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Women's Basketball

Back with Baylor

No. 11 Stanford (6-1)
vs. No. 3 Baylor (8-0)
Saturday, Dec. 15 • 12 p.m.
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
Tickets
Promotions
Television • Pac-12 Networks
Audio •GoStanford.com
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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THE GAME: Back following a two-week break for final exams, No. 11 Stanford (6-1) hosts No. 3 Baylor (8-0) on Saturday, Dec. 15 at noon PT. Anne Marie Anderson, Mary Murphy and Jill Savage have the call on Pac-12 Networks and Kevin Danna will handle the radio broadcast on GoStanford.com.
 
THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is in the midst of a 14-game winning streak in Maples Pavilion, the 10th longest active stretch in the country ... The Cardinal is 12th in the country in scoring offense (85.0) and ninth nationally in field goal percentage (.490) ... Stanford is 8-1 in its last nine home games against top-5 teams ... The Cardinal is eighth in the country, averaging 10.8 3-point makes per game and 15th in 3-point percentage, making 39.1 percent ... Alanna Smith is the only player in the nation shooting better than 57 percent from the floor and 48 percent from behind the arc ...  Lacie Hull earned the first start of her career on Dec. 2 at Gonzaga, is fifth in the conference, averaging 2.43 steals per game, and has 15 assists against just six turnovers (2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio) this season ... Stanford has three of the top five shooters from the floor in the Pac-12 this season in Maya Dodson (.595), Nadia Fingall (.592) and Alanna Smith (.577) ... 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 Nov. 28, the first top player to sign with the Cardinal since Chiney Ogwumike in Nov. 2009.

VS. BAYLOR: Stanford is 2-4 all-time against Baylor and 1-0 at Stanford, winning the only previous matchup on The Farm, 87-63, on Dec. 16, 2007 behind 35 points from Candice Wiggins and 22 from Kayla Pedersen. In the teams' last meeting, the Lady Bears beat Stanford in Waco on Dec. 3, 2017, 81-57. Kalani Brown scored 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting and the Cardinal managed to shoot just 29.4 percent (20-of-68), its worst clip in two seasons.

MORE BAYLOR »

  • The first game between Baylor and Stanford came on Dec. 2, 1983 at UNLV, a 63-59 Lady Bears victory.
  • The other five meetings have all been since 2007 and had at least one team ranked in the AP top-10.
  • This the only game of the week between two top-25 teams in NCAA women's basketball.
  • Saturday will be the highest rankings for both teams in the series since Nov. 16, 2012, when the No. 4 Cardinal beat No. 1 Baylor in Honolulu, 71-69, to snap the defending national champions' 42-game winning streak. Brittney Griner scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half and Chiney Ogwumike led the Cardinal with 18.
  • That came seven months after No. 1 Baylor beat No. 2 Stanford, 59-47, at the Final Four in Denver. Nneka Ogwumike had 22 points and nine rebounds for Stanford while Griner had 13 and nine for Baylor and Destiny Williams had 10 rebounds.
  • In last year's game in Waco, Shannon Coffee scored a career-high 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from behind the arc and became the first player in the nation at least 6-foot-5 to hit four 3-pointers in a game since Delaware's Elena Delle Donne made the same number against Georgia State on March 6, 2013. Delle Donne made four or more 3-pointers 15 times in her career.

 
SETTING THE STAGE »

  • Stanford started the season 6-0, its best since winning its first 11 games in 2012-13.
  • The Cardinal's loss at Gonzaga on Dec. 2 was its third to a WCC team in the nonconference in the last four seasons. Gonzaga won at Stanford, 68-63, on Nov. 18, 2016 and Santa Clara beat the Cardinal in Maples on Nov. 23, 2015, 61-58.
  • Gonzaga shot 54.2 percent from the floor (26-of-48) in its most recent victory, the best for a Stanford opponent since No. 22 DePaul made 59.6 percent (31-of-52) in a 91-71 win on Dec. 16, 2010.
  • Saturday's matchup with is Stanford's first game following its annual two-week break for final exams. Since first taking a two-week break during the season for exams in 1999-2000, Stanford is 15-4 in its first game back from the hiatus.

