2019-20 Season in Review2019-20 Season in Review
Women's Basketball

2019-20 Season in Review

Stanford (27-6, 14-4 Pac-12)
Overall Stats
Pac-12 Stats
NCAA Statistical Rankings

SUCCESSFUL SEASON• Stanford finished the season with an overall record of 27-6, tied for second in the Pac-12 Conference (14-4) and advanced to the league's tournament championship game.
• The Cardinal was projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament prior to its cancellation due to COVID-19 global pandemic, ending the year ranked No. 7 in the nation.
• Stanford won at least 20 games for the 19th straight season, the third longest active streak in the country.

PAC-12 TOURNAMENT• The Cardinal advanced to its 17th Pac-12 Tournament championship in 19 tries after earning the No. 3 seed.
• Stanford had to defeat two top-15 opponents to get to Sunday's game, taking down No. 14 and six-seed Oregon State, 68-57, before exacting revenge from a regular season loss to No. 8 and two-seed UCLA, 67-51. 
• Both Kiana Williams and Lexie Hull were named to the All-Tournament Team. Williams averaged nearly 19 points per game over the weekend in Vegas with 10 of her 19 makes coming from 3-point land, while Hull buried the Bruins with 28 points in the semifinals. 
• The Cardinal ended its season playing seven straight ranked opponents, a program record.

THIS AND THAT• Stanford's 11-1 (.916) record in non-conference play was the second season in a row the Cardinal lost just one game prior to Pac-12 competition. 
• For the first time in seven years, the Cardinal ascended atop the polls as the top team in the nation, spending three weeks at No. 1 in December. 
• Stanford won eight games against top-25 competition, its most since the 2016-17 season, playing in the nation's hardest conference.
• The Cardinal tied a program record, playing three overtime games during the season, going 2-1 in those games. 
• Finished the season ninth in the country in 3-pointers made (281), 11th in total rebounds (1,346), 18th in blocks (160), 21st in field goal percentage defense (.357) and 28th in field goal percentage (.445).
• Stanford became the fifth program in women's college basketball history with 1,100 wins following a victory over Ohio State.

ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS• Lexie Hull and Kiana Williams were named to the 15-player All-Pac-12 squad, while Hull also earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team, voted by the coaches. Williams, Nadia Fingall and Lacie Hull were honorable mentions for the All-Defensive Team, while Francesca Belibi and Ashten Prechtel were both named All-Freshman Team honorable mentions.
• Prechtel was named the conference's Sixth Player of the Year by the media. 
• Stanford has 81 All-Pac-12 honorees in program history and 168 all-time Pac-12 awardees including honorable mention, freshman and defensive teams, the top totals in league history.
• Stanford led the conference with nine selections to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll (freshmen not eligible, minimum 3.30 cumulative GPA).

FIGHTING THROUGH ADVERSITY• Freshman Haley Jones was off to an impressive start as a freshman, making 13 starts in the season's first 18 games, while earning three Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors, before suffering an injury at Oregon State. She would miss the rest of the season. 
• Senior DiJonai Carrington played the first five games of the season before being sidelined with aggravated knee issues.
• Junior Maya Dodson made her first appearance of the year on Feb. 14, at Utah, after missing the first 24 games of the season recovering from a foot injury.
• Senior Mikaela Brewer played for the first time all season on Jan. 26, against Utah, also battling a foot injury for a large part of the year. 

STELLAR SENIOR SEASON• Bouncing back from an ACL tear midway through her junior season, Nadia Fingall returned for an impressive final year with the Cardinal.
• Starting 31 of the season's 33 games, Fingall produced season-high totals in every statistical category: points (221), rebounds (187), made field goals (87), made 3-pointers (24), assists (37), blocks (36), and steals (33).
• Fingall was named the MVP of the Greater Victoria Invitational, posting a 10 point, 13 rebound double-double in Stanford's win over No. 18 Syracuse.
• Expanding her range, Fingall made at least two 3-pointers in eight different games after ony doing so three times in her previous three seasons combined. 

LIGHTS OUT• A key to the team's success was its prolific 3-point shooting, including the most 3-pointers ever made in conference play (162).
• The Cardinal boasted three players (Kiana Williams, Lexie Hull, Hannah Jump) with at least 40 made 3-pointers for the first time since 2014-15.
• Stanford hit a combined 29 3-pointers on its mountain road trip to Utah and Colorado, its most in back-to-back conference games in program history.
• Including the previous game against USC, Stanford hit at least 11 3-pointers in three straight conference games for the first time ever.
• Stanford's 15 3-pointers vs. Utah was its most against a conference opponent since 2014. 

OFFENSE TO START• Stanford opened the year with three straight games scoring over 90 points for the first time in program history, including wins over Eastern Washington (92-27), San Francisco (97-71) and Northern Colorado (90-36).
• It was the first time Stanford had scored 90+ in three straight games since conference victories over Oregon State, Oregon and Washington State in 2002.
• Stanford's 65-point win over Eastern Washington was its biggest since 2009 and third largest in program history.
• Eastern Washington's 27 points scored were the fifth fewest for a Stanford opponent all-time and lowest since 2004. 

