Cardinal Hosts the Hokies

THE GAME: Stanford (16-9, 5-7 ACC) hosts Virginia Tech (18-7, 8-5 ACC) on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. Tim Swartz and Ashlee Jones have the call on ACCNX and Brian Brownfield will handle radio on GoStanford.com, the Stanford Athletics app and Learfield’s Varsity Network.

THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is No. 42 in the NET rankings through games as of Feb. 5, 46th in Wins Above Bubble (+1.43), and has played the nation’s 37th-toughest schedule ... Stanford, Louisville and Syracuse are the only ACC schools with multiple nonconference wins against Power 4 opponents ... Stanford is 10th nationally in free throw percentage (.790) ... The Cardinal has had 88 individual double-digit scoring efforts this season with only 10 20-point performances ... Lara Somfai is one of three freshmen in the country averaging 10.4 points and 9.4 rebounds ... Her six double-doubles are the most for a Stanford freshman since Chiney Ogwumike had 11 in 2010-11 ... Chloe Clardy is one of 41 players in the country averaging 11.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals, but is one of only two to do it coming primarily off the bench ... Courtney Ogden is averaging 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals in the last 15 games ... The Cardinal's leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Nunu Agara is one of six Power 4 players averaging 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds ... Stanford has the fewest transfers on its roster among all 68 Power 4 programs ... The Cardinal boasts a roster of coaches that features four WNBA veterans, more than any other program in the country.

VS. VIRGINIA TECH: Stanford and Virginia Tech will meet for the second time on Thursday and first time on The Farm. The Cardinal won on the road last year in overtime, 75-74, behind a career-high 30 points from Chloe Clardy. Clardy also added five assists and three steals to become the first Stanford guard with 30+ points and 5+ assists in a game since current assistant coach Jeanette Pohlen had 31 and six in the Cardinal’s 71-59 upset of No. 1 UConn on Dec. 30, 2010.

OPENING TIP »

• Stanford picked up its second ranked win of the season on Jan. 4, knocking off then-No. 16 North Carolina on the road in overtime, 77-71. It was the Cardinal's first Top 25 win on the road since a 67-63 result at No. 11 Oregon State on Feb. 29, 2024.
• Coupled with a 67-62 home win over then-No. 22 Washington on Dec. 19, the Cardinal is 2-2 against the AP Top 25 this season. Prior to the victory over the Huskies, Stanford had lost 10 consecutive games against ranked opponents.
• Stanford (2-2), Duke (2-4), Louisville (3-4) and Notre Dame (2-2) are the only ACC schools with multiple victories against the AP Top 25.
• The Cardinal has already matched its win total from all last season when it went 16-15. The team's 16th victory last season didn't come until March 2 against Georgia Tech (87-82).
• Stanford, Louisville 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.
• The Cardinal is 10th nationally in free throw percentage (.790) and 27th in rebound margin (+7.9).
• The school record for single-season free throw percentage is 80.8 in 2003-04.
• Stanford’s offense hasn’t relied on just one person this season. The Cardinal has had 88 individual double-digit scoring efforts across its 25 games with only 10 20-point performances.
• Stanford’s 88 double-digit scoring efforts are tied for 23rd nationally, while its 10 20-point performances are tied for 166th in the country. 

RESUME COMPARISON »

• The Cardinal is No. 42 in the NET rankings through games as of Feb. 10 and is 46th in the country in the NCAA’s new Wins Above Bubble (WAB) ranking at +0.46, a results-based assessment that shows how many more (or fewer) wins a team has than an average bubble team would have against the exact same schedule. It does not factor in margin of victory or efficiency, only results.
• Stanford has a pair of Quad 1 wins over North Carolina (NET 19) and Oregon (NET 23). The Cardinal is one of 38 teams with multiple Quad 1 wins. As it currently stands, the Cardinal has zero Quad 1 games left on its schedule. It has four Quad 2, one Quad 3 and one Quad 4.
• The Cardinal has five Quad 1 and Quad 2 victories on its resume, tied for the 28th-most in the nation.
• Stanford is among the last four teams in according to Charlie Creme's latest ESPN Bracketology along with Virginia Tech, Clemson and Virginia, three teams which it will face in its final six of the regular season.

