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Women's Basketball

Cardinal Opens ACC Tournament Against Miami

Stanford and Hurricanes tip off at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday, March 4 on ACC Network

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THE GAME: Stanford opens the ACC Tournament against Miami on Wednesday, March 4 at 11:30 a.m. ET. Jenn Hildreth and Kelly Gramlich have the call on the ACC Network and Tim Swartz 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 March 1, 56th in Wins Above Bubble, and has played the nation’s 49th-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 (.788) ... Lara Somfai is one of six freshmen in the country averaging 10.7 points and 9.2 rebounds ... Her seven double-doubles are the most for a Stanford freshman since Chiney Ogwumike had 11 in 2010-11 ... Stanford is the only Power 4 program with multiple freshmen averaging 10.0 points per game in Lara Somfai (10.7) and Hailee Swain (10.0) ... Chloe Clardy is one of 53 players in the country averaging 11.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.0 steals, but is one of only two to do it coming primarily off the bench ... Courtney Ogden is averaging 14.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steals in the last 21 games ... Stanford's leading scorer, Nunu Agara is one of six Power 4 players averaging 15.2 points and 8.6 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. MIAMI: Stanford and Miami will meet for the second time in two weeks on Wednesday, the Hurricanes winning 66-51 at home on Feb. 19. Hailee Swain led Stanford with 16 points and Lara Somfai had a team-high 10 rebounds in defeat. Stanford cut a 12-point deficit to four early in the fourth quarter before the Hurricanes would answer with a 16-5 run. The Cardinal won at home last year, 86-69, behind 18 points from Courtney Ogden and 16 from Chloe Clardy.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY »

  • Stanford is 0-1 all-time at the ACC Tournament, losing in last year's first round to Clemson, 63-46.
  • The Cardinal went 56-8 all-time at the Pac-12 Tournament, which began in 2002, and won 15 of the 23 titles (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022).
  • Stanford was the No. 1 seed 18 times, including every year from 2002-14, and 2022-24. The Cardinal won the championship 12 times as the top seed. It also won the tournament as the No. 3 seed in 2015, and as the No. 2 seed in 2017 and 2019.

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 (3-5), Louisville (3-4) and Notre Dame (3-4) are the only ACC schools with multiple victories against the AP Top 25.
  • One more victory would give Stanford its 36th 20-win season in program history.
  • Stanford, Louisville and Syracuse are the only ACC schools with multiple nonconference wins against Power 4 conference opponents. The Cardinal has two Big Ten victories on its resume (Washington, Oregon), Louisville beat Colorado and Tennessee, and Syracuse has wins over Utah and Auburn.
  • The Cardinal is 10th nationally in free throw percentage (.788).
  • The school record for single-season free throw percentage is 80.8 in 2003-04.

RESUME COMPARISON »

  • The Cardinal is No. 42 in the NET rankings through games as of March 1 and has played the nation's 49th-toughest schedule. Stanford's NET is the best it has been since early February.
  • Stanford has a pair of Quad 1 wins over North Carolina (NET 17) and Oregon (NET 26) and has six total Quad 1 and Quad 2 victories on its resume, tied for the 33rd-most in the nation.
  • Stanford is among the first four teams out (ranked 69-72) according to Charlie Creme's latest ESPN Bracketology. Princeton, Nebraska, Colorado and Mississippi State are the last four in.
Last 4 In NET WAB SOS Q1 Q2
Princeton 38 29 80 1-1 4-1
Nebraska 25 35 17 1-10 4-0
Colorado 46 42 55 1-4 5-4
Mississippi St. 39 52 37 2-9 1-2
First 4 Out NET WAB SOS Q1 Q2
Richmond 37 47 91 0-2 3-3
Utah 55 53 46 2-2 4-8
S Dakota St. 43 46 88 1-3 5-1
Stanford 42 56 49 2-6 4-5

BALANCED ATTACK »

  • Stanford’s offense hasn’t relied on just one person this season. The Cardinal has had 110 individual double-digit scoring efforts across its 31 games with only 16 20-point performances.
  • Stanford’s 110 double-digit scoring efforts are 16th nationally, while its 16 20-point performances are tied for 102nd in the country.
  • The Cardinal has five players in double figures scoring in Nunu Agara (15.2), Courtney Ogden (12.1), Chloe Clardy (11.7), Lara Somfai (10.7) and Hailee Swain (10.0).
  • Stanford is one of 13 schools to have five players averaging at least 10.0 points per game and one of seven from a Power 4 conference along with Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan State, South Carolina, Oklahoma State and Minnesota.

START 'EM YOUNG »

  • When Nunu Agara was unavailable, Alexandra Eschmeyer started five consecutive 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:
  • The Cardinal's 67 total starts from freshmen this season (Somfai - 31; Swain - 31; Eschmeyer 5) are the fifth-most nationally behind Saint Louis (88), Middle Tennessee (88), San Francisco (83) and Akron (75). In readily available records over the past 17 seasons, the previous Stanford high for freshmen starts in a year was 41 in 2013-14.
  • Lara Somfai and Hailee Swain are currently tied with Talana Lepolo (2022-23) for eighth in program history in starts by a freshman (31). They are the first Stanford freshman duo to each start 30 games in the same season.
  • Stanford’s freshmen have been as good as advertised. The group has accounted for 837 of the Cardinal’s 2,170 points, or 38.6 percent. They’re on pace to score at least 891 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 is the only Power 4 program with multiple freshmen averaging 10.0 points per game in Lara Somfai (10.7) and Hailee Swain (10.0) and one of just eight teams nationally along with Saint Louis, Louisiana, Creighton, E. Michigan, No. Kentucky, SIU Edwardsville and Middle Tennessee.
  • Somfai (332 points) and Swain (310 points) are the first pair of Stanford freshmen to each total more than 300 points in the same season since 1987-88 (Sonja Henning, Trisha Stevens).
  • Swain scored a career-high 20 in Sunday's win over Clemson, the first 20-point performance for a Stanford freshman since Cameron Brink had 24 in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament against Oregon State on March 5, 2021. In home wins over SMU and Clemson, Swain averaged 17.0 points and shot 14-of-21 (.667) from the floor.

