THE GAME: Coming off its first loss of the season, Stanford begins a three-game homestand when it hosts Morgan State on Friday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. Jenna Becerra and Mary Murphy have the call on ACCNX, while Tim Swartz will handle the radio broadcast on GoStanford.com, the Stanford Athletics app and Learfield’s Varsity Network.
THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is second in the nation in 3-point percentage (52-of-109; .477) and is eighth in 3-pointers per game (10.4) ... One game after hitting a school-record 18 3-pointers against Le Moyne, the Cardinal went 14-of-20 (.700) in a win over Washington State and knocked down another 13 against Gonzaga on Nov. 10 ... Ten different players have hit a 3-pointer, and there are six who have made at least four ... Jzaniya Harriel is fourth in the country in 3-point percentage (.619; 13-of-21) ... Stanford also has 78 assists against just 46 turnovers this season ... The Cardinal is eighth in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.70) and is fourth nationally in fewest turnovers per game, averaging just 9.2 ... Nunu Agara is one of seven Power 4 conference players in the country averaging 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 block ... When Stanford was ranked on Nov. 11, Kate Paye became the 16th person to both play on and be a head coach for an AP-ranked team at the same school (H/T Mel Greenberg) ... Heading into 2024-25, Stanford was looking to replace 59.8 percent of its scoring, 54.4 percent of its rebounding and 42.8 percent of its minutes played ... The Cardinal was picked seventh in the ACC preseason poll and was outside the preseason AP Top 25 for the first time since 1999-2000.
VS. MORGAN STATE: Friday will be the third-ever meeting between Stanford and Morgan State. The Cardinal opened its 2021-22 campaign with a 91-36 home victory over the Lady Bears. Last season, Stanford beat Morgan State on New Year’s Eve, 98-38, behind 14 points from Elena Bosgana and Nunu Agara, and 13 from Jzaniya Harriel. Stanford is 4-0 all-time against teams from the MEAC. In addition to its previous wins over Morgan State, the Cardinal beat Howard in the first round of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, 111-59, and Norfolk State in the first round last March, 79-50.
TREE-POINT BARRAGE »
- Stanford was incredible from 3-point range over the first three games of the season. One game after hitting a school-record 18 3-pointers against Le Moyne, the Cardinal went 14-of-20 (.700) in a win over Washington State and knocked down another 13 against Gonzaga on Nov. 10.
- Stanford has combined to shoot 47.7 percent from deep (52-of-109) in its first five games. Ten different players have hit a 3-pointer, and there are six who have made at least four.
- The Cardinal is second in the nation in 3-point percentage and is eighth in 3-pointers per game (10.4). That is all despite going only 7-of-31 (.226) across its last two games against UC Davis and Indiana.
- Stanford’s 52 3-pointers in its first five games are the program’s most since 2018-19 (55).
- Individually, Jzaniya Harriel is fourth in the country in 3-point percentage (.619; 13-of-21), averaging 2.6 makes per game. Last season, she was 32-of-81 from deep (.395) in 34 games.
- Chloe Clardy is two 3-pointers away from qualifying in the national rankings (min. two made per game). She’s 8-of-14 (.571) already this season, just one year after going 2-of-20 (.100) during her debut season.
- Against Washington State and in available records dating to 2002-03, Stanford’s 3-point percentage (.700) was its best when attempting at least 20, eclipsing a 13-of-20 (.650) effort at Washington State on Jan. 2, 2004. The Cardinal became the 15th DI team to hit at least 70.0 percent on 20+ attempts over the last 23 seasons, and first since South Dakota went 19-of-27 (.704) in a win over Midland Lutheran on Nov. 7, 2022. A team hadn’t done it against a DI opponent since Valparaiso at Southern Illinois on Feb. 27, 2021. Valpo was 15-of-20 (.750).
SHARE IT, TAKE CARE OF IT »
- The Cardinal also has 78 assists against just 46 turnovers this season. It is eighth in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.70) and is fourth nationally in fewest turnovers per game, averaging just 9.2. That is despite 18 assists and 26 turnovers in its last two games against UC Davis and Indiana.
- Stanford has six players averaging at least 8.0 points per game, and four averaging 5.0 points and shooting at least 50.0 percent on 3-pointers (Clardy, Harriel, Heal, Stevenson), which is second in the country to Long Beach State’s five.
AP POLL »
- One week after reappearing in the Associated Press Top 25 at No. 24, Stanford fell out of Monday’s rankings following its loss at Indiana.
- When Stanford was ranked on Nov. 11, Kate Paye became the 16th person to both play on and be a head coach for an AP-ranked team at the same school (H/T Mel Greenberg).
- The other 15, in alphabetical order: Adia Barnes (Arizona), Amanda Butler (Florida), Pokey Chatman (LSU), Cynthia Cooper-Dyke (USC), Kellie Harper (Tennessee), Michelle Clark-Heard (Western Kentucky), Niele Ivey (Notre Dame), Carolyn Kieger (Marquette), Linda Lappe (Colorado), Wendy Larry (Old Dominion), Cheryl Miller (USC), Carol Ross (Ole Miss), Bev Smith (Oregon), Holly Warlick (Tennessee) and Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota).
- The Cardinal was picked seventh in the ACC preseason poll and was outside the preseason AP Top 25 for the first time since 1999-2000. Since appearing in its first rankings on Nov. 23, 1987, Stanford had appeared in the preseason Top 25 each season except one (1999-00).
- Prior to this year’s preseason poll released on Oct. 15, Stanford had been ranked in 123 consecutive AP polls since Jan. 29, 2018, which was the third-longest active streak in the country.
- The Cardinal is the second-most ranked team of all-time and has appeared in 646 of 867 all-time AP polls over 49 seasons (Tennessee - 778).
FIRST CLASS »
- On Nov. 13, Kate Paye announced her first signing class as head coach and it’s a good one.
- The Cardinal’s five-person class includes three five-star talents and two four-stars according to espnW HoopGurlz, and four ranked in that publication’s top 100.
| Player | HoopGurlz Rank | Stars | Ht./Pos. |
| Hailee Swain | 9 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 5-11 • G |
| Lara Somfai | 16 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 6-4 • F |
| Alex Eschmeyer | 31 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 6-5 • F |
| Nora Ezike | 84 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 6-2 • F |
| Carly Amborn | -- | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 6-2 • G/F |
- The class began with Swain’s commitment in July 2022 and culminated with Somfai’s announcement Wednesday morning. The group is rated No. 3 by espnW HoopGurlz.
- Stanford’s three five-star signees are second to LSU (4) and the program’s most since it had four in the Class of 2019 (Haley Jones, Ashten Prechtel, Fran Belibi, Hannah Jump). That group won a national championship as sophomores.