Stanford Visits Las VegasStanford Visits Las Vegas
Mike Rasay/isiphotos.com
Women's Basketball

Stanford Visits Las Vegas

No. 7 Stanford (25-4, 15-3)
vs. Cal (18-11, 9-9) or Washington State (9-20, 4-14)
Friday, March 8 • 6 p.m.
MGM Grand Garden Arena • Las Vegas, Nev.
Television • Pac-12 Networks
Audio •GoStanford.com
Live Statistics • Pac-12.com
Tournament Central
Complete Release (PDF)
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THE GAME: No. 7 Stanford (25-4, 15-3), the No. 2 seed in Las Vegas, goes for the program's 13th Pac-12 Tournament title when it begins the event in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 8 against either No. 7 seed Cal (18-11, 9-9) or No. 10 seed Washington State (9-20, 4-14) at 6 p.m.
 
THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is 42-5 all-time at the Pac-12 Tournament and has won 12 of the 17 titles ... The Cardinal is 19-1 at the event when it scores 70 points and 42-0 when it holds its opponent under 70 ... No. 4 in the RPI, Stanford was projected as a No. 2 seed (No. 7 overall) in the committee's most recent top-16 reveal ... 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 was one of only two players in the country to average 20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in conference ... She is trying to become just the fifth player in program history to average 20.0 points and 8.0 rebounds for an entire season ... DiJonai Carrington is one of four Power 5 conference players in the country under 6'0" averaging 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds ... Four of Kiana Williams' five 20-point games this season came 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.
 
PAC-12 TOURNAMENT NOTES »

  • The Cardinal is 42-5 all-time at the Pac-12 Tournament. It has won 12 of the 17 titles (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017), is 15-1 all-time in the quarterfinals, 15-1 in the semifinals and 12-3 in the finals.
  • Against its potential quarterfinal foes, the Cardinal is 7-0 when playing Cal at the event with wins in the quarterfinals on March 8, 2003 (60-35), the quarterfinals on March 6, 2004 (80-55), the quarterfinals on March 5, 2005 (81-40), the final on March 10, 2008 (56-35), the semifinals on March 13, 2010 (64-44), the final on March 12, 2012 (77-62) and the final on March 8, 2015 (61-60).
  • Stanford is a perfect 2-0 against Washington State at the Pac-12 Tournament, beating the Cougars in the quarterfinals on March 8, 2013 (79-60) and the quarterfinals on March 3, 2017 (66-36).
  • It's 7-0 against Arizona, 5-1 against Arizona State, 2-0 against Colorado, 1-1 against Oregon, 3-0 against Oregon State, 9-1 against UCLA, 5-1 against USC and 1-1 against Washington. Stanford has never played Utah at the league tournament.
  • The No. 2 seed is 22-16 all-time at the Pac-12 Tournament. It's 9-2 against the No. 7 seed and 3-1 against the No. 10 seed. The Cardinal is 2-0 against the No. 7 seed and has never played a No. 10.
  • Stanford was the No. 1 seed every year from 2002-14. It won the tournament as the No. 3 seed in 2015, lost in the quarterfinals for the first time as the No. 4 seed in 2016, won it all in 2017 from the same No. 2 position it is this year and fell in the championship last season also as the No. 2 seed.

 
HOW WE GOT HERE »

  • 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 second reveal of the top 16 overall seeds.
  • The Cardinal, which finished second in the league standings, has not won a Pac-12 regular-season title since 2014, the first drought of more than two years in program history.
  • Stanford won 20+ games for the 18th straight season and 30th overall and had double-digit Pac-12 victories for the 32nd consecutive year.
  • 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).
  • The Cardinal is 22-0 this season when holding its opponent under 70 points and 20-0 when limiting them to less than 40.0 percent shooting.

 
SETTING THE STAGE »

  • Stanford is 196-49 (.800) in games away from Maples Pavilion the last 12 years (road/neutral), one of only three schools to have more than 190 road and neutral wins along with Connecticut (231) and Notre Dame (196). The Cardinal is 12-3 this season in road and neutral games.
  • Since the Pac-12 started its postseason event in 2002, Stanford's 42 conference tournament wins are third in the country behind Connecticut and Green Bay, which are both 43-4.
  • Stanford is 29-2 in the Pac-12 Tournament when it shoots better than 40 percent and 37-1 when holding its opponent under 40 percent.
  • The Cardinal is 19-1 when it scores at least 70 points in Pac-12 Tournament games and is a perfect 42-0 when holding its opponent under 70.
  • In the Cardinal's 47 Pac-12 Tournament games, it averages 68.3 points on 42.6 percent shooting and gives up 54.3 points on 34.0 percent shooting.

