Attention Turns to ArizonaAttention Turns to Arizona
Rob Ericson/Stanford Athletics
Women's Basketball

Attention Turns to Arizona

No. 7 Stanford (21-4, 11-3)
vs. Arizona (17-8, 7-7)
Friday, Feb. 22 • 7 p.m.
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
Tickets
Promotions
Live Stream • GoStanford.com
Audio •GoStanford.com
Live Statistics • GoStanford.com
Complete Release (PDF)
Facebook |Twitter| Instagram

THE GAME: No. 7 Stanford (21-4, 11-3) begins its final regular-season weekend at home when it hosts Arizona (17-8, 7-7) on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. Jordan Watkins, Joaquin Wallace and Kaylee Johnson have the call on GoStanford.com's live stream and Kevin Danna will handle the radio broadcast also on GoStanford.com.
 
THE RUNDOWN: After starting the season 17-1, Stanford is 4-3 in its last seven games ... Stanford was projected as a No. 2 seed (No. 7 overall) in the committee's first top-16 reveal on Monday night ... Tara VanDerveer won her 900th game at Stanford on Jan. 20 against WSU, becoming the fifth DI coach, women's or men's, with that many at one school ... The Cardinal is 4-2 against ranked opponents this season and one of two schools in the nation with three top-10 wins ... Alanna Smith is one of two players in the country averaging 20.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game ... She would be just the fifth player in program history to average 20.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in a season ... DiJonai Carrington is averaging 15.2 points and 8.9 rebounds in the last 17 games with six double-doubles ... Four of Kiana Williams' five 20-point games this season have come in conference ... Smith, Carrington and Williams combine for 63 percent of Stanford's scoring offense ... Stanford averaged 80.7 points on 46.5 percent shooting in its first 18 games and has dipped to 66.6 points on 40.0 percent shooting in its last seven ... Haley Jones, the nation's consensus No. 1 recruit, announced her commitment on Nov. 28, the first top player to sign with Stanford since Chiney Ogwumike in Nov. 2009.
 
VS. ARIZONA: Stanford is 68-13 all-time against Arizona, 33-3 against the Wildcats at home and has won 32 of the last 33 meetings. The Cardinal has won 16 in a row in Maples Pavilion with Arizona's last victory coming on Jan. 6, 2001 (68-65). Alanna Smith had 20 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks, DiJonai Carrington added 19 points and eight rebounds and Kiana Williams 13 points, seven assists and zero turnovers in Stanford's 78-48 in Tucson on Jan. 13. The Cardinal's defense held Aari McDonald to a season-worst 27.3 percent shooting (6-of-22).
 
NEWS AND NOTES »

  • Stanford entered conference play with a 10-1 record (.909), the first time in five years it suffered just one nonconference defeat.
  • The Cardinal's Nov. 18 home contest against Ohio State was canceled due to smoke from the devastating wildfires in Butte County that had compromised the air quality throughout the Bay Area.
  • Stanford is currently No. 7 in the AP Top 25 and No. 5 in the NCAA RPI.
  • It is also projected as a No. 2 seed (No. 7 overall) and first and second round tournament host in the NCAA women's basketball selection committee's first reveal of the top 16 overall seeds.
  • Since 2007-08, the Cardinal owns a conference home record of 99-7 and a Pac-12 road record of 89-16.
  • Stanford's 188 conference wins since 2007-08 are the most in the nation (Green Bay/UConn - 187).
  • Stanford's all-time Pac-12 record is 511-78 and 174 wins clear of the next closest team (UW - 337).
  • The Cardinal was 14-of-14 at the line in Jan. 11's 72-65 win over No. 19 Arizona State, a program record for makes without a miss from the stripe. Stanford had previously gone 13-for-13 against Seattle on Feb. 29, 2012 and Cal on Feb. 11, 2005.
  • Stanford leads the conference and is 18th in the country in blocks per game (5.2).
  • The Cardinal has won 20 games for 18 consecutive seasons.
  • Tara VanDerveer won her 900th game as head coach at Stanford on Jan. 20 against Washington State to become the fifth DI coach, women's or men's, with that many at a single school (Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim).
  • Stanford, 4-2 against ranked teams, is one of two schools in the nation with three top-10 wins (No. 3 Baylor - Dec. 15; No. 9 Tennessee - Dec. 18; No. 7 Oregon State - Feb. 8) along with Notre Dame.
  • The Cardinal is 18-0 this season when holding its opponent under 70 points and 17-0 when limiting them to less than 40.0 percent shooting.

 
TIME TO START A NEW STREAK AT HOME »

  • Stanford is 25-3 in Maples Pavilion over the past two seasons, but had its 22-game home winning streak snapped with an 88-48 loss to No. 3 Oregon on Feb. 10. The result also ended the program's 18-game Pac-12 home winning streak.
  • The Cardinal had won 29 in a row over the Ducks in Maples Pavilion. Oregon's only other win in the building came on March 5, 1987 (63-54).
  • The margin of defeat was the worst of Tara VanDerveer's career, larger than Idaho's 88-49 loss at Washington on Dec. 9, 1978, her third game as a collegiate head coach and first career loss. It was also the Stanford program's worst since a 42-point defeat at Long Beach State on Feb. 2, 1985 (98-56) and its second-biggest home loss, trailing only a 45-point rout at the hands of Long Beach State on March 10, 1983 (96-51).