STRONG END TO REGULAR SEASON »

  • Stanford closed the regular season by winning its last three games, its first three-game winning streak since winning four in a row in mid to late-December against Cal, Washington, Oregon and Cornell.
  • The stretch culminated with a Quad 2, 85-50 win over Clemson (NET 44) on Sunday. The Tigers came in leading the ACC in scoring defense allowing just 58 points per game and hadn't given up more than 73 all season.
  • Coupled with an 87-57 victory over SMU to start the homestand, it was Stanford's first back-to-back, 30-point wins in conference since beating Arizona State 80-50 on Jan. 26, 2024 and Arizona 96-64 on Jan. 28, 2024 when the schools were Pac-12 members.
  • The strong finish came on the heels of a rough month in which Stanford went 1-8 from Jan. 18 (Syracuse) to Feb. 19 (Miami).
  • In the last three games, the Cardinal is shooting 52.4 percent from the floor, 33.8 percent from 3-point range, averaging 83.0 points per game, and with 55 assists against 33 turnovers (1.67 A/TO ratio).
  • During its preceding nine-game swoon, Stanford shot 37.7 percent from the field, 26.2 percent from behind the arc, averaged 65.1 points, and had 92 assists against 130 turnovers (0.71 A/TO ratio).
  • Stanford has only trailed for 12 seconds combined in its last three games and hasn't trailed for the last 117 minutes and 21 seconds of game time.
  • Stanford's win at Florida State on Feb. 22 secured a winning season for the Cardinal, the program's 39th in a row. It also snapped its second four-game losing streak of the season. Prior to this year, Stanford had not lost four consecutive games in the same season for the first time since January and February 1987.
  • Stanford has played its last 11 games without senior starting point guard Talana Lepolo and missed junior starting forward Nunu Agara for a five-game stretch in early February. Lepolo and Agara have combined for 138 career starts. The rest of the team has combined for 154 starts at Stanford.

OGDEN ON FIRE »

  • A 43.5 percent shooter as a freshman and sophomore, Courtney Ogden is making 51.7 percent this season (152-of-294) and is three makes shy of appearing in the conference rankings for field goal percentage (minimum five made per game). Her 51.7 percent clip would be seventh in the ACC.
  • In her last 21 games, the junior is averaging 14.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 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 six 20-point performances and 16 10-point performances in her last 21.
  • 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 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 69 in the country this season in which a player has scored 25 points on at least 80.0 percent shooting, but one of only 17 to come against a Power 4 opponent.

SUPERB SEASON FOR SOMFAI »

  • Freshman Lara Somfai is averaging 10.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this season, one of six freshmen in the country with those numbers.
  • She is fifth in the ACC in rebounding. 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).
  • 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.
  • Somfai is also tied for sixth in the ACC in double-doubles (7) and has the most double-doubles for a Stanford freshman since Chiney Ogwumike had a school freshman record 11 in 2010-11.
  • Against Pitt on Feb. 5, 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 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.
  • A well-rounded player, Somfai has 332 points, 284 rebounds, 47 assists, 22 blocks and 23 steals. She is tracking to become just the 12th freshman in NCAA history to total 350 points, 300 rebounds, 50 assists, 20 blocks and 20 steals and the first Power 4 freshman to do it since Stanford's Kayla Pedersen in 2007-08. The first name on the list is USC's Cheryl Miller in 1982-83. The most recent is UConn's Sarah Strong in 2024-25.

SUBER SUB »

  • Chloe Clardy is one of 53 players in the country averaging 11.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.0 steals, but 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).
  • Clardy leads eligible ACC players for Sixth Player of the Year in scoring (11.7 ppg) and steals (2.0 spg).

AGARA AGAIN »

  • Stanford’s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Nunu Agara is one of six Power 4 players averaging 15.2 points and 8.6 rebounds along with NC State's Khamil Pierre (16.8 ppg/11.9 rpg), Miami's Ra Shaya Kyle (16.5 ppg/10.3 rpg), UCLA's Lauren Betts (16.3 ppg/8.8 rpg), Kentucky's Clara Strack (16.6 ppg/10.2 rpg), and Oklahoma's Raegan Beers (15.9 ppg/10.5 rpg).
  • She is 10th in the ACC in scoring, eighth in rebounding, and ninth in field goal percentage (.461).
  • 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. Agara is one of four 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; Ja'Kahla Craft - Seton Hall).
  • A career 82.2 percent free throw shooter (227-of-276), Agara is tied for sixth in school history in that category. She leads all ACC post players at the line this season, shooting 81.3 percent (87-of-107).

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.
  • 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.

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).

UNMATCHED 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 »

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.

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.