Courtney OgdenCourtney Ogden
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Women's Basketball

Packing for the PNW

Stanford opens two-game road trip at Washington State on Friday at 4 p.m.

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THE GAME: Stanford heads to Washington State on Friday, Nov. 14 at 4 p.m. Trevor Williams and Mary Murphy have the call on ESPN+, while Tim Swartz will handle radio on GoStanford.com, the Stanford Athletics app and Learfield’s Varsity Network.

THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is 3-0 for the fourth consecutive season ... The Cardinal is near the top of the ACC in returning production, welcoming back 54.2 percent of its scoring, 49.7 percent of its rebounding, and 57.4 percent of its assists ... Stanford has the fewest transfers on its roster among all 68 Power 4 programs (1) ... In addition to its returning core, the team added the nation’s No. 3 recruiting class according to es­pnW HoopGurlz ... Kate Paye’s first signing class as head coach included three five-star talents (Hailee Swain, Lara Somfai, Alexandra Eschmeyer) and two four-stars (Nora Ezike, Carly Amborn), and four ranked in the HoopGurlz top 100 ... Stanford’s three five-star signees tied for the national lead with Tennessee and LSU ... Its three McDonald’s All Americans (Swain, Somfai, Eschmeyer) were almost as many as the rest of the ACC combined (4) ... Lara Somfai collected Stanford’s first ACC weekly honor since joining the league when she was named ACC Rookie of the Week on Monday ... She is the only Power 4 conference freshman averaging a double-double ... In its first three games, the Cardinal has had at least five double-digit scorers in every one, including six against Santa Clara ... Chloe Clardy is one of 34 players in the country averaging 12.0 points, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals, but is the only one to do it coming off the bench.

VS. WASHINGTON STATE: Stanford is 75-0 all-time against Washington State and 36-0 against the Cougars in Pullman. Twenty-nine of the last 32 overall wins have come by double-digits. In last season’s matchup in Maples Pavilion, Stanford was 14-of-20 (.700) from 3-point range and won 94-65. The Cardinal’s last visit to Pullman featured the final game between the two schools as Pac-12 foes. Stanford won 73-58 on Feb. 11, 2024 behind 21 points, 11 rebounds and five steals from Cameron Brink.

BALANCED ATTACK »

  • Stanford’s offense hasn’t relied on just one person in the early going. The Cardinal has had 16 individual double-digit scoring efforts across its three wins with nobody scoring more than 16 points.
  • In its first three games, the Cardinal has had at least five double-digit scorers in every one, including six against Santa Clara.
  • Stanford has four players averaging at least 12.0 points per game (Somfai - 14.3, Agara - 13.0, Clardy, 12.7, Swain - 12.0) and six averaging at least 8.0 (Lepolo - 8.7, Eschmeyer - 8.0).
  • The Cardinal’s 16 double-digit scorers this year are tied for second nationally against DI opponents with South Carolina and LSU. Oklahoma State leads the country with 23 such performances, but has played one extra game (4).
  • Stanford’s four players averaging at least 12.0 points per game this season are tied for sixth nationally behind Austin Peay, Santa Clara, Arkansas, Notre Dame and Ball State, who each have five. Having six players averaging at least 8.0 points per game is tied for the 12th-most in the country.

AS GOOD AS ADVERTISED »

  • Stanford’s freshmen McDonald’s All-Americans have been as good as advertised to start the season. Lara Somfai (14.3 ppg), Hailee Swain (12.3 ppg) and Alexandra Eschmeyer (8.0 ppg) have accounted for 104 of their team’s 256 points (40.6 percent) and 57 of 135 rebounds (42.4 percent).
  • In last week’s win over Santa Clara, Somfai had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Eschmeyer went for 11 points, 12 boards and a game-high four blocks. In available records dating to 2002-03, it was the first time Stanford had two freshmen with double-doubles in the same game.
  • The only other Cardinal freshmen to match Eschmeyer’s line over that same span were Cameron Brink at Washington State on Jan. 27, 2021 (12 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks) and Kaylee Johnson against Washington on Feb. 2, 2015 (11 points, 17 rebounds, four blocks).
  • Stanford is the first to have multiple freshmen with double-doubles in a game since Campbell’s Ciara Alexander (12 pts, 14 rebs) and Jasmine Felton (16 pts, 12 rebs) on March 15, 2025 against College of Charleston, the first major conference team since Colorado’s Grace Oliver (16 pts, 14 rebs) and Erin Powell (11 pts, 11 rebs) against Houston on Feb. 15, 2025, and the first ACC team since Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron (13 pts, 12 rebs) and Olivia Miles (17 pts, 10 rebs) on Jan. 28, 2022 against Syracuse.
  • Swain and Purdue’s Hila Karsh are the only major conference freshmen with multiple games under their belt averaging 12.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and shooting 50.0 percent from the field.

