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Women's Basketball

Cardinal Hosts Cornell to Conclude Nonconference

Stanford hosts Big Red for second-ever meeting between the two programs

Gameday Central PDF Game Notes ACCNX Listen Live Stats Tickets

THE GAME: Stanford (11-2) closes out its nonconference schedule when it hosts Cornell (4-7) on Sunday, Dec. 28 at 1 p.m. Greg Mescall and Ashlee Jones have the call on ACCNX and Kevin Danna will handle radio on GoStanford.com, the Stanford Athletics app and Learfield’s Varsity Network.

THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is No. 31 in the NET rankings through games as of Dec. 22 ... The Cardinal is coming off a 64-53 win over Oregon, its first Quad 1 victory of the season ... Stanford is one of 35 teams with a Quad 1 win ... The Cardinal is one of 15 programs that has yet to allow an opponent to score 70 points ... Stanford is 10th nationally in free throw percentage (.802) ... The Cardinal has had 48 individual double-digit scoring efforts across its 13 games with only five 20-point performances ... The Cardinal’s two losses have come by a combined seven points ... Stanford’s leading scorer and rebounder, Nunu Agara is one of eight major conference players averaging 14.6 points and 9.0 rebounds ... Lara Somfai is one of two Power 4 freshmen averaging 11.3 points and 8.9 rebounds ... Chloe Clardy is one of 43 players in the country averaging 11.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.9 steals, but is one of only two to do it coming off the bench (MiLaysia Fulwiley - LSU) ... Courtney Ogden is averaging 19.0 points on 57.5 percent shooting, 6.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists in the last three games ... Stanford has the fewest transfers on its roster among all 68 Power 4 programs (1) ... The Cardinal boasts a roster of coaches that features four WNBA veterans, more than any other program in the country.

VS. CORNELL: Stanford and Cornell have played once before, a 93-38 Cardinal victory in Maples Pavilion on Dec. 19, 2015. All 14 players on the roster saw at least nine minutes of action, none played more than 20, and 12 scored, including five in double figures, in the 55-point win. Erica McCall had 12 points and seven rebounds and Kaylee Johnson had a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double. Stanford is 5-0 against the Ivy League since 2002-03 and has scored 85+ in each game.

OPENING TIP »

  • The Cardinal is coming off a 64-53 win over Oregon (NET 25), its first Quad 1 victory of the season.
  • A game prior, Stanford beat then-No. 22 Washington 67-62 to secure its first ranked win since beating No. 13 Oregon State in the Pac-12 Tournament on March 8, 2024.
  • Stanford had lost 10 consecutive games against AP Top 25 opponents.
  • The Cardinal is 4-2 in its last six contests, and all have been “clutch games,” within five points at any time in the last five minutes.
  • Last season, the Cardinal did not win its 11th game until Jan. 30 against Pittsburgh (58-46). Its 12th win didn’t come until Feb. 13 against Syracuse (79-58).
  • The Cardinal is No. 31 in the NET rankings through games as of Dec. 22.
  • Stanford’s two losses have come by a combined seven points.
  • Stanford is one of 23 teams in the country with multiple road wins and no road losses.
  • The Cardinal is 10th nationally in free throw percentage (.802).
  • Stanford was a perfect 15-for-15 at the foul line against Lehigh on Nov. 23, tying a program record for free throw makes without a miss.
  • Stanford is fifth in the ACC and is 45th nationally in field goal percentage (.461).
  • Stanford’s offense hasn’t relied on just one person in the early going. The Cardinal has had 48 individual double-digit scoring efforts across its 13 games with only five 20-point performances.
  • Stanford’s 48 double-digit scoring efforts are tied for 18th nationally, while its five 20-point performances are tied for 140th in the country.

GETTING DEFENSIVE »

  • Stanford’s defense has held its 13 opponents to an average of 55.1 points on 35.2 percent shooting. The Cardinal is 35th in the country in scoring defense and 32nd in field goal percentage defense.
  • Stanford has limited each of its 13 opponents to fewer than 70 points, its longest stretch to open a season since 2021-22 (15).
  • The Cardinal is one of 15 programs in the country that has yet to allow an opponent to score 70 points.
  • Last season through its first 13 games, Stanford was 178th in field goal percentage defense (.407) and 189th in scoring defense (66.0) and had played five of the same opponents (Cal Poly, Washington State, Gonzaga, UC Davis, Cal).
  • Stanford finished 261st nationally in field goal percentage defense (.421) and 286th in scoring defense (69.3) last season. Prior to 2024-25 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.

OGDEN ON FIRE »

  • A 43.5 percent shooter as a freshman and sophomore, Courtney Ogden is making 58.5 percent this season (55-of-94).
  • In her last three games, all against Power 4 competition (Cal, Washington, Oregon), the junior is averaging 19.0 points on 57.5 percent shooting, 6.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
  • She had zero 20-point games in her first 72 career outings and now has a pair of 20-point performances in her last three.

ACC WEEKLY AWARDS »

  • On Dec. 15, Courtney Ogden was named ACC Co-Player of the Week and Lara Somfai was voted ACC Rookie of the Week for games played between December 8-14.
  • Ogden and Somfai were pivotal in the Cardinal’s 78-69 win to open ACC play against Cal. Ogden scored a career-high 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting and added seven rebounds, two assists and one block. Her efficient performance is one of 25 in the country this season in which a player has scored 25 points on at least 80.0 percent shooting, but only the second to come against a major conference opponent.
  • Ogden is the first Stanford player with 25 points on 80.0 percent shooting and seven rebounds since Cameron Brink against Arizona on Jan. 30, 2022 (25 points, 83.3 FG%, 15 rebounds). She became the first to have a line of 25 points, 7 rebounds, two assists, one block, and a field goal percentage of at least 80.0 percent in an ACC conference game since Georgia Tech’s Tyaunna Marshall at Virginia Tech on Jan. 23, 2014 (30 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 85.7 FG%).
  • Somfai together her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds to go with a career-high three blocks. She’s the first Stanford freshman with a 12-point, 13-rebound, 3-block game since Cameron Brink at Washington State on Jan. 27, 2021 (12 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks) and just the third to do it in records dating back to 2002-03 (also Jayne Appel).
  • Ogden and Somfai are Stanford’s third and fourth winners of ACC weekly awards this season. Nunu Agara was ACC Player of the Week on Nov. 24 and Somfai was ACC Rookie of the Week on Nov. 10. Somfai is the league’s first two-time Rookie of the Week this season.

DIDN’T MISS MUCH »

  • The Cardinal shot 66.7 percent from the floor (38-of-57) in a 98-43 win over Lehigh on Nov. 23, the third-best mark in program history.
  • Stanford shot 67.3 percent against Oregon State on Feb. 20, 2010 and 67.2 percent against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 29, 1989.
  • Stanford’s field goal percentage is the fourth best in the NCAA this year against a DI opponent. Oregon shot 67.9 percent (38-of-56) against Oregon State on Dec. 3, LSU shot 67.6 percent (50-of-74) against Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 6, and Oklahoma State shot 67.2 percent (45-of-67) against Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 6.

