New Year's Day at NC State

THE GAME: Stanford (12-2, 1-0) begins its first ACC trip when it plays at NC State (9-4, 2-0) on Thursday, Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. ET. Tiffany Greene and Carolyn Peck have the call on ACC Network and Brian Brownfield will handle radio on GoStanford.com, the Stanford Athletics app and Learfield’s Varsity Network.

THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is No. 35 in the NET rankings through games as of Dec. 28 ... Stanford, Louisville and and Syracuse are the only ACC schools with multiple nonconference wins against Power 4 opponents ... The Cardinal is one of 13 programs that has yet to allow an opponent to score 70 points ... Stanford is 12th nationally in free throw percentage (.796) ... The Cardinal has had 52 individual double-digit scoring efforts across its 14 games with only five 20-point performances ... The Cardinal’s two losses have come by a combined seven points ... Stanford’s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Nunu Agara is one of seven major conference players averaging 14.9 points and 8.7 rebounds ... Lara Somfai is one of three freshmen in the country averaging 11.1 points and 9.6 rebounds... Chloe Clardy is one of 41 players 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 ... Courtney Ogden is averaging 18.0 points on 58.0 percent shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 steals in the last four 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. NC STATE: The Cardinal is 2-3 all-time against NC State, its last win coming on Dec. 3, 1994 in Raleigh, 78-63. The two wouldn’t meet for 30 years until No. 3 seed NC State knocked out No. 2 seed Stanford in the 2024 Sweet 16 in Portland on March 29, 77-67, in what was ultimately Tara VanDerveer’s last game as head coach. The Wolfpack won the first ACC meeting between the two schools in Maples Pavilion last Jan. 12, 81-67. Chloe Clardy scored 17 and Nunu Agara had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

OPENING TIP »

• Stanford wrapped up its nonconference slate with an 82-50 victory over Cornell on Sunday.
• The Cardinal has won four straight, including victories over former Pac-12 foes in then-No. 22 Washington (67-62) and Oregon (64-53).
• Stanford, Louisville and and Syracuse are the only ACC schools with multiple nonconference wins against Power 4 conference opponents. The Cardinal has its two Big Ten victories on its resume, Louisville beat Colorado and Tennessee, and Syracuse has wins over Utah and Auburn.
• Stanford’s win over the Ducks (NET 25) was its first Quad 1 victory of the season. The Cardinal is one of 37 teams with a Quad 1 win.
• Stanford’s win over the Huskies was its first against a ranked opponent since beating No. 13 Oregon State on March 8, 2024. The Cardinal had lost 10 consecutive games against the AP Top 25.
• The Cardinal has won 12 games this season. Last season, Stanford did not win its 12th game until Feb. 13 against Syracuse (79-58). Its 13th win didn’t come until Feb. 16 against Boston College (80-75).
• The Cardinal is No. 35 in the NET rankings through games as of Dec. 28.
• 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 12th nationally in free throw percentage (.796).
• Stanford is fourth in the ACC and is 36th nationally in field goal percentage (.465).
• Stanford’s offense hasn’t relied on just one person in the early going. The Cardinal has had 52 individual double-digit scoring efforts across its 14 games with only five 20-point performances.
• Stanford’s 52 double-digit scoring efforts are tied for 16th nationally, while its five 20-point performances are tied for 142nd in the country.
• Head coach Kate Paye had one career double-double as a player at Stanford, going for 17 points and 11 rebounds against NC State in Reynolds Coliseum on Dec. 3, 1994, a 78-63 Cardinal win. 

ON THE ROAD »

• With two road wins on its first trip of the season to the Pacific Northwest in mid-November, 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 last year. The Cardinal’s only other sub-.500 road record over the previous 37 seasons was in 2000-01 (6-8).

 GETTING DEFENSIVE »

• Stanford’s defense has held its 14 opponents to an average of 54.7 points on 35.1 percent shooting. The Cardinal is 32nd in the country in scoring defense and 28th in field goal percentage defense.
• Stanford has limited each of its 14 opponents to fewer than 70 points, its longest stretch to open a season since 2021-22 (15).
• The Cardinal is one of 13 programs in the country that has yet to allow an opponent to score 70 points.
• Stanford has been able to lock up its opponents without fouling. The Cardinal averages just 13.2 fouls per game, the 16th-fewest in the country.
• Of its 122 steals this season, 39 have come in Stanford’s last three games (32.0 percent), 11 each against Washington and Oregon and 17 against Cornell.
• Last season through its first 14 games, Stanford was 158th in field goal percentage defense (.395) and 190th in scoring defense (64.2) 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.