ACC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK »

  • Lara Somfai collected Stanford’s first ACC weekly honor since joining the league when she was named ACC Rookie of the Week on Monday.
  • The Cardinal’s leading scorer and rebounder, Somfai averaged a double-double in Stanford’s three wins to open the season against UNC Greensboro (87-42), Santa Clara (79-58) and Cal Poly (90-55). The 6-foot-3 forward put up 14.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game.
  • She is the only Power 4 conference freshman averaging a double-double this season and one of five freshmen overall.
  • Somfai is tied for fourth nationally with two double-doubles and one of two major conference freshmen in the country with multiple (Bonnie Deas – Arkansas). On Sunday, she became the first Stanford freshman with double-doubles in back-to-back games since Ashten Prechtel in 2019-20.
  • When she went for 14 points, 10 rebounds and three steals against Cal Poly, Somfai became the first major conference freshman to do that since UConn’s Sarah Strong against Villanova on March 9, 2025 (20 pts, 16 rebs, 3 stls) and the first ACC freshman to do it since Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo against Virginia Tech on Feb. 29, 2024 (23 pts, 12 rebs, 3 stls).
  • The Cardinal has two freshmen averaging at least 12.0 points per game, tied for second in the nation behind Austin Peay with three (Jim’Miyah Branton, Mckenzie Neal, Jade Rucker).
  • Players 6-feet-5 and taller have made seven total three pointers this season and Stanford’s 6-foot-5 freshman Alexandra Eschmeyer has two of those (2-of-3). NC State’s 6-foot-6 Tilda Trygger has made 3-of-7 and Kentucky’s 6-foot-5 Clara Strack has made 2-of-8.

UPPERCLASSMEN LEAD THE WAY »

  • The Cardinal has three upperclassmen in its top six scorers alongside its freshmen in Nunu Agara (13.0 ppg), Chloe Clardy (12.7 ppg) and Talana Lepolo (8.7 ppg).
  • Agara narrowly missed a double-double in the win over Santa Clara with 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists and led Stanford with 16 points against Cal Poly.
  • Lepolo, who missed all but five games last season due to injury, led all scorers with 16 points against the Broncos on Nov. 6 and was 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Her 16 points were her most since scoring a career-high 20 at California on Dec. 29, 2023.
  • Chloe Clardy is one of 34 players in the country averaging 12.0 points, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals, but is the only one to do it coming off the bench.

GETTING BACK TO DEFENSE »

  • Stanford’s defense had gotten off to a good start this season, holding its three opponents to an average of 51.7 points on 32.6 percent shooting.
  • In the season opener against UNC Greensboro, the Cardinal limited the Spartans to just 42 points on 25.9 percent shooting (15-of-58), numbers better than any game last season.
  • The point total was the fewest allowed by the Cardinal since a 98-38 win over Morgan State on Dec. 31, 2023 and UNCG’s field goal percentage was the lowest for a Stanford opponent since UAlbany shot 25.0 percent (14-of-56) on Nov. 26, 2023.
  • Last season, Stanford was 261st nationally in field goal percentage defense (.421) and 286th in scoring defense (69.3). Prior to last season and in available NCAA records dating to 2001-02, the Cardinal had never finished outside the top 50 in field goal percentage defense and had been outside the top 100 in scoring defense just twice.
  • Those 23 seasons (2001-02 through 2023-24) included 12 years of a top-10 field goal percentage defense and two top-10 scoring defenses.