KI TO THE SEASON• Named honorable mention All-America by the Associated Press, USBWA and WBCA, Kiana Williams was the heart and soul of the Cardinal during the 2019-20 season. 
• Williams led the team in points, assists, minutes played and made 3-pointers.
• She joined the 1,000-point club in a win over No. 23 Tennessee, finishing the season with 1,372 career points, ranking 25th in program history.
• Her 229 career 3-pointers now ranks fifth in program history and are the fifth most among Power 5 conference players over the last three seasons.
• The highlight play of the season for both Williams and the team was undoubtedly the final seconds on the road at Colorado, as Williams went off a career-high 29 points, including the game-tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining, followed by a steal and game-winning 40-foot buzzer beater as the Cardinal won, 69-66.
• That final sequence was SportCenter's top play of the weekend and Williams became just one of 12 in program history to hit at least seven 3-pointers in a game. 
• Williams was the first player since Bonnie Samuelson in 2014-15 to combine for at least 11 made 3-pointers in back-to-back games (at Utah, at Colorado).

A HULL OF A PLAYER• Lexie Hull played and started in all 33 games as a sophomore after missing nine games with injury as a freshman. 
• She led the team in rebounding and steals, ranking second in points and assists.
• Hull finished the season with 22 double-digit scoring efforst, including a career-best 29-point performance against Colorado at home.
• She became one of nine players in program history to shoot a perfect percentage from the free throw line with at least 10 attempts, going 10-for-10 at Texas.
• Also one of nine players in program history with at least seven steals in a game, swiping seven against Ohio State. 
• Both Hull and Kiana Williams were named CoSIDA Academic All-District for their performances on the court and in the classroom. 

FUNKY FOUR• Arguably Stanford's most talented freshman class, all four rookies had noteworthy moments throughout the season for the Cardinal. 
• Francesca Belibi became the second-ever freshman in program history to post a double-double in their collegiate debut, scoring 12 points with 15 rebounds against Eastern Washington.
• Belibi shot 9-of-10 from the floor at No. 24 Arizona State, one of 12 in program history to shoot at least 90 percent from the floor with a minimum of 10 attempts. 
• Belibi's shooting percentage of 58.2 percent ranks fourth in Stanford freshman history. 
• Ashten Prechtel totaled four double-doubles on the year, including in back-to-back games at Washington State and vs. No. 10 UCLA.
• Prechtel hit the game-tying layup with 1.6 seconds remaining at home against Colorado, forcing overtime in a game Stanford would eventually win. 
• Haley Jones was the first Stanford freshman since Nicole Powell in 2001 to score in double figures in their first four conference games. 
• Jones became the first Stanford freshman since Chiney Ogwumike in 2011 to record a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds against UC Davis. 
• Hannah Jump, who went 8-for-13 from 3-point land against No. 18 Syracuse, became one of only five players in program history to hit that many in a single game and the first since 2015. 
• Jump finished her freshman season sixth in Stanford freshman history with 43 made 3-pointers.

ON THE PRECIPICE• Tara VanDerveer enters next season on the verge of becoming the all-time winningest coach in women's college basketball history, just five wins away from passing Pat Summitt's all-time mark of 1,098.
• VanDerveer became the first coach in D1 women's college basketball to earn 500 victories in a single conference following a home win against California in January. 

SUCCESS AGAINST FORMER CARDINAL• Tara VanDerveer improved to 50-5 all-time against her former assistants and 49-9 against her former players after defeating California twice, and Arizona State once this season. The Golden Bears are coached by former Stanford player and assistant, Charmin Smith, while the Sun Devils are coached by former Stanford player Charli Turner-Thorne. 
• Coaching against Smith was the first time VanDerveer had faced both an opposing player and assistant coach. 

TENNESSEE TROUNCED• Stanford's 78-51 victory over No. 23 Tennessee was its biggest in program history against the Lady Vols.
• The 51 points allowed is also the fewest Tennessee has ever scored against Stanford in the storied series between the two schools. 

MORE TALENT COMING• For the fifth season in a row, Stanford locked in a top-10 recruiting class, signing two five-star prospects Cameron Brink (Beaverton, Ore./Mountainside) and Jana Van Gytenbeek (Greenwood Village, Colo./Cherry Creek), as well as international talent Agnes Emma-Nnopu (Victoria, Australia/Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence).
• Brink is Stanford's second top-three talent in as many years, following Haley Jones signing with the Cardinal as the No. 1 recruit in the country last year. She was named Stanford's 25th McDonald's All-American.
• The Cardinal will feature eight former McDonald's All-Americans on its team next seson.

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  • Kiana Williams »
    • WBCA All-America Honorable Mention
    • Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention
    • USBWA All-America Honorable Mention
    • WBCA All-Region
    • All-Pac-12 (Coaches and Media)
    • Pac-12 All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention
    • Pac-12 All-Tournament Team
    • Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Finalist
    • CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team
    • Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll
  • Lexie Hull »
    • All-Pac-12 (Coaches and Media)
    • Pac-12 All-Defensive Team (Coaches)
    • CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team
    • Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll

  • Haley Jones »

    • Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (Jan. 13)
    • Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (Dec. 16)
    • Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (Dec. 2)
    • Greater Victoria Invitational All-Tournament Team
  • Nadia Fingall »
    • Pac-12 All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention (Coaches)
    • Greater Victoria Invitational MVP
  • Lacie Hull »
    • Pac-12 All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention (Coaches)
    • Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll
  • Ashten Prechtel »
    • Pac-12 Sixth Player of the Year (Media)
    • Pac-12 All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention (Coaches)
  • Francesca Belibi »
    • Pac-12 All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention (Coaches)

  • Mikaela Brewer »

    • Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll
  • Jenna Brown »
    • Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll
  • DiJonai Carrington »
    • Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll
  • Maya Dodson »
    • Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll
  • Alyssa Jerome »
    • Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll
  • Estella Moschkau »
    • Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll