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Women's Basketball

Cardinal at Cardinals

Stanford faces Louisville on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 9 a.m. PT on ESPN2

Radio ESPN2 Live Stats PDF Game Notes

THE GAME: Stanford plays at Louisville for the first time on Sunday, Feb. 9 at noon ET. Beth Mowins and Stephanie White have the call on ESPN2, while Tim Swartz will handle the radio broadcast on GoStanford.com and the Stanford Athletics app.

THE RUNDOWN: Stanford was a perfect 15-for-15 from the line in the Jan. 30 win over Pittsburgh, a program record for makes without a miss ...  The Cardinal is 36-of-37 (.973) on free throws over the past three games ... Stanford is 17th in the nation in 3-point percentage (.365) ...  Nunu Agara is one of six underclassmen in the country averaging 16.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists ... Agara has increased her scoring by 11.2 points and her rebounding by 4.9 boards from her freshman year ... Tess Heal is the only major conference guard in the country making more than 50 percent of her field goals (.513) and 3-pointers (.511) with a minimum of one 3-pointer made per game ... Against Florida State, Elena Bosgana became the second DI player this season with 21 points, 15 rebounds and six assists ... Over the past five games, freshmen and sophomores have combined to score 225 of Stanford’s 293 points (76.8 percent) and grab 110 of its 174 rebounds (63.2 perecent) ... Stanford’s 2025 recruiting class, featuring three five-star talents and two four-stars, is ranked No. 3 nationally by espnW HoopGurlz ... On Jan. 27, it was announced that signees Alex Eschmeyer, Lara Somfai and Hailee Swain will participate in the 2025 McDonald’s All American Game ... Of the 24 women selected, Stanford and Tennessee have the most players suiting up next fall with three commits each.

VS. LOUISVILLE: Stanford is 1-1 all-time against Louisville in a pair of NCAA Tournament meetings over the past decade. In the last matchup in the Elite Eight in San Antonio on March 30, 2021, the Cardinal won 78-63 behind 21 points from Lexie Hull en route to its third national championship. In the Sweet 16 in Lexington, Ky. on March 23, 2018, Louisville advanced with an 86-59 win. Sunday will be the Cardinal’s sixth game in the state of Kentucky. Stanford went 3-2 at Rupp Arena in Lexington in the NCAA Tournament in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

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 16.6 points (+11.2) and 7.8 rebounds (+4.9) per game as a sophomore.
  • Ninth in the league in scoring and eighth in rebounding, Agara is one of six underclassmen in the country averaging 16/7/2. The others are sophomore Khamil Pierre at Vanderbilt (21.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.0 apg), sophomore Ashley Sofilkanich at Bucknell (20.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.9 apg), sophomore Zanai Barnett-Gray at Navy (19.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.3 apg), sophomore Stailee Heard at Oklahoma State (16.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.2 apg) and freshman Sarah Strong at UConn (17.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.5 apg).
  • In addition to Agara, Pierre, Heard and Strong, there are only four other major conference players averaging 16/7/2 this season in UCLA’s Lauren Betts (20.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 2.9 apg), Wisconsin’s Serah Williams (19.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2.5 apg), TCU’s Sedona Prince (18.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.2 apg) and Michigan State’s Julia Ayrault (16.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.2 apg).
  • The last ACC player to average 16/7/2 for an entire season with Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley in 2020-21 (18.2 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.0 apg).
  • Agara is one of three ACC players in the league’s top 10 in both scoring and rebounding, along with Khadija Faye (Pitt) and Makayla Timpson (Florida State).
  • She has scored in double figures in 20 of 22 games this season, including five 20-point efforts, and has a double-double in six of Stanford’s last 11 games.
  • Agara had 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%)

YOUTH MOVEMENT »

  • Stanford made a change to its starting lineup against Clemson on Jan. 5, 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 senior Nadia Fingall and junior Kiana Williams in the first five in a game against UCLA.
  • Those three have started each of the past nine games. Stanford hasn’t started three underclassmen in 10 consecutive games since the end of the 2018-19 season when sophomore Kiana Williams and freshman Lacie Hull started the final 24 games with either sophomore Maya Dodson or sophomore Alyssa Jerome, and alongside senior Alanna Smith and junior DiJonai Carrington.
  • Over the past five games, Stanford’s freshmen and sophomores have combined to score 225 of Stanford’s 293 points (76.8 percent) and grab 110 of its 174 rebounds (63.2 perecent).
  • 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).