 
INJURY BUG »

  • Junior Nadia Fingall, who had started each of the Cardinal's first 12 games and averaged 8.0 points and 4.9 rebounds, will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the ACL in her left knee in a game against USC on Jan. 4.
  • Senior Marta Sniezek has yet to play this year after undergoing offseason ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) surgery on her right hand/thumb. She started 32 games last season.
  • Freshman Lexie Hull returned in Stanford's Jan. 6 win over UCLA after missing the previous nine games with a left foot injury. She had started the first three games of the year.
  • Sophomore Maya Dodson returned to the lineup at Cal on Jan. 31 after missing the previous eight games with a left foot injury. She didn't suit up for Stanford's two wins in Los Angeles last weekend.

 
OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT THIS SEASON »

  • The Cardinal is 28th in the country in scoring offense (76.8) and 25th in scoring margin (+13.8).
  • 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 team at Stanford, behind 1985-86 (66.6) and 1986-87 (67.8).
  • Stanford is 30th nationally in field goal percentage (.447), 29th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.19) and 30th in fewest turnovers (329).
  • Those categories are just a couple of many where the Cardinal has seen a marked improvement year-over-year. Last season, Stanford was 87th in field goal percentage (.424), 126th in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.93) and 230th in fewest turnovers (518).

 
OFF OF LATE »

  • After starting the season 17-1, Stanford is 4-3 in its last seven games.
  • Stanford shot 46.5 percent (535-of-1150) from the floor overall and averaged 80.7 points in its first 18 games (17-1) and is making 40.0 percent (175-of-437) and averaging 66.6 points in its last seven.
  • Over the season's first 18 games, the Cardinal was making 38 percent of its 3-pointers (177-of-467) and an average of 9.8 per game. In the last seven it has seen those numbers dip to 29.1 percent (51-of-175) and 7.3 per game.
  • Stanford's split against the Oregon schools when it was last at home were its two lowest-scoring games of the season (61; 48) and its two worst shooting performances (.358; .317).

 
FROM DEEP »

  • Stanford is 17th in the country, averaging 9.1 3-point makes per game and 41st in 3-point percentage, making 35.5 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.
  • Entering the season, Stanford had made 14 3-pointers in a game 16 times in 1,389 games (1.2 percent). This year's Cardinal has done it three times against Idaho (16), San Francisco (15) and Tennessee (14).
  • The Cardinal made 31.9 percent of its attempts from behind the arc last season, the second-worst percentage in program history, and was also a program-low 42.4 percent from the floor overall.

 
DEFENSE COMING TOGETHER »

  • Stanford's scouting-report defense, typically one of the strongest in the country, got off to a bit of a slow start this season. Through the season's first 20 games, Cardinal opponents were shooting 36.8 percent from the field, 34.6 percent from behind the arc and averaging 63.7 points per game.
  • From November through January, Stanford was 55th in the nation in field goal percentage defense, 313th in 3-point field goal percentage defense and 167th in scoring defense.
  • The Cardinal has been locked in defensively in February excluding the outlier against Oregon. It held Cal, Oregon State and UCLA below 30 percent shooting, UCLA under 40 percent and all four below 20 percent from deep. The Golden Bears (50) and Beavers (44) were limited to season-low points totals and the Bruins (51) were held to their second-lowest.
  • The No. 7 Beavers came in leading the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.430) and were sixth in field goal percentage (.492). Stanford limited OSU to 44 points on 28.6 percent shooting (16-of-56) and 19.0 percent on 3-pointers (4-of-21).
  • In its four February victories, Stanford's defense has given up 53.0 points and held its opponents to 29.8 percent shooting (72-of-242) and 17.4 percent from behind the arc (12-of-69). Cal (2) and Oregon State (4) also combined for just six assists in their two games.

 
FROM DOWN UNDER »

  • Alanna Smith remains on every major watch list, including the Naismith Trophy, Wade Trophy, John R. Wooden Award, Katrina McClain Award and Senior CLASS Award.
  • A three-time Pac-12 Player of the Week this season (Dec. 17, Jan. 14, Feb. 18), the espnW and USBWA National Player of the Week from Dec. 17, and the Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week from Feb. 19, Smith is shooting 51.8 percent from the field (191-of-369), 41.7 percent from behind the arc (60-of-144) and averaging a team-high 20.3 points per game to go with 8.2 rebounds.
  • She is just 14-of-53 from behind the arc in her last eight games (.264).
  • Elena Delle Donne is the only player 6'4" and taller over the past two decades to shoot better than 40 percent from 3-point range when she made 41.3 percent as a freshman at Delaware in 2009-10 (NCAA minimum of two made 3-pointers per game).
  • Smith, who has double-doubles in eight of her last 16 games, is one of two players in the country averaging 20.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game this season (Bella Alarie - Princeton).
  • She would be just the fifth player in program history to average 20.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in a season, joining Chiney Ogwumike (2013-14 and 2012-13), Nneka Ogwumike (2011-12), Nicole Powell (2003-04) and Jeanne Ruark Hoff (1979-80 and 1978-79).
  • Smith is 15th in school history in scoring (1,511) and second in blocks (210).
  • She is within range of joining an elite company of players that have put together careers of 1,600 points, 150 made 3-pointers and 200 blocks. Since 1999-00, the only three to do that are Elena Delle Donne (3,039 points; 206 3-pointers; 273 blocks), Maya Moore (3,036 points; 311 3-pointers; 204 blocks) and Breanna Stewart (2,676 points; 152 3-pointers; 414 blocks).

