THE GAME: Stanford hits the road for the second time this season when it travels to No. 5 LSU for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. CT. Eric Frede and Christy Thomaskutty have the call on ESPN2, while Tim Swartz will handle the radio broadcast on GoStanford.com, the Stanford Athletics app and Learfield’s Varsity Network.
THE RUNDOWN: Stanford leads the nation in 3-point percentage (77-of-175; .440) ... 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 ... Jzaniya Harriel is second in the country in 3-point percentage (.571; 16-of-28) and Elena Bosgana is 14th (.500; 18-of-36) ... Stanford also has 135 assists against 95 turnovers this season ... The Cardinal is 12th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42) and is 10th nationally in fewest turnovers per game, averaging 10.9 ... Nunu Agara is one of eight Power 4 conference players in the country averaging 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 block, and one of only three underclassmen ... 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, signed Nov. 13, is ranked No. 3 nationally by espnW HoopGurlz.
VS. LSU: Stanford will be looking for its first win against LSU on Thursday night. In the most recent matchup, the No. 5 Tigers beat No. 13 Stanford in the Elite Eight in San Antonio on March 27, 2006. Candice Wiggins led the Cardinal with 23 points, while Seimone Augustus scored 17 of her 26 points in the second half for LSU and drew the game-saving charge with 4.8 seconds left. The teams’ first meeting came at Stanford on Jan. 7, 1981, an 85-60 LSU victory. Stanford went 3-3 against Kim Mulkey-coached teams at Baylor, winning most recently against the No. 3 Bears on Dec. 15, 2018, 68-63.
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 leads the nation in 3-point percentage, shooting 44.0 percent from deep (77-of-175) in its first eight games. That is all despite going only 13-of-50 (.260) across games against UC Davis, Indiana and Cal Poly.
- Ten different players have hit a 3-pointer, and there are five who have made at least eight - Elena Bosgana (18), Jzaniya Harriel (16), Brooke Demetre (11), Tess Heal (9) and Chloe Clardy (8). Those five players are a combined 62-of-122 (.508). Only Minneosta, Lipscomb and Utah Tech have more players with at least eight made 3-pointers, each with six. But Minnesota has attempted 38 more 3-pointers as a team (213), Lipscomb 90 more (265) and Utah Tech 93 more (268).
- Stanford’s 77 3-pointers in its first eight games are the program’s most since 2018-19 (85).
- Individually, Jzaniya Harriel is second in the country in 3-point percentage (.571; 16-of-28) and Elena Bosgana is 14th (.500; 18-of-36).
- Last season, Harriel was 32-of-81 from deep (.395) in 34 games. This year, she’s 16-of-28 from behind the arc and 5-of-20 (.250) on two-pointers. In her career, 71.6 percent of her makes have been from deep. She’s a career 42.4 percent 3-point shooter (53-of-125), but 28.0 percent on twos (21-of-75).
- A career 31.4 percent shooter (50-of-159) on 3-pointers during her first three collegiate seasons, Bosgana is shooting 50.0 percent (18-of-36) as a senior.
- Chloe Clardy is 8-of-19 (.421) 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-14 this year (.643).
- 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 175-of-324, or 54.0 percent, on two-point field goals. Overall, Stanford is seventh nationally in field goal percentage (.505).
SHARE IT, TAKE CARE OF IT »
- The Cardinal also has 135 assists against 95 turnovers this season. It is 12th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42) and is 10th nationally in fewest turnovers per game, averaging just 10.9. That is despite 36 assists and 51 turnovers in three games against UC Davis, Indiana and UC San Diego.
- Stanford’s 25 turnovers in last Friday’s win over UC San Diego 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.
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).
MORE ON THE MATCHUP »
- Stanford has won six of its last nine against SEC opponents, but its most recent game was a 54-49 loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 19, 2023.
- LSU will be the first SEC opponent Stanford faces on the road outside of Tennessee and South Carolina since a 74-69 loss at No. 8 Georgia on Nov. 26, 2006.
- Stanford has lost five in a row to AP top-five teams, its last win coming against No. 2 Maryland in the Bahamas on Nov. 27, 2021, 86-68.
- The Cardinal’s last win against an AP top-five opponent in a true road game was on Jan. 31, 1998 when No. 9 Stanford beat No. 5 Texas Tech in Lubbock, 80-71.
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 869 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 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.