OGDEN ON FIRE »

• A 43.5 percent shooter as a freshman and sophomore, Courtney Ogden is making 58.7 percent this season (61-of-104).
• In her last four games, three against Power 4 competition (Cal, Washington, Oregon), the junior is averaging 18.0 points on 58.0 percent shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 steals.
• She had zero 20-point games in her first 72 career outings and now has a pair of 20-point performances in her last four.
• She was named ACC Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 15 after scoring a career-high 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting to go with seven rebounds, two assists and one block in the Cardinal’s 78-69 win to open ACC play against Cal.
• Her efficient performance is one of 27 in the country this season in which a player has scored 25 points on at least 80.0 percent shooting, but one of only two 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%).

SUPERB START FOR SOMFAI »

• Lara Somfai won her third ACC Rookie of the Week award on Monday following a nine-point, 18-rebound performance in the win over Cornell.
• Her 18 boards are the most for a Stanford freshman since Kaylee Johnson had 22 against Santa Clara on Dec. 14, 2014. They are also tied for the most in a single game by any freshman in the country this season (against DI opponents). San Diego’s Ayla Williams had 18 against Utah State on Dec. 7.
• Somfai is averaging a team-high 9.6 rebounds per game this season, good for third in the ACC. No ACC freshman has averaged 9.0 rebounds for an entire season since North Carolina’s Janelle Bailey in 2017-18 (9.1).
• The Rookie of the Week award is Somfai’s third of the year, which ties a program record. Haley Jones was a three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in 2019-20 and Kaylee Johnson was a three-time winner in 2014-15. The Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award began in 2012-13.
• She is one of three freshmen in the country averaging 11.1 points and 9.6 rebounds (Bonnie Deas – Arkansas; Lauren Whittaker - Gonzaga) and is fifth in the country in defensive rebound percentage at 32.7 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 - 10.5).
• She is also tied for third in the ACC in double-doubles (5) and is tied for second nationally in double-doubles among freshmen. Her five double-doubles are the most for a Stanford freshman since Kaylee Johnson had five in 2014-15.

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 fifth best in the NCAA this year against a DI opponent. Vanderbilt shot 69.8 percent against Stonehill on Dec. 28, Oregon shot 67.9 percent against Oregon State on Dec. 3, LSU shot 67.6 percent against Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 6, and Oklahoma State shot 67.2 percent 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 second-leading rebounder, Agara is one of seven major conference players averaging 14.9 points and 8.7 rebounds and one of three in the ACC (Khamil Pierre; Ra Shaya Kyle).
• She is fifth in the ACC in rebounding and seventh 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 82.9 percent free throw shooter (184-of-222), Agara is tied with Nicole Powell (2001-04) for 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).

SUPER SUB »

• The leading candidate for ACC Sixth Player of the Year thus far, Chloe Clardy is one of 41 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 have been as good as advertised to start the season. The group has accounted for 376 of the Cardinal’s 1,020 points, or 36.9 percent. They’re on pace to score 832 combined points this season, which would be the most for a Stanford freshman class since 1994-95 when Naomi Mulitauaopele (240), Kristin Folkl (227), Heather Owen (177), Olympia Scott (141), Vanessa Nygaard (94) and Regan Freuen (29) combined for 908 points.
• The Cardinal has two freshmen averaging at least 9.6 points per game in Swain and Somfai, which is tied for the national lead with 10 other schools. Stanford, LSU, Arkansas and Mississippi are the only Power 4 schools with multiple freshmen averaging at least 9.6 points per game.
• Hailee Swain and Lara 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.
• 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 six 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), Cal Baptist’s Lauren Olsen against No. 23 Nebraska on Dec. 21 (17 points, eight rebounds), Marist’s Justine Henry against No. 5 LSU on Nov. 28 (21 points, eight rebounds), Drake’s Anna Becker against No. 12 Iowa State on Nov. 20 (22 points, eight rebounds).
• Swain is the first Cardinal freshman guard with 14 points and seven rebounds against a ranked opponent since Candice Wiggins against No. 6 Michigan St. on March 29, 2005 (19 points, eight rebounds).

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 12-of-25 from behind the arc this year (.480).

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.

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).

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. 

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.

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.

HOME OF CHAMPIONS »

• Stanford has won at least one NCAA team title in each of the past 49 years (dating back to the 1976-77 campaign), the longest streak in NCAA history.
• Stanford leads the NCAA with 137 team titles, including two national team championships during the 2024-25 campaign - women’s water polo and women’s rowing, increasing its overall total to 173.
• Stanford is one of six schools with at least one national championship in football, baseball, and men’s basketball, and the only school with at least one in football, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball.
• From 1995-2019, Stanford won 25 straight Division I Learfield Sports Directors’ Cups. The Cardinal enters the 2025-26 year with 26 of the 31 total Directors’ Cups, most recently capturing the award during the 2022-23 season.