams. Twenty-six players were voted either All-Pac-12 or all-conference honorable mention last season and Stanford's dynamic playmaker was the only freshman among them.
  • The 5-foot-8 Williams played in all 35 games a year ago and averaged 10.4 points on 41.4 percent shooting (128-of-309), including a 38.4 percent clip from deep (71-of-185), 1.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists. She was fourth in the conference in 3-point percentage (.384) and fifth in makes (71). Her 71 made triples are the second most for a Stanford freshman in program history.
  • Williams improved by leaps and bounds as the season wore on and after averaging 3.1 points and shooting 20.7 percent (6-of-29) in her first seven collegiate games, she upped those numbers to 12.2 points on 43.6 percent shooting (122-of-280) in the final 28. She scored in double figures in 19 of the season's last 28 games and averaged 13.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament, which was third among the country's freshmen.
  • In the final nine games of the season, Williams led the nation by hitting 56.9 percent from deep (29-of-51) and had a number of memorable performances including a 26-point effort against Cal (Feb. 15), a 24-point outing on 6-of-7 shooting from behind the arc against Arizona State (March 3) and a 21-point, NCAA Tournament debut against Gonzaga (March 17).
  • A two-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week selection, Williams was also voted to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team after averaging 17.7 points on 70.4 percent shooting (19-of-27), including 72.2 percent on 3-pointers (13-of-18), in three games in Seattle.

CARRINGTON EMERGES »

  • After averaging 2.5 points and 2.3 rebounds as a freshman, DiJonai Carrington emerged as Stanford's fourth-leading scorer (8.8 ppg) and third-best rebounder (5.6 rpg) last season.
  • She has started all six games this year and is averaging 9.3 points and 5.2 rebounds. In three wins at the Rainbow Wahine Showdown, Carrington averaged 13.7 points on 66.7 percent shooting (12-of-18), 6.7 rebouns and 2.7 assists. She was 12-of-15 at the line on Nov. 23 against FGCU, the Cardinal's most individual makes in four seasons and most attempts in six seasons.

THE ART OF THE ASSIST »

  • Marta Sniezek has handed out five or more assists in 42 of her 108 career appearances and with 428 career assists, she needs nine more to tie Kate Starbird (1993-97) for 10th in program history.
  • The senior is currently sidelined with a thumb injury.

HOME OF CHAMPIONS »

  • Stanford is the only school with at least one national championship in football, baseball, men's basketball and women's basketball and one of six programs with at least one national championship in football, baseball and men's basketball.
  • Stanford is one of seven schools to earn Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Award each of the past four seasons.
  • Stanford won the 2017-18 Division I Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, extending its streak to 24 years of capturing the award presented to the most successful intercollegiate athletic department in the nation.
  • Stanford, which sponsors 36 varsity sports, has won at least one NCAA team title in each of the past 42 academic years, representing the longest streak in NCAA history.
  • The Cardinal leads the NCAA with 117 team titles.
  • Stanford claimed five national team championships during the last academic year, increasing its overall total to 142, including 117 NCAA titles.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY »

  • Stanford requires students to declare a major before their junior year. Among the team's upperclassmen, six majors are represented. Majors are: human biology, art practice, psychology, American studies, African and African-American studies and anthropology.
  • Stanford's inner campus includes about 1.1 million square feet of shrubs, 143,000 linear feet of groundcovers, 43,000 trees, 25 fountains and more than 800 different species of plants.
  • Stanford's faculty includes two Presidential Medal of Freedom winners.
  • Stanford's faculty includes four Pulitzer Prize winners.
  • The top five undergraduate majors at Stanford include: computer science, engineering, human biology, management science and engineering, and mechanical engineering.
  • The Stanford community includes 17 Nobel laureates.
  • As of 2017, Stanford's endowment eclipsed 24.8 billion.
  • Stanford faculty have won the Nobel Prize 31 times since the university's founding.
  • Stanford's 8,180-acre campus is large enough to contain 96 Disneylands.
  • About 97 percent of all eligible undergraduates live in campus housing.
  • The 700-acre Stanford Research Park, created in 1951, is home to over 150 companies.
  • There are more than 625 registered student organizations at Stanford.
  • There are about 700 buildings on campus that incorporate approximately 15.4 million square feet.
  • Of the 47,450 applicants -- the largest application pool in school history -- for Stanford's class of 2022, only 2,040 were admitted. The admitted students came from all 50 states and 63 countries.
  • There are an estimated 13,000 bikes at Stanford daily.