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.
  • On Jan. 27, it was announced that Eschmeyer, Somfai and Swain will participate in the 2025 McDonald’s All American Game on April 1 in Brooklyn.
  • Of the 24 women selected to be McDonald’s All Americans, Stanford and Tennessee have the most players suiting up next fall with three commits each.
  • Stanford’s three McDonald’s All Americans are almost as many as the rest of the ACC combined (4).
  • This is the fourth time Stanford has had three McDonald’s All Americans in the same class, along with 2019 (Fran Belibi, Haley Jones, Ashten Prechtel), 2016 (DiJonai Carrington, Nadia Fingall, Anna Wilson) and 2007 (Ashley Cimino, Kayla Pedersen, Jeanette Pohlen).
  • Eschemyer and Swain are also on the USA Basketball roster for the 26th Nike Hoop Summit on April 12 in Portland, Ore.

RESUME »

  • Stanford, which has made 36 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, is currently 47th in the NET rankings.
  • The Cardinal’s strength of schedule according to the NET is 11th.
  • Stanford’s 89-84 victory over Florida State on Jan. 9 moved to a Quad 1 victory after the Seminoles won at North Carolina (NET No. 13) on Jan. 16. FSU is 19th in the NET.
  • The Cardinal is one of 48 programs nationally that has a Quad 1 win this season.
  • Major conference teams without a Quad 1 win that are currently in the field in ESPN’s Bracketology are West Virginia (No. 12 NET; 0-2 Q1; No. 84 SOS), Baylor (No. 20 NET; 0-3 Q1; No. 73 SOS), Minnesota (No. 29 NET; 0-4 Q1; No. 74 SOS), Creighton (No. 33 NET; 0-4 Q1; No. 66 SOS) and Iowa State (No. 40 NET; 0-7 Q1; No. 26 SOS).

TOUGH THURSDAY NIGHT »

  • Stanford lost 96-47 at No. 3 Notre Dame on Thursday night.
  • The 49-point margin of defeat was the largest in program history, surpassing a 45-point loss to No. 7 Long Beach State on March 10, 1983 (96-51). 
  • The Cardinal’s 29 turnovers were one short of tying the school record (30) set four times, most recently against UConn on Dec. 21, 2007.

WHERE WE STAND »

  • Stanford snapped an uncharacteristic three-game losing streak with an 89-84 win over visiting Florida State on Jan. 9, 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.
  • Stanford is 4-10 in its last 14 games, shooing 39.8 percent from the floor, 32.0 percent from beyond the arc, and with 154 assists against 234 turnovers (0.66 A/TO ratio). In the team’s first eight games during the month of November, the Cardinal went 7-1, shot 50.5 percent overall, 44.0 percent from deep, and had 135 assists and 95 turnovers (1.42 A/TO ratio).
  • The team’s 4-10 record since the start of December is its worst 14-game stretch since the final 14 games of the 1985-86 season when it closed 4-10.
  • Stanford’s record is the program’s worst 22-game start since beginning the 1985-86 season 11-11.
  • The Cardinal has not been at .500 or below this late in a season since the end of the 1986-87 campaign. Stanford was 13-14 following a 63-54 loss to No. 18 Oregon on March 5 before beating Oregon State 58-56 on March 7 to finish the year 14-14.
  • Stanford’s 3-8 start in conference play is its worst 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.

ROAD WOES »

  • Stanford secured its first and only road win of the season at Wake Forest on Jan. 16, 74-71. It was the Cardinal’s first win in the state of North Carolina since a 78-63 win at NC State on Dec. 3, 1994.
  • The Cardinal is 10-3 at home this season, but 1-8 away from Maples Pavilion. Stanford was the third-to-last Power 4 program to secure a victory away from its home court this season (road or neutral), ahead of Rutgers and Houston. The Cougars still do not have a road or neutral-site win.
  • This was the latest in a season Stanford had gone without a road win since 2000-01. That year, the Cardinal didn’t pick up its first true road win since beating California in Berkeley on Jan. 20, 63-56.
  • In home games, Stanford is scoring 79.2 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting, including 38.2 perfect from deep. In its nine road and neutral games away from Maples, the Cardinal is averaging 63.3 points on 38.6 percent shooting and 33.5 percent on 3-pointers.
  • Stanford is 1-7 in true road games this season. The Cardinal’s only sub-.500 road record over the past 37 seasons was in 2000-01 (6-8).

FROM DEEP »

  • The Cardinal is 17th nationally in 3-point percentage, shooting 36.5 percent (170-of-466). That is all despite going only 49-of-198 (.247) across 10 games against UC Davis, Indiana, Cal Poly, LSU, Ohio State, NC State, Cal (Jan. 23), Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Notre Dame. In Stanford’s other 12 games, it has made more than 45 percent (121-of-267; .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.