AGARA AGAIN »

  • One of the country’s most improved players a season ago, Nunu Agara has picked up right where she left off. She 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.
  • Stanford’s leading scorer and rebounder, Agara is one of eight major conference players averaging 14.6 points and 9.0 rebounds and one of three in the ACC (Khamil Pierre; Ra Shaya Kyle).
  • She is third in the ACC in rebounding and eighth in scoring, one of three in the top 10 in both.
  • Agara was voted ACC Player of the Week on Nov. 24 after averaging a double-double of 20.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in Stanford’s wins against UC Davis (70-45) and Lehigh (98-43). She shot 75.0 percent from the floor across the two games, making 15 of her 20 field goal attempts. It was Stanford’s first conference player of the week since Cameron Brink won Pac-12 Player of the Week on March 4, 2024.
  • Against Lehigh on Nov. 23, Agara poured in 24 points on a perfect 10-of-10 shooting, tying the school record for single-game field goal percentage. Just last year, Elena Bosgana was 10-of-10 from the floor in a win over UC San Diego on Nov. 29. Kim Kupferer was 11-of-11 from the floor in a game against Pacific on Jan. 24, 1981. She is one of three players in the country this season to be perfect from the floor when attempting at least 10 field goals (Clara Silva - TCU; Grace Oliver - Wake Forest).
  • A career 83.2 percent free throw shooter (183-of-220), Agara is fourth in school history in that category. Kelley Suminski owns the school record for career free throw percentage, making 84.3 percent from 2001-05 (minimum 200 attempts). Kiana Williams (2017-21) and Karlie Samuelson (2013-17) are tied for second (.833).

SUPERB START FOR SOMFAI »

  • Lara Somfai was selected as the Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association on Nov. 25 and is a two-time ACC Rookie of the Week.
  • She is one of two Power 4 freshmen in the country averaging 11.3 points and 8.9 rebounds (Bonnie Deas – Arkansas) and is sixth in the country in defensive rebound percentage at 31.3 percent, a metric that shows how often a player collects available defensive boards.
  • Somfai is second among major conference freshmen in the country in rebounding (Deas - 10.4) and is fourth in the ACC in rebounding and tops among the league’s freshmen.
  • She is also tied for third in the ACC in double-doubles (5) and is tied for the national lead in double-doubles among freshmen. Her five double-doubles are the most for a Stanford freshman since Kaylee Johnson had five in 2014-15.
  • Somfai had a personal best 16 boards in Stanford’s 62-60 win over previously unbeaten Colorado State on Nov. 29, the best single-game rebounding performance for a Cardinal freshman since Kaylee Johnson had 17 against Washington on Feb. 2, 2015.

SUPER SUB »

  • The leading candidate for ACC Sixth Player of the Year thus far, Chloe Clardy is one of 43 players in the country averaging 11.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.9 steals, but is one of only two to do it coming off the bench (MiLaysia Fulwiley - LSU).
  • She is one of six ACC players with those averages along with Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Kymora Johnson (Virginia), Indya Nivar (North Carolina), Taina Mair (Duke) and Dominique Darius (Syracuse).
  • Clardy is the only player in the country averaging 30.0 minutes per game off the bench (30.6). 

AS GOOD AS ADVERTISED »

