STANFORD, Calif. – Tess Heal, the 2023 West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year at Santa Clara, has transferred to Stanford for the 2024-25 season and will have two years of eligibility remaining, Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketball Kate Paye announced Monday.
"I couldn't be more excited that Tess will be joining us on The Farm," Paye said. "She is a perfect fit for our program culture and this university. She's a dynamic guard and a phenomenal student, intensely competitive, and gives maximum effort in all that she does. Her production during her first two collegiate seasons speaks for itself and I can't wait to see the impact she makes on our team."
"I want to excel both on the court and in the classroom," Heal said of her decision to make the 20-mile move north. "For that, there is no better place than Stanford."
A two-time All-WCC first team selection, Heal has career averages of 18.6 points on 47.2 percent shooting, 4.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 32.2 minutes per game. Heal, along with Iowa's Caitlin Clark and Wofford's Rachael Rose, are the only three players in the country to shoot at least 45.0 percent and average 18 points, four rebounds and four assists over the past two seasons.
Heal was 29th nationally in scoring as a sophomore, averaging 19.5 points per game, and scored a career-high 40 at Pacific on March 2. The 5-foot-10 guard was also eighth nationally in free throws attempted, getting to the line 219 times, and made the fourth most in the country (191), converting 87.2 percent. Just three DI players made more free throws than Heal (JuJu Watkins – USC – 241; Caitlin Clark – Iowa – 227; Angel Reese – LSU – 193). Only one guard in Stanford history has attempted more than 200 free throws in a season (Candice Wiggins – 224 – 2007-08) and the school record for free throws made is Nneka Ogwumike's 191 in 2011-12.
Heal won WCC Freshman of the Week honors a record 12 times in 2022-23 after averaging 17.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. The Melbourne, Australia native was one of two freshmen in the country to average 17/4/4 that season (Ny'Ceara Pryor – Sacred Heart).
Heal is the second undergraduate transfer in Stanford women's basketball history. A Marin Catholic product, Brooke Smith played her freshman season at Duke in 2002-03 before transferring to Stanford. She averaged 14.8 points and 6.9 rebounds in her three seasons with the Cardinal and was an honorable mention All-American in both 2005-06 and 2006-07.