 
WATCH WILLIAMS »

  • Kiana Williams is among the 10 remaining candidates for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award.
  • The sophomore is second on the team in scoring (14.4 points per game) and has had four of her five 20-point games this season in conference.
  • Of her 31 total points in the wins at UCLA and USC, 19 came in the fourth quarter.
  • Williams had her first career double-double with 21 points and 10 assists in the Jan. 6 win against UCLA. It was Stanford's first 20-point, 10-assist double-double since Jeanette Pohlen had 21 and 12 in a win over USC on Jan. 22, 2011.
  • Williams is also averaging 4.6 assists per game, which is eighth in the conference. No Stanford player has averaged 4.5 assists in a season since Jeanette Pohlen in 2010-11 (4.8) and no one has averaged 5.0 since Nicole Powell in 2001-02 (6.3).

 
CARRINGTON CLUTCH »

  • DiJonai Carrington has pulled down 10 or more rebounds in eight of the last 17 games and is averaging 15.2 points and 8.9 rebounds in those 17 with six double-doubles.
  • She is one of four Power 5 conference players in the country under 6'0" averaging 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds along with Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon), Anriel Howard (Mississippi State) and Mikayla Pivec (Oregon State).

 
RECORDS SET ON ROCKY TOP »

  • On the 30th anniversary of the first meeting in their storied rivalry, Stanford went on the road and beat then-No. 9 Tennessee in Knoxville, 95-85, on Dec. 18.
  • In the first top-10 matchup between the schools since 2013, the Cardinal collected its third win against the Lady Vols in Thompson-Boling Arena. Its previous road victories in Knoxville came on Dec. 22, 2012 (73-60) and Dec. 15, 1996 (82-65).
  • Stanford shot 14-of-24 (.583) from 3-point range, an opponent record for Thompson-Boling Arena and a record-tying number of makes from deep against the Lady Vols all-time.
  • The Cardinal's 95 points were the most against Tennessee in Knoxville in 13 seasons and just two shy of the opponent record in Thompson-Boling Arena. Texas beat the Lady Vols 97-78 on Dec. 9, 1987.
  • Stanford shot 55 percent overall (33-of-60) to score its 95 points, a program record for scoring on the road against a top-10 team.
  • DiJonai Carrington led five Cardinal in double figures with a career-high 33 points and 13-rebounds for her third career double-double. Carrington was 11-of-15 (.733) from the floor and 4-of-5 (.800) from deep and became just the second player in the last 20 years to have 33 points, 13 rebounds and four made 3-pointers against a ranked opponent. Missouri's Evan Unrau had 40/15/4 against No. 8 Kansas State on Feb. 22, 2014, a game that went into double-overtime.

 
RESUME BUILDERS »

  • Coupled with a Dec. 15 68-63 home victory over then-No. 3 Baylor, Stanford beat a pair of top-10 teams in the span of four days, something it last did eight years ago when it beat No. 4 Xavier, 89-52, on Dec. 28, 2010 and No. 1 UConn, 71-59, on Dec. 30, 2010 to end the Huskies' then-record 90-game winning streak. Both of those victories were at home.
  • The win against the Lady Bears was the Cardinal's first in the regular season against a top-five team since it ended No. 1 UConn's 47-game winning streak in overtime, 88-86, on Nov. 17, 2014.
  • Stanford is 9-2 in its last 11 home games against top-five opponents. Its only such losses since 2007-08 were to No. 2 Connecticut, 61-35, on Dec. 29, 2012 and No. 3 Oregon, 88-48, on Feb. 10, 2019.
  • Baylor, which entered the game leading the nation in field goal percentage (.557), shot just 34.9 percent (22-of-63) against the Cardinal, its lowest since losing 88-69 to Notre Dame in the Elite Eight on March 31, 2014 (.338).
  • Kalani Brown (16.4 ppg) and Lauren Cox (12.3 ppg), who came in averaging nearly 30 combined points per game, together went for just seven points on just 3-of-11 shooting (.273). Brown came into the day leading the NCAA's active players in field goal percentage (.648) made only two of her seven attempts from the floor, the third-lowest percentage of her career when attempting at least five shots.

 
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.
  • Belibi, Jones and Prechtel are on the West Team for the 2019 McDonald's All American Game on March 27. Of Stanford's 24 McDonald's All-Americans all-time, nine will be on the team together next season.