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Women's Basketball

Cardinal Hosts Ranked Wolfpack on ESPN

Stanford and No. 21 NC State meet on Sunday at noon

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THE GAME: Stanford plays its first ranked opponent at home when it hosts No. 21 NC State on Sunday, Jan. 12 at noon. Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli have the call on ESPN, while Tim Swartz will handle the radio broadcast on GoStanford.com, the Stanford Athletics app and Learfield’s Varsity Network.

THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is third in the nation in 3-point percentage (.392) ... Eleven players have hit a 3-pointer, and there are two who have made at least 30 - Brooke Demetre (31), Elena Bosgana (30) ... 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 ... Nunu Agara is one of three underclassmen in the country averaging 17.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists (17.5/8.0/2.2), and one of four players in the top 10 of the ACC in both scoring and rebounding ... Against Florida State, Elena Bosgana became the second DI player this season with 21 points, 15 rebounds and six assists in a game (Yvonne Ejim - Gonzaga) ... Heading into 2024-25, Stanford was looking to replace 59.8 percent of its scoring and 54.4 percent of its rebounding ... The Cardinal’s leading returning scorer was Bosgana (6.7) and its leading returning rebounder was Demetre (3.6) ... Stanford’s young squad has just one returner that has averaged more than 20 minutes per game in her career (Talana Lepolo) ... Stanford was picked seventh in the ACC preseason poll and outside the preseason AP Top 25 for the first time since 1999-2000 ... Stanford’s 2025 recruiting class, featuring three five stars, is ranked No. 3 by espnW HoopGurlz.

VS. NC STATE: The Cardinal is 2-2 all-time against NC State, its last win coming on Dec. 3, 1994 in Raleigh, 78-63. After that contest, the two wouldn’t meet for 30 years until No. 3 seed NC State knocked out No. 2 seed Stanford in last year’s Sweet 16 in Portland on March 29, 77-67, in what was ultimately Tara VanDerveer’s last game as head coach. The Wolfpack got their other win in the series at home on Dec. 21, 1988, 80-72, and Stanford won the teams’ only other meeting in Maples Pavilion, 69-59, on Dec. 19, 1987.

WHERE WE STAND »

  • Stanford snapped an uncharacteristic three-game losing streak with Thursday night’s 89-84 win over visiting Florida State, the Cardinal’s first in the ACC.
  • The three game losing streak (Ohio State, SMU, Clemson) was the Cardinal’s first within the same season since January 2001 against Arizona, Oregon State and Oregon. Stanford has not dropped four straight in a season since January and February 1987 against Oregon State, Oregon, USC and UCLA.
  • Before the win, the Cardinal had been 1-5 in its previous six games, shooing 39.2 percent from the floor, 32.6 percent from beyond the arc, and with 64 assists against 87 turnovers (0.74 A/TO ratio). In the team’s first eight games in which it was 7-1, Stanford shot 50.5 percent overall, 44.0 percent from deep, and had 135 assists and 95 turnovers (1.42 A/TO ratio).
  • Stanford’s first Quad 1 win of the season moved the Cardinal to 41st in the NCAA NET rankings and among the last four teams in the NCAA Tournament field according to ESPN’s latest Bracketology.
  • Stanford’s 9-6 record is the program’s worst 15-game start since beginning the 2017-18 season 9-6.
  • That season, the Cardinal returned 10 letterwinners, but just two starters to a team coming off its seventh Final Four in previous 10 seasons. Gone were Erica McCall, Karlie Samuelson and Briana Roberson, seniors that accounted for 45 percent of Stanford’s minutes, 46 percent of its scoring and 35 percent of its rebounds in 2016-17.
  • The Cardinal was able to regroup, however, and improved throughout the year. Stanford would go 14-3 in Pac-12 play, including four AP Top 25 wins, and advance to its 11th consecutive Sweet 16.
  • Stanford started 0-3 in conference play for the first time since 1985-86, Tara VanDerveer’s first year on The Farm. In the season before the start of Pac-10 women’s basketball, the Cardinal would lose its first six Pac-West games en route to a 1-7 league mark.
  • The Cardinal is 9-0 at home this season and has won 12 in a row in Maples Pavilion.
  • In home games, Stanford is scoring 85.1 points per game on 50.4 percent shooting, including 43.7 perfect from deep. In its six losses away from Maples, the Cardinal is averaging 68.2 points on 39.6 percent shooting and 34.0 percent on 3-pointers.
  • Stanford made a change to its starting lineup against Clemson, with freshman Shay Ijiwoye and sophomore Chloe Clardy earning their first career starts in the backcourt. Along with sophomore Nunu Agara in the front court, it was the first time Stanford had started three underclassmen since Feb. 7, 2020, when sophomores Lacie and Lexie Hull and freshman Ashten Prechtel joined seniors Nadia Fingall and Kiana Williams in the first five in a game against UCLA.