RETURNING PRODUCTION »

  • Stanford is near the top of the ACC in returning production, welcoming back 54.2 percent of its scoring (1,221 of 2,255 points), 49.7 percent of its rebounding (583 of 1,172 rebounds), 57.4 percent of its assists (251 of 437 assists) and 56.9 percent of its minutes played (3,585 of 6,300 minutes) from a season ago.
  • The Cardinal is third in the ACC in returning points (Duke - 67.7%, Virginia 61.6%, Virginia Tech 54.7%), second in returning rebounds (Duke - 64.1%), third in returning assists (Virginia - 70.7%, Virginia Tech - 68.5%, Duke - 63.0%), and third in returning minutes (Duke - 68.1%, Virginia Tech - 57.6%).

CARDINAL CONTINUITY »

  • The Cardinal only has one transfer on its roster in junior Mary Ashley Stevenson, who is in her second year on The Farm after playing one season at Purdue.
  • Stanford has the fewest transfers on its roster among all 68 Power 4 programs. NC State, Washington and Oklahoma each have two.
  • Among Power 4 schools, Stanford and Washington tied for the least amount of portal movement this offseason (total number of transfers in + transfers out). The Cardinal had two outgoing transfers in senior Tess Heal (Kansas State) and graduate student Jzaniya Harriel (SMU). The Huskies, which had zero outgoing transfers, welcomed two incoming transfers in Avery Howell (USC) and Yulia Grabovskaia (Michigan).

FIRST CLASS »

  • In addition to Stanford’s returning core, the team added the nation’s No. 3 recruiting class according to es­pnW HoopGurlz.
  • Kate Paye’s first signing class as head coach includes three five-star talents (Hailee Swain, Lara Somfai, Alexandra Eschmeyer) and two four-stars (Nora Ezike, Carly Amborn) according to espnW HoopGurlz, and four ranked in that publication’s top 100.
Player HoopGurlz Rank Stars Ht./Pos.
Hailee Swain 8 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5-11 • G
Lara Somfai 12 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6-4 • F
Alexandra Eschmeyer 21 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6-5 • F
Nora Ezike 85 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6-2 • F
Carly Amborn -- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6-2 • G/F
  • Stanford’s three five-star signees tied for the national lead with Tennessee and LSU and the program’s most since it had four in the Class of 2019 (Haley Jones, Ashten Prechtel, Fran Belibi, Hannah Jump.
  • Of the 24 women selected to be McDonald’s All Americans, Stanford (Eschmeyer, Somfai, Swain) and Ten­nessee had the most players suiting up next fall with three commits each. Stanford’s three McDonald’s All Americans were almost as many as the rest of the ACC combined (4).

PRESEASON ACC PROGNOSTICATIONS »

  • The Cardinal was picked to finish sixth in the ACC in a vote of the league’s 18 head coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel, totaling 1,041 points from 70 voters behind Duke, NC State, North Carolina, Louisville, and Notre Dame.
  • An All-ACC second team selection last season, Nunu Agara was voted to the 10-person Preseason All-ACC Team. She was Stanford’s leading scorer (15.8 ppg) and rebounder (7.6 rpg) a season ago and is the ACC’s third-leading returning scorer (Hannah Hidalgo – Notre Dame; Kymora Johnson - Virginia) and its second-lead­ing returning rebounder (Jessica Peterson - Miami).
  • Hailee Swain and Lara Somfai landed on the six-person Preseason All-Freshman Team and Stanford was the only school with multiple players on the list. Both five-star talents, Swain was rated as the No. 8 player in the country in the Class of 2025 according to HoopGurlz and Somfai was ranked 12th. The pair were McDonald’s All-Americans, Jordan Brand Classic All-Americans and appeared at the Nike Hoop Summit – Swain for USA Basketball and Somfai on the World Roster.

