Lexie_Hull_GS_021019_037Lexie_Hull_GS_021019_037
Grant Shorin/Stanford Athletics
Women's Basketball

Final Pac-12 Trip

No. 7 Stanford (23-4, 13-3)
at Washington State (9-18, 4-12)
Friday, March 1 • 7 p.m.
Beasley Coliseum • Pullman, Wash.
Television • Pac-12 Networks
Audio •GoStanford.com
Live Statistics • WSUCougars.com
Complete Release (PDF)
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THE GAME: No. 7 Stanford (23-4, 13-3) begins its final regular-season road trip at Washington State (9-18, 4-12) on Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m. Elise Woodward and Joan Bonvicini have the call on Pac-12 Networks and Tim Swartz will handle the radio broadcast on GoStanford.com.
 
THE RUNDOWN: The Cardinal shot 61.9 percent in beating No. 17 Arizona State 71-50 on Sunday, the second-highest field goal percentage in the country this season against a ranked team ... No. 4 in the RPI, Stanford was projected as a No. 2 seed (No. 7 overall) in the committee's first top-16 reveal ... The Cardinal is 20-0 this season when holding its opponent under 70 points ... Tara VanDerveer won her 900th game at Stanford on Jan. 20 against Washington State, becoming the fifth DI coach, women's or men's, with that many at one school ... The Cardinal is 5-2 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 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 14.8 points and 8.7 rebounds in the last 19 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 ... 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. WASHINGTON STATE: Stanford is 64-0 all-time against Washington State and 29-0 against the Cougars in Pullman. Twenty of the last 21 wins have come by double-digits. In the last meeting at Stanford on Jan. 20, Alanna Smith had a career-high 34 points and 15 rebounds in 31 minutes and the Cardinal won 85-64 for Tara VanDerveer's 900th victory as head coach at Stanford. Last season's date at Beasley Coliseum, scheduled for Feb. 25, 2018, was canceled due to the sudden passing of the Cougars' strength coach, Dave Lang.
 
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. 4 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 Pac-12 home record of 101-7 and road record of 89-16.
  • 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, 5-2 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 20-0 this season when holding its opponent under 70 points and 18-0 when limiting them to less than 40.0 percent shooting.

 
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 on Feb. 15 and 17, but was back on the court in last weekend's victories over Arizona and No. 17 Arizona State.

 
OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT THIS SEASON »

  • The Cardinal is 33rd in the country in scoring offense (75.8) and 26th in scoring margin (+13.6).
  • 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 29th nationally in field goal percentage (.449), 36th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.16) and 47th in fewest turnovers (361).
  • 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).

 
BACK ON TRACK »

  • Following an offensive lull over through late January and much of February, Stanford got back on track with a blistering performance in Sunday's 71-50 win over No. 17 Arizona State.
  • The Cardinal shot 61.9 percent (26-of-42) from the floor, the program's best field goal percentage against a ranked opponent in 20 seasons (readily available records since 1999-00).
  • Stanford's previous high over the last two decades was the 61.7 percent (29-of-47) it shot in an 86-69 win over No. 16 Purdue on Nov. 26, 2013.
  • The Cardinal was 11-of-12 (.917) from two-point range in the second half.
  • It was the second-highest field goal percentage in the country this season against a ranked team. No. 22 Iowa shot 63.0 percent (34-of-54) in an 81-63 win over No. 23 Minnesota on Jan. 14.

 
TRENDS AND PATTERNS »

  • After starting the season 17-1, Stanford went 2-3 over its next five games before reeling off four straight victories.
  • Stanford shot 46.5 percent (535-of-1150) from the floor overall and averaged 80.7 points in its first 18 and is making 41.4 percent (222-of-536) and averaging 65.9 points in its last nine.
  • 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 nine it has seen those numbers dip to 29.8 percent (67-of-225) and 7.4 per game.
  • Stanford's last three home games before it's thumping of ASU were its three lowest-scoring games of the season as well as its three worst shooting performances. The Cardinal scored 61 points on 35.8 percent shooting in a 61-44 win over No. 7 Oregon State on Feb. 8, 48 points on 31.7 percent shooting in an 88-48 loss to No. 3 Oregon on Feb. 10 and 56 points on 36.8 percent shooting in a 56-54 win over Arizona on Feb. 22.

 
FROM DEEP »

  • Stanford is 15th in the country, averaging 9.0 3-point makes per game and th in 3-point percentage, making 35.3 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, USC 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 six February victories, Stanford's defense has given up 52.7 points and held its opponents to 31.4 percent shooting (109-of-347) and 23.3 percent from behind the arc (24-of-103). 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 52.1 percent from the field (203-of-390), 41.3 percent from behind the arc (64-of-155) and averaging a team-high 20.1 points per game to go with 8.1 rebounds.
  • She is just 18-of-64 from behind the arc in her last 10 games (.281) after making 50.5 percent in her first 17 (46-of-91).
  • 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 is one of two players in the country averaging 20.0 points, 8.0 rebounds 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 13th in school history in scoring (1,546) and second in blocks (214).
  • This season she is 21st in the country in scoring (20.1) and 18th in blocks per game (2.48), the only player in the NCAA in the top 25 in both categories (Alarie has only played in 15 of Princeton's 24 games, short of the NCAA statistical minimum of appearing in 75 percent).
  • 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).
  • Smith needs 54 points and 12 3-pointers to put her name in that group.
  • She is one of six players to have 60+ 3-pointers and 60+ blocks in a single season across all of NCAA women's basketball since 1999-00. FGCU's Whitney Knight did it three times (2013-14; 2014-15; 2015-16) and UTSA's Alysse Davis (2010-11), Quinnipiac's Samantha Guastella (2014-15), Missouri's Amanda Lassiter (2000-01) and Delaware's Elena Delle Donne (2009-10) each did it once.
  • When Smith reaches 70 made 3-pointers and 70 blocks this season she'll join Knight as the only players to do that in the last 20 years. Knight had 83 3-pointers and 99 blocks in 2015-16, 91 3-pointers and 87 blocks in 2014-15 and 85 3-pointers and 93 blocks in 2013-14.

 
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 (14.1 points per game) and has had four of her five 20-point games this season in conference.
  • 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 4.7 assists per game, which is seventh in the conference. No Stanford player has averaged 4.5 assists in a season since Jeanette Pohlen in 2010-11 (4.8).

 
CARRINGTON CLUTCH »

  • DiJonai Carrington has pulled down 10 or more rebounds in eight of the last 19 games and is averaging 14.8 points and 8.7 rebounds in those 19 with six double-doubles.
  • She is one of four Power 5 conference players under 6'0" averaging 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds along with Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon), Anriel Howard (Mississippi St.) and Mikayla Pivec (Oregon St.).

 
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.