Team	NET	WAB	SOS	Q1	Q2
Stanford	42	46	37	2-5	3-2
Virginia Tech	44	47	65	1-4	3-2
Clemson	39	41	52	2-7	1-0
Virginia	36	53	67	0-5	2-1

START 'EM YOUNG »

• With Nunu Agara unavailable, Alexandra Eschmeyer has started the last four games alongside fellow freshmen Hailee Swain and Lara Somfai, and juniors Chloe Clardy and Courtney Ogden.
• Prior to the game against Louisville on Jan. 29, Eschmeyer's first start, Stanford had only started three freshmen in the same game three times in available records dating back to 1985-86:
  • January 18, 1992 vs. UCLA - Rachel Hemmer, Anita Kaplan, Tanda Rucker
  • March 5, 1988 at USC - Sonja Henning, Trisha Stevens, Celeste Lavoie
  • March 5, 1987 vs. Oregon - Jennifer Azzi, Katy Steding, Stacy Parson
• There are only four schools in the country that regularly start three true freshmen, and all are mid-majors: Middle Tennessee, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Akron.
• Stanford is one of three Power 4 schools that has started three true freshmen in at least four games this season. Kansas State (4) started three in three games in November and one in January, and Wake Forest (5) started three twice in early January and in its last three games against Duke, SMU and North Carolina.

OF LATE »

• Since its resume win at North Carolina on Jan. 4, Stanford is 3-6 over the past month and has not beaten a top-130 NET team. All three of those wins have been Quad 4: Wake Forest, Boston College, Pittsburgh.
• Over those nine games, the Cardinal has averaged 65.7 points on 39.2 percent shooting compared to 71.4 points on 45.4 percent shooting in the season's first 16 games.
• During those nine games, Stanford opponents have averaged 67.8 points on 43.0 percent. In the 16 games to start the year, those numbers were 56.9 points and a field goal percentage of 36.4.
• Stanford has played its last five games without senior starting point guard Talana Lepolo and the last four full games without junior starting forward Nunu Agara. Agara was injured late in the game at Cal on Jan. 25 and has not returned.
• Lepolo and Agara have combined for 133 career starts. The rest of the team has combined for 129 starts at Stanford.
• Prior to last Thursday's victory at Pittsburgh, Stanford had lost four consecutive games in the same season for the first time since January and February 1987.
• Its last four-game losing streak of any kind was the final game of 1997-98 season (Harvard) and the first three games of 1998-99 (Arkansas, Duke, Illinois).
• The Cardinal has also lost its last three at home for the first time in 40 years. As part of a nine-game winless skid late in the 1985-86 season, the Cardinal lost four straight in Maples to UCLA, USC, Fresno State and Cal.

OGDEN ON FIRE »

• A 43.5 percent shooter as a freshman and sophomore, Courtney Ogden is making 53.3 percent this season (120-of-225). She is five makes shy of appearing in the national rankings for field goal percentage (minimum five made per game). Her 53.3 percent clip would be tied for 42nd in the country.
• In her last 15 games, the junior is averaging 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals. In the season's first 10 games she averaged 7.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.8 steals.
• She had zero 20-point games and 14 10-point games in her first 72 career outings and now has five 20-point performances and 11 10-point performances in her last 15.
• Against Notre Dame on Feb. 1, Ogden registered her first career double-double with 23 points and 10 boards, and she had another 23 points and a career-high eight assists last Thursday at Pitt.
• Ogden is the first Stanford player with 23 points and eight assists since Kiana Williams had 25 and eight against UCLA on Feb. 7, 2020.
• On Jan. 15 at Boston College, she had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists, the first Stanford player with that line in a road game since Cameron Brink had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists at Utah on Feb. 25, 2023.
• 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 61 in the country this season in which a player has scored 25 points on at least 80.0 percent shooting, but one of only 12 to come against a major conference opponent. 

SUPERB START FOR SOMFAI »