WATCH LISTS »

  • Nunu Agara is one of 50 players under consideration for the 2026 Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year and one of 20 on the watch list for the 2026 Katrina McClain Award, which recognizes the top power forward in women’s college basketball.
  • She scored in double figures in 21 games last season, had six 20-point efforts and tied for eighth in the ACC with nine double-doubles.
  • Agara increased her scoring average by 10.4 points and her rebounding average by 4.7 boards over her freshman year and was one of seven major conference underclassmen to average 15.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
  • Kennedy Umeh is on the watch list for the 2026 Lisa Leslie Award, which recognizes the top center in women’s college basketball.
  • Umeh appeared in 21 games as a freshman last season, averaging 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. She collected her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in just 11 minutes against Morgan State on Nov. 22, becoming just the seventh power conference player with a double-double in 11 minutes or less since 2002-03.
  • Lara Somfai and Hailee Swain are both on the preseason watch list for the USBWA Tamika Catchings Award, which recognizes the national freshman player of the year.

SAMUELSON RETURNS TO STANFORD »

  • Karlie Samuelson, a 2017 honorable mention All-American who led the Cardinal to two Final Fours, has returned to her alma mater as an intern for the 2025-26 season.
  • Back with the program while she rehabs from a left foot injury sustained in June, Samuelson has played for six franchises across seven WNBA seasons since her graduation from Stanford with a degree in human biology in in 2017. Over 121 career games, the 6-0 guard has averaged 5.3 points and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 39.2 from deep.
  • Samuelson is the fifth Stanford alumna and WNBA veteran on staff this season, joining four Cardinal coaches in Kate Paye, Katy Steding, Erica McCall and Jeanette Pohlen.
  • Samuelson averaged career highs in points (12.4), rebounds (3.4) and assists (2.7) and personal bests in field goal percentage (.482) and 3-point field goal percentage (.485) in leading the Cardinal to the 2017 Final Four as a senior. She finished second in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage, a mark good for second in school single-season history and fifth in Pac-12 history.
  • Her 96 made 3-pointers in 2016-17 are tied with Jeanette Pohlen for second in Stanford history, tied for eighth in Pac-12 history, and her 249 career 3-pointers are fifth in the school record books. A career 44.3 percent 3-point shooter, Samuelson is second at Stanford to Jennifer Azzi, fifth in Pac-12 history and 21st in NCAA history. She ended her playing time at Stanford with the best career 3-point percentage for any Pac-12 player since 1990.

AP TOP 25 »

  • Stanford was outside the preseason AP Top 25 for the second consecutive year, the first time that’s happened since 1985-86 and 1986-87.
  • The Cardinal appeared on three ballots in the latest rankings - Alex Simon (SF Gate), Kelly Gramlich (ACC Network), Mitchell Northam (WUNC).
  • Stanford has not been ranked since Nov. 11, 2024, a stretch of 21 consecutive polls that is the program’s longest stretch since it made its debut in the rankings on Nov. 23, 1987.
  • When Stanford was ranked last season 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 is the second-most ranked team of all-time and has appeared in 646 of 887 all-time AP polls over 50 seasons (Tennessee - 796).

SUPERB STAFF »

  • Stanford boasts a roster of coaches that features four WNBA veterans, more than any other program in the country, in Kate Paye, Katy Steding, Erica McCall and Jeanette Pohlen. All are Stanford graduates.
  • Paye played 79 games for Minnesota and Seattle from 2000-02, Steding 55 games for Sacramento and Seattle in 2000 and 2001, Pohlen 148 games for Indiana from 2011-2017, and McCall 122 games for Indiana, Atlanta, Minnesota and Washington from 2017-21.

SEASON OF CHANGE »

  • After making 36 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 1988-2024, Stanford was not an at-large selection to the field in 2024-25 and appeared in the WBIT for the first time.
  • Stanford was 49th in the NET rankings ahead of Selection Sunday, the fourth-highest rated program to not make the NCAA Tournament (No. 39 Minnesota, No. 46 Virginia Tech; No. 48 UNLV).
  • The Cardinal was 50th in the final NET rankings after the completion of the NCAA Tournament.
  • With a 16-15 overall record, Stanford posted a winning record for the 38th consecutive season, the fifth-longest active streak in the country.
  • The Cardinal’s 16 wins were its fewest since 1986-87 (14) and its 8-10 conference mark was its first sub-.500 league record since the same year (8-10).
  • Stanford played in a different league for the first time since Tara VanDerveer’s first Cardinal squad played in the Pac-West in 1985-86.