 
POSTSEASON AWARDS »

  • DiJonai Carrington, Alanna Smith and Kiana Williams were voted to the 15-person All-Pac-12 squad, Smith was also named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team, Lacie Hull earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team and Pac-12 All-Defensive honorable mention accolades and Lexie Hull received a Pac-12 All-Freshman honorable mention nod.
  • Stanford now has 75 All-Pac-12 honorees in program history and 163 all-time Pac-12 awardees including honorable mention, freshman and defensive teams, the top totals in league history.
  • On Monday, Smith was also selected as the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She is Stanford's fifth women's basketball awardee, joining Brittany McPhee (2017-18), Chiney Ogwumike (2013-14), Kayla Pedersen (2010-11) and Jayne Appel (2009-10).

 
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, has been back on the court for the last four games and started the past two.

 
AGAINST RANKED »

  • 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 has won multiple games against top 25 opponents for each of the last 17 seasons.
  • From 2000 to 2012, Stanford played 27 conference and conference tournament games against ranked opponents and went 21-6. In just the last seven seasons, the Cardinal has played a ranked Pac-12 team 42 times in conference and conference tournament games, going 27-15.

 
OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT THIS SEASON »

  • The Cardinal is 31st in the country in scoring offense (75.3) and 21st in scoring margin (+14.2).
  • 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 28th nationally in field goal percentage (.448), 36th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.16) and 45th in fewest turnovers (385).
  • 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 a 71-50 win over No. 17 Arizona State on Feb. 24.
  • 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 is the third-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 and No. 17 Syracuse shot 62.1 percent (36-of-58) in a 94-88 win over No. 22 Florida State on Feb. 28.

 
TRENDS AND PATTERNS »

  • After starting the season 17-1, Stanford went 2-3 over its next five games before finishing the regular season with six 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 41.8 percent (275-of-658) and averaging 66.5 points in its last 11.
  • 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 11 it has seen those numbers dip to 29.8 percent (82-of-275) and 7.5 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 18th in the country, averaging 8.9 3-point makes per game and 52nd in 3-point percentage, making 34.9 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.
  • 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 since the start of February excluding the outlier against Oregon. In its eight victories since Feb. 1, Stanford's defense has given up 51.4 points and held its opponents to 31.7 percent shooting (146-of-4061) and 25.4 percent from behind the arc (36-of-142).
  • Cal (50) and Oregon State (44) were limited to season-low points totals and UCLA (51), Arizona State (50) and Washington State (42) 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).
  • Stanford leads the conference and is 20th in the country in blocks per game (5.1).

 
FROM DOWN UNDER »

  • Alanna Smith is 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 51.7 percent from the field (215-of-416), 39.9 percent from behind the arc (65-of-163) and averaging a team-high 19.7 points per game to go with 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks
  • She is just 19-of-72 from behind the arc in her last 12 games (.264) after making 50.5 percent in her first 17 (46-of-91). She has played the last five games with tape on her shooting hand after breaking the tip of her right ring finger on the first play of the game at USC on Feb. 17.
  • 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 averaged 20.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 18 Pac-12 games this season, was one of two players in the country to average 20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in conference (Bella Alarie - Princeton). She is also one of two nationally averaging 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game overall (Alarie).
  • 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 (1,576) and second in blocks (218).
  • This season she is 27th in the country in scoring (19.7) and 20th in blocks per game (2.45), the only player in the NCAA in the top 30 in both categories (Alarie has only played in 18 of Princeton's 27 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 24 points and 11 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 has slid over from her natural position of shooting guard to run point this season due to injury and hasn't skipped a beat.
  • She is among the 10 remaining candidates for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, is second on the team in scoring (14.0 points per game) and had four of her five 20-point games this season in conference.
  • Williams is averaging 4.7 assists per game, which is ninth in the conference. No Stanford player has averaged 4.5 assists in a season since Pohlen in 2010-11 (4.8).
  • Williams, whose 71 3-pointers last season where the second-most for a freshman in Stanford history, has made another 70 this year and is 10 away from entering the program's single-season top 10.
  • She was named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team as a freshman last season after averaging 17.7 points on 70.4 percent shooting (19-of-27), including 72.2 percent from deep (13-of-18) in Seattle.
  • Williams tied Oregon State's Sydney Wiese (2016) for the second-most 3-point makes in tournament history (13) and scored 24 on 6-of-7 shooting from behind the arc in Stanford's semifinal win over Arizona State. The career-high six 3-pointers are tied for the third most in a single game in Pac-12 Tournament history.

 
CARRINGTON CLUTCH »

  • DiJonai Carrington was awarded Pac-12 honors for the first time this season after averaging career highs in points (13.7) and rebounds (7.6) and increasing her shooting percentages across the board.
  • The junior has scored 20+ points three times and in double figures in 23 of Stanford's 29 games.
  • She's pulled down 10 or more rebounds in eight games, put up six double-doubles and 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 St.) and Mikayla Pivec (Oregon State).
  • In the Cardinal's second of three top-10 wins this season, Carrington had a career-high 33 points and 13-rebounds in a 95-85 victory at No. 9 Tennessee on Dec. 18. She 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.

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.

 
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, Baylor's only loss this season, 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.
  • 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).

 
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.