 
SEASON SNAPSHOT »

  • The Cardinal is 12th in the country in scoring offense (85.0) and 14th in scoring margin (+23.9).
  • Stanford hasn't averaged more than 75.0 points per game since 2013-14 and has averaged 68.7 (2017-18), 68.8 (2015-16) and 69.3 (2014-15) in three of the last four years. Those are three of the five lowest scoring offenses for a Tara VanDerveer coached team at Stanford, behind 1985-86 (66.6) and 1986-87 (67.8).
  • Stanford is ninth nationally in field goal percentage (.490), 10th in rebound margin (+12.4) and 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.38). Those categories are just a few of many where the Cardinal has seen a marked improvement year-over-year. Last season, Stanford was 87th in field goal percentage (.424), 48th in rebound margin (+5.3) and 126th in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.93).
  • 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.


HOME COOKIN' »

  • Stanford is in the midst of a 14-game winning streak in Maples Pavilion, the 10th longest active stretch in the country and the program's longest since it went 28 straight from Jan. 18, 2013 until an 87-81 overtime loss to No. 10 Texas on Nov. 20, 2014. Baylor is currently fourth with an active 26-game home winning streak.

 
AGAINST RANKED »

  • Baylor will be the Cardinal's first ranked opponent of the season. Stanford is 8-1 in its last nine home games against top-5 teams.
  • The Lady Bears are the first top-5 team to visit Maples in four seasons. The last was on Nov. 17, 2014, when Stanford ended No. 1 Connecticut's 47-game winning streak with an 88-86 overtime victory.
  • The Cardinal was 4-9 against ranked teams last season and has won multiple games against top 25 opponents for each of the last 16 seasons.
  • Stanford is 75-43 (.636) against AP ranked opponents since 2007-08, fifth in the country in such wins the past 12 years and fourth in percentage.
  • Connecticut (.903), Baylor (.766), Notre Dame (.733), Stanford (.636), Tennessee (.611), Duke (.550) and Maryland (.534) are the only teams with winning records against ranked teams over that span.

 
SHARP SHOOTERS »

  • Stanford is eighth in the country, averaging 10.8 3-point makes per game and 15th in 3-point percentage, making 39.1 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 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 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.

 
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 Nov. 28.
  • 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 57.7 percent from the field (45-of-78), 48.5 percent from behind the arc (16-of-33) and averaging a team-high 18.1 points per game to go with 6.1 rebounds.
  • She is the only player in the nation shooting better than 57 percent from the floor and 48 percent from deep using NCAA minimums of five made field goals per game and two made 3-pointers per game.
  • Smith is second in the conference and 31st in the country in field goal percentage, fifth in the Pac-12 and 27th in the country in 3-point percentage, seventh in the league in scoring and leads the nation's 6-foot-4 players in 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made.
  • She is 35th in school history in scoring (1,131) and seventh in blocks (158).
  • 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 (15.3 points per game) and makes an average of 2.86 3-pointers per outing, good for fourth in the league. Her 71 made triples a year ago are the second most for a Stanford freshman in program history. Williams' 46.5 3-point percentage this season is 36th in the country.
  • 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.

 
INCREASED CONTRIBUTIONS »

  • Six-foot-3 posts Nadia Fingall and Maya Dodson have played major roles in Stanford's 6-1 start.
  • A junior, Fingall has started each game and is averaging 10.1 points and 5.3 rebounds. She's shooting 59.2 percent from the field (29-of-49) and dropped in a career-high 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting in Stanford's 88-65 win against FGCU in Hawaii on Nov. 23 to go along with another personal best five assists. Fingall averaged 3.3 points on 44.6 percent shooting and 3.1 rebounds a year ago.
  • Dodson similarly has upped her game as a sophomore and is scoring 7.9 points on 59.5 percent shooting from the floor and leads the conference in blocks per game (1.86). As a freshman, Dodson scored 3.5 points per game on 49.5 percent shooting.
  • Dodson (.595) and Fingall (.592) are third and fourth in the league in field goal percentage, just ahead of Alanna Smith (.577) according to the Pac-12's stats, which have different minimums than the NCAA.


TWIN TREES »

  • Sisters Lexie (25.7 minutes per game) and Lacie Hull (23.1 minutes per game) have played big roles in the early going and are Stanford's second and third most utilized players in terms of minutes played.
  • Lexie, who has missed the past four 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 on Nov. 24 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 of eight points, six assists and two blocks on Nov. 25 against Hawaii and scored nine points in her first career start at Gonzaga on Dec. 2.
  • Lacie is fifth in the conference, averaging 2.43 steals per game, and has 15 assists against just six turnovers (2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio). Candice Wiggins is the only Stanford player to average 2.0 steals per game in a season over the past 20 years. She did it three times: 2004-05 (2.43), 2007-08 (2.15) and 2005-06 (2.00).