THE GAME: Stanford opens ACC play when it travels to face rival California on Friday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. Dave Benz and Theo Robertson have the call on ACCNX, while Kevin Danna 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 (86-of-205; .420) ... 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 13 against Gonzaga on Nov. 10 ... Jzaniya Harriel is sixth in the country in 3-point percentage (.528; 19-of-36) ... The Cardinal is just as good inside the arc, shooting 197-of-360 (.547) on two-point field goals ... Overall, Stanford is eighth nationally in field goal percentage (.501) ... Stanford has 148 assists against 110 turnovers this season ... The Cardinal is 18th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.35) and 17th in fewest turnovers per game (12.2) ... Nunu Agara is one of four Power 4 conference players in the country averaging 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 block, and the only underclassman ... 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 ... Heading into 2024-25, Stanford was looking to replace 59.8 percent of its scoring and 54.4 percent of its rebounding ... 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 ... Stanford’s 2025 recruiting class is ranked No. 3 nationally by espnW HoopGurlz.
VS. CAL: Stanford is 81-21 all-time against California and 34-13 against the Golden Bears in Berkeley. The Cardinal has won 12 consecutive games in the series with an average margin of victory of 24.8 points. Stanford’s 12-game winning streak is its longest since beating Cal 14 consecutive times from Jan. 30, 2002 through Jan. 6, 2007. This will be the first meeting in which both teams are unranked since Feb. 16, 2001. Last season in Berkeley, Talana Lepolo scored a career-high 20 points with six 3-pointers and Stanford opened Pac-12 play with a 78-51 victory on Dec. 29, 2023.
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 in the opener 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.
- The Cardinal is second in the nation in 3-point percentage, shooting 42.0 percent from deep (86-of-205) in its first nine games. That is all despite going only 22-of-80 (.275) across games against UC Davis, Indiana, Cal Poly and LSU.
- Ten different players have hit a 3-pointer, and there are four who have made at least nine - Elena Bosgana (19), Jzaniya Harriel (19), Brooke Demetre (14), and Tess Heal (9). Those four players are a combined 61-of-130 (.469).
- Stanford’s 86 3-pointers in its first nine games are the program’s most since 2018-19 (99).
- Individually, Jzaniya Harriel is sixth in the country in 3-point percentage (.528; 19-of-36).
- Last season, Harriel was 32-of-81 from deep (.395) in 34 games. This year, she’s 19-of-36 from behind the arc and 7-of-22 (.318) on two-pointers. In her career, 70.9 percent of her makes have been from deep. She’s a career 41.8 percent 3-point shooter (56-of-134), but 29.9 percent on twos (23-of-77).
- A career 31.4 percent shooter (50-of-159) on 3-pointers during her first three collegiate seasons, Bosgana is shooting 43.2 percent (19-of-44) as a senior.
- Chloe Clardy is 8-of-20 (.400) this year, just one year after going 2-of-20 (.100) during her debut season.
- Tess Heal, a career 31.5 percent 3-point shooter coming into her first season at Stanford is 9-of-15 this year (.600).
- 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).
- The Cardinal is just as good inside the arc, shooting 197-of-360, or 54.7 percent, on two-point field goals. Overall, Stanford is eighth nationally in field goal percentage (.501).
SHARE IT, TAKE CARE OF IT »
- The Cardinal also has 148 assists against 110 turnovers this season. It is 18th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.35) and is 17th nationally in fewest turnovers per game, averaging 12.2. That is despite 36 assists and 51 turnovers in three games against UC Davis, Indiana and UC San Diego.
- Stanford’s 25 turnovers a win over UC San Diego on Nov. 29 were the program’s most in a game since turning it over 26 times in a 61-58 loss to Santa Clara on Nov. 23, 2015. The Cardinal had not turned it over that many times and won since totaling 25 turnovers in a 69-64 win over UCLA on March 9, 2003.
STANFORD STRESSES PLAYER DEVELOPMENT »
- One year after Kiki Iriafen was the country’s most improved player, Nunu Agara has taken a massive leap and is one of the NCAA’s most improved this season. After averaging 5.4 points and 2.9 rebounds as a freshman, she’s putting up 18.8 points (+13.4) and 7.0 rebounds (+4.1) per game as a sophomore.
- Since 1999-2000, Iriafen has the largest increases at Stanford, going from 6.7 points per game as a sophomore to 19.4 as a junior (+12.7) in 2023-24 and from 3.8 rebounds per game to 11.0 (+7.2).
- Fourth in the league in scoring (18.8) and 11th in rebounding (7.0), Agara is one of four Power 4 conference players in the country averaging 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 block, and the only underclassman. The others are junior Serah Williams at Wisconsin (19.3 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.9 bpg), TCU graduate student Sedona Prince (18.1 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 2.0 apg, 4.0 bpg) and UCLA junior Lauren Betts (19.6 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 2.1 bpg).
- She has scored in double figures in all nine games this season, including three 20-point efforts.
- Agara had career highs with 29 points and 13 rebounds in Stanford’s overtime loss at No. 5 LSU on Dec. 5 and shot 75.0 percent from the floor (12-of-16). According to Sports Reference, she is the fifth DI player since 2002-03 to have 29 points and 13 rebounds in a true road game against an AP top-five opponent and the only one to do it on better than 60.0 percent shooting.
- 11/21/21: NaLyssa Smith (Baylor) at No. 3 Maryland (30 pts, 15 rebs, .560 fg%)
- 1/24/21: Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech) at No. 2 NC State (30 pts, 13 rebs, .591 fg%)
- 12/22/13: Crystal Bradford (Central Michigan) at No. 4 Notre Dame (30 pts, 13 rebs, .429 fg%)
- 11/19/08: Alysha Clark (MTSU) at No. 2 Oklahoma (31 pts, 16 rebs, .444 fg%)
BOSGANA’S BIG DAY »
- Elena Bosgana scored a career-high 26 points and didn’t miss from the floor to lead Stanford to an 84-54 win over visiting UC San Diego on Nov. 29.
- Bosgana poured in her 26 on a perfect 10-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-5 from deep, tying the school record for single-game field goal percentage (min. 10 attempts). Kim Kupferer was 11-of-11 from the floor in a game against Pacific on Jan. 24, 1981.
- The senior also had six rebounds, three assists and four steals in her 30 minutes. The only “blemish” in her otherwise perfect game was a missed free throw in the third quarter.
- According to Sports Reference, Bosgana is just the sixth DI player since 2002-03 to be perfect from the floor when attempting at least 10 total field goals and five 3-pointers and first since South Dakota State’s Tagyn Larson on Feb. 13, 2019 against Omaha (11-of-11, 5-of-5).
- She also became the fourth Stanford player to be perfect on 3-pointers with at least five attempts, joining Jennifer Azzi (7-of-7 vs. Eastern Michigan on Dec. 29, 1989), Joslyn Tinkle (5-of-5 vs. Michigan on March 26, 2013) and Lauren St. Clair (5-of-5 vs. UCLA on Feb. 3, 2000).
AP POLL »
- One week after reappearing in the AP Top 25 at No. 24, Stanford fell out 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 870 all-time AP polls over 49 seasons (Tennessee - 779).
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 the morning of Nov. 13. 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.