  • Stanford’s freshmen McDonald’s All-Americans have been as good as advertised to start the season
  • In the Nov. 6 win over Santa Clara, Lara Somfai had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Alexandra 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 one of three schools to have multiple freshmen with double-doubles in the same game this season along with Santa Clara’s Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles and Delainey Miller against Wyoming on Nov. 14 and Middle Tennessee’s Blair Baugus and Macie Phifer against Southern Indiana on Dec. 14.
  • The Cardinal is the first Power 4 team to do it 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.
  • Hailee Swain and Somfai have been in Stanford’s starting lineup alongside upperclassmen Nunu Agara, Talana Lepolo and Courtney Ogden.
  • When Swain and Somfai started against UNC Greensboro on Nov. 3, it was the first time the Cardinal had started two freshmen in a season opener since November 17, 2000 at Saint Mary’s when Nicole Powell and Susan King were in the starting lineup.
  • The Cardinal has two freshmen averaging at least 9.0 points per game in Swain and Somfai, which is tied for the national lead with 13 other schools. Stanford, LSU, Arkansas and Mississippi are the only Power 4 schools with multiple freshmen averaging at least 9.0 points per game.
  • Hailee Swain had the best performance of her young career with season highs of 14 points and seven rebounds against No. 19 Tennessee on Dec. 3.
  • Swain is one of five freshmen to have those numbers against a ranked opponent this season along with USC’s Jazzy Davidson, who did it twice against No. 21 Washington on Dec. 7 (22 points, 12 rebounds) and at No. 24 Notre Dame on Nov. 21 (14 points, eight rebounds), Oklahoma’s Aaliyah Chavez against No. 23 Oklahoma State on Dec. 13 (15 points, seven rebounds), Marist’s Justine Henry against No. 5 LSU on Nov. 28 (21 points, eight rebounds), and Drake’s Anna Becker against No. 12 Iowa State on Nov. 20 (22 points, eight rebounds).
  • Swain is the first Cardinal freshman guard to put up 14 points and seven rebounds against a ranked opponent since Candice Wiggins against No. 6 Michigan State on March 29, 2005 (19 points, eight rebounds).
  • Somfai and Swain are both on the preseason watch list for the USBWA Tamika Catchings Award, which recognizes the national freshman player of the year.
  • Alexandra Eschmeyer is one of seven players 6-feet-5 and taller that has made multiple 3-pointers (2-of-5), along with Seattle’s Andjela Bigovic (9-of-29), NC State’s Tilda Trygger (9-of-28), Kentucky’s Clara Strack (9-of-36), Virginia’s Adeang Ring (5-of-21), Georgia Tech’s Ariadna Termis (5-of-33) and Idaho’s Lorena Barbosa (2-of-15).
  • Carly Amborn has yet to miss at Stanford, going 7-of-7 from the field, including 6-of-6 on 3-pointers. She has the most 3-point field goals made without a miss in the country this season.

LEPOLO RETURNS TO ACTION »

  • Talana Lepolo, who missed all but five games last season due to injury, led all scorers with 16 points against Santa Clara 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.
  • A career 37.5 percent 3-point shooter coming into the season (63-of-168), she is 11-of-22 from behind the arc this year (.500).

THE FOUR-EST »

  • Stanford’s junior class was huge in the Cardinal’s 65-52 road win at Gonzaga on Nov. 16.
  • Nunu Agara, Chloe Clardy, Courtney Ogden and Mary Ashley Stevenson combined to score 54 points on 56.8 percent shooting (21-of-37) and 26 rebounds in the victory.
  • Stanford erased a 12-point, first quarter deficit to collect its fifth-ever victory over Gonzaga in Spokane and the first by double digits in almost exactly a decade. The Cardinal won 65-48 on Nov. 15, 2015 behind 23 points and 13 rebounds from current assistant coach Erica McCall.
  • In this year’s win, Nunu Agara put together her 10th career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, Stanford’s first road double-double against Gonzaga since McCall’s 10 years ago.
  • Chloe Clardy had 20 points off the bench, the most for a Stanford sub since Tess Heal had 23 against Boston College on Feb. 16, 2025. 

ROAD WINS »

  • With two road wins on its first trip of the season to the Pacific Northwest, Stanford has already matched its road win total from all last year. The Cardinal went 14-4 at home in 2024-25, including 14-1 against unranked opponents, but only managed two road wins at Wake Forest on Jan. 16 and at Virginia Tech on Feb. 20.
  • Stanford was 2-9 in true road games. The Cardinal’s only other sub-.500 road record over the previous 37 seasons was in 2000-01 (6-8).

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).
  • 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 included 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
  • 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).

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.
  • Stanford has not been ranked since Nov. 11, 2024, a stretch of 27 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 Cardinal is the fourth-most ranked team of all-time and has appeared in 646 of 893 all-time AP polls over 50 seasons (Tennessee - 802, Texas - 648; UConn - 647).

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. Stanford totaled 1,041 points from 70 voters to finish sixth in the predicted order of finish 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 ESPN 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.

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.
  • While not a coach, 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. 

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.