WHAT’S BACK, WHAT’S NOT »

  • Heading in 2024-25, Stanford was looking replace 59.8 percent of its scoring, 54.4 percent of its rebounding and 42.8 percent of its minutes played from a season ago.
  • The Cardinal’s leading returning scorer was Elena Bosgana (6.7) and its leading returning rebounder was Brooke Demetre (3.6).
  • The Cardinal’s young squad has seven underclassmen and just one returning player on the roster that has averaged more than 20 minutes per game in her career (Talana Lepolo). Lepolo has missed the last 10 games with a right knee injury.
  • Outside of Lepolo and among available players prior to this season, only Elena Bosgana, Brooke Demetre and Jzaniya Harriel had started any games for Stanford, and they had combined for just 40 total starts in their first three seasons. Bosgana started all 36 games last season and Demetre and Harriel started two each.

TREE-POINT PROFICIENCY »

  • The Cardinal is third nationally in 3-point percentage, shooting 39.2 percent (129-of-329). That is all despite going only 24-of-96 (.250) across five games against UC Davis, Indiana, Cal Poly, LSU and Ohio State. In Stanford’s other 10 games, it has made more than 45 percent (105-of-232; .453).
  • 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.
  • Eleven different players have hit a 3-pointer, and there are two who have made at least 30 - Brooke Demetre (31), Elena Bosgana (30).
  • Only Tennessee, Kansas State and Kentucky have more players with at least 30 made 3-pointers, each with three. But the Lady Vols have attempted 219 more 3-pointers (542) than Stanford, Kansas State 32 more (361) and Kentucky 80 more (409).
  • A career 31.4 percent shooter (50-of-159) on 3-pointers during her first three collegiate seasons, Elena Bosgana is shooting 38.5 percent (30-of-78) as a senior.
  • Tess Heal, a career 31.5 percent 3-point shooter at Santa Clara, is 15-of-28 this year (.536).
  • Last season, Jzaniya Harriel was 32-of-81 from deep (.395) in 34 games. This year, she’s 22-of-50 (.440), and 13-of-37 (.351) on two-pointers. In her career, 67.0 percent of her makes have been from deep. She’s a career 39.9 percent 3-point shooter (59-of-148), but 31.5 percent on twos (29-of-92).
  • Chloe Clardy is 10-of-29 (.345) this year, one season after going 2-of-20 (.100) as a freshman.
  • 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).

DILIGENT 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 17.5 points (+12.1) and 8.0 rebounds (+5.1) 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).
  • Seventh in the league in scoring and eighth in rebounding, Agara is one of three underclassmen in the country averaging 17/8/2. The others are sophomore Khamil Pierre at Vanderbilt (22.1 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.1 apg) and sophomore Ashley Sofilkanich at Bucknell (18.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.5 apg).
  • In addition to Agara and Pierre, there are only three other major conference players averaging 17/8/2 this season in Wisconsin’s Serah Williams (18.2 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 2.5 apg) and UCLA’s Lauren Betts (19.6 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 2.4 apg).
  • Agara is one of four ACC players in the league’s top 10 in both scoring and rebounding, along with Haley Cavinder (Miami), Khadija Faye (Pitt) and Makayla Timpson (Florida State).
  • 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).
  • Against Florida State on Jan. 9, Bosgana had her second consecutive double-double with 21 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, becoming just the second player in the country this season with those numbers in a game. Gonzaga’s Yvonne Ejim had 26 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists in a win over New Mexico on Nov. 24.

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 874 all-time AP polls over 49 seasons (Tennessee - 783).

FIRST CLASS »

  • Kate Paye’s first signing class as head coach 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.