• Lara Somfai was selected ACC Rookie of the Week for the fourth time on Monday after averaging 17.0 points, 16.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in Stanford’s road trip to Pitt and Georgia Tech..
• Against Pitt on Thursday, Somfai went for 15 points, 23 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and three blocks, becoming just the second player in NCAA history with those numbers in available records dating back to 2002-03 and the only freshman. Illinois-Chicago’s Ruvanna Campbell had the exact same line against Northern Illinois on Nov. 17, 2014.
• Somfai’s 23 boards are an ACC freshman record, the most by a major conference freshman in the country this season, and the most for an ACC player since Sarah Imovbioh (Virginia) had 24 against Ohio State on Nov. 14, 2014. Her rebounding total is tied for third in Stanford history, trailing only 24-rebound performances from Cameron Brink at Oregon State on Feb. 29, 2024 and Chiney Ogwumike against Oregon on Feb. 24, 2013.
• Somfai followed that up with a career-high 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists and one block on Sunday at Georgia Tech. She’s the only freshman with that line in a game this season and the first ACC freshman to do it since Hannah Hidalgo in Dec. 2023.
• Somfai is averaging a team-high 9.4 rebounds per game this season, good for fourth 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 Stanford record for freshman rebounding average is held by Kaylee Johnson in 2014-15 (9.6).
• Somfai is eighth in the country in defensive rebound percentage at 30.1 percent, a metric that shows how often a player collects available defensive boards.
• Her four conference Rookie of the Week awards are the most in program history. 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.
• Also putting up 10.4 points per game, Somfai is one of three freshmen in the country averaging 10.4 points and 9.4 rebounds along with Gonzaga's Lauren Whittaker (19.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg) and American's Charlotte Tuhy (11.1 ppg, 11.1 rpg).
• She is also tied for fifth in the ACC in double-doubles (6) and has the most double-doubles for a Stanford freshman since Chiney Ogwumike had a school freshman record 11 in 2010-11. 

ESCHMEYER'S EMERGENCE »

• Freshman Alexandra Eschmeyer scored a career-high 16 points and had seven rebounds and four blocks in the Jan. 25 game at Cal, becoming the first Cardinal freshman with 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in a game since Cameron Brink against Oregon State on March 5, 2021 (24p, 11r, 4b) and just the fourth since 2002-03, joining Brink, Kayla Pedersen and Jayne Appel.
• In her last 10 games, she is averaging 7.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks after putting up 4.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in her first 15 outings.
• Eschmeyer had 11 rebounds and a career-high six blocks in the victory over Wake Forest on Jan. 8.
• Her six blocks against Wake Forest were the most for a Stanford player since Cameron Brink had seven in the 2024 Sweet 16 against NC State and the most for a Cardinal freshman since Brink had six in the 2021 Final Four against South Carolina. She’s the first Stanford freshman with 11 rebounds and six blocks in available records dating back to 2002-03 and one of four freshmen in the country to have those numbers in a game this season along with Maddison Krug (Lafayette), Alyssa Koerkenmeier (Saint Louis) and Avril Smith (Omaha).
• The only other Stanford players with 11 rebounds and six blocks in records dating back to 2002-03 include Cameron Brink (nine times), Alanna Smith (two times), Chiney Ogwumike and Jayne Appel.

CLARDY PARTY »

• Chloe Clardy is one of 41 players in the country averaging 11.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals, but is one of only two to do it coming off primarily off the bench (MiLaysia Fulwiley - LSU).
• She is one of three ACC players with those averages along with Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) and Kymora Johnson (Virginia).

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 six Power 4 players averaging 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds along with Oklahoma's Raegan Beers, Kentucky's Clara Strack, Miami's Ra Shaya Kyle, NC State's Khamil Pierre and Penn State's Gracie Merkle.
• 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 82.7 percent free throw shooter (205-of-248), Agara is fifth in school history in that category.

AS GOOD AS ADVERTISED »

• Stanford’s freshmen have been as good as advertised to start the season. The group has accounted for 659 of the Cardinal’s 1,734 points, or 38.0 percent. They’re on pace to score 870 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 9.5 points per game in Hailee Swain (9.5) and Lara Somfai (10.4), which is tied for the national lead with eight other schools. Stanford and LSU are the only Power 4 schools with multiple freshmen averaging at least 9.5 points per game.
• Hailee Swain and Lara Somfai have started in every one of Stanford's 25 games this season.
• Stanford, Saint Louis and Youngstown State are the only schools in the country with two freshmen that have started 24 games.
• Somfai and Swain are two of only eight freshmen that have started at least 25 games for Stanford in the past 17 seasons and are the only set of Cardinal first-year teammates to do it in the same season over that span. 

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 fourth in the ACC in returning points (Duke - 67.7%, Virginia 61.6%, Virginia Tech 54.7%), second in returning rebounds (Duke - 64.1%), fourth 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).

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.

FIRST CLASS »

• Kate Paye’s first signing class as head coach was rated No. 3 nationally and 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).

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.

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 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.
• 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.