THE GAME: Stanford opens its home slate when it hosts Saint Mary's on Wednesday, November 4 at 7 p.m. Tim Swartz and Mary Murphy have the call on ACCNX and Greg Wong will handle radio on GoStanford.com, the Stanford Athletics app and Learfield’s Varsity Network.
THE RUNDOWN: Stanford has won 27 consecutive home openers and has not lost its first game of a season in Maples Pavilion since November 1998 ... During the nonconference, Stanford will play five Power 4 opponents and five true road games, the only Power 4 school to hit both of those marks ... The Cardinal's five Power 4 opponents in the nonconference trails only South Carolina (8), Oklahoma (6), USC (6) and UCLA (6) ... Stanford's 12-person roster includes four freshmen, four sophomores and four juniors ... The Cardinal is one of three Power 4 programs without a senior or fifth-year on its roster along with Boston College and BYU ... Stanford returns 25.8 percent of its scoring, 22.4 percent of its rebounding and 29.9 percent of its minutes from a season ago ... Seven newcomers are on the roster in 2026-27, including transfers Ilse de Vries, Inés Sotelo Míguez and Charlotte Tuhy ... de Vries (Netherlands) and Sotelo Míguez (Spain) are the first Dutch and Spanish players in program history ... On Saturday night, Ashten Prechtel won a WNBA championship with the Golden State Valkyries, becoming Stanford’s eighth WNBA champion all-time and first since Nneka Ogwumike with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016 ... Prechtel, a 2021 NCAA champion with the Cardinal, joins Sonja Henning, a 1990 national champion, as Stanford alumnae to win both NCAA and WNBA titles ... Henning won her pro championship with the Houston Comets in 1999.
VS. SAINT MARY'S: Stanford is 5-1 all-time against Saint Mary's, but the two teams haven't met in more than a quarter century. The Gaels won the last meeting in Moraga on November 17, 2000, 74-63, a season opener in which Stanford started a pair of freshmen in Nicole Powell and Susan King. The Cardinal won the first five games in the series, including all four inside Maples Pavilion. Wednesday will be Saint Mary's first visit to The Farm since December 27, 1999, a 77-65 Stanford victory in which Bethany Donaphin, the current head of league operations for the WNBA, scored a game-high 21 and had seven rebounds.
HOME OPENERS »
- The Cardinal has won 27 consecutive home openers.
- Stanford hasn’t dropped its first game of a season in Maples since falling to No. 24 Illinois, 76-58, on Nov. 19, 1998.
ARIZONA RECAP »
- Hailee Swain scored a career-high 21 points and Shay Ijiwoye added 14, but Stanford dropped its season opener to Arizona in the Hall of Fame Series at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Monday, 84-69.
- Swain’s career day came on 8-of-13 shooting and she also had six boards, two assists and two steals. Ijiwoye’s 14 were just one of her career high. She shot 5-of-10 from the floor and both starting guards knocked down two 3-pointers.
- Inés Sotelo Míguez had nine points and tied Swain with a team-high six rebounds in her first start for Stanford, while Nora Ezike came off the bench to score a career-high eight on 4-of-8 shooting.
- The loss was Stanford’s first in a season opener since Nov. 10, 2017 at No. 5 Ohio State, 85-64.
- The Cardinal tied a school-record with 30 turnovers.
EARLY OPPORTUNITIES »
- During the nonconference, Stanford will play five Power 4 opponents and five true road games, the only Power 4 school to hit both of those marks.
- The Cardinal is tied with Louisville and Tennessee for the most nonconference true road games among Power 4 schools (5) and its five Power 4 opponents in the nonconference trails only South Carolina (8), Oklahoma (6), USC (6) and UCLA (6).
- The average Power 4 program plays just 1.87 true road games and 3.01 Power 4 opponents during the nonconference portion of its schedule.
YOUNG & HUNGRY »
- Hailee Swain’s one word to describe the upcoming season when asked at ACC Tipoff: ‘hungry.’
- Stanford's 12-person roster includes four freshmen, four sophomores and four juniors.
- The Cardinal is one of three Power 4 programs without a senior or fifth-year on its roster along with Boston College and BYU.
STRONG WNBA LEGACY »
- It was yet another incredible year for Cardinal women’s basketball alumnae in the WNBA. Madame President, Nneka Ogwumike, was enthusiastically celebrated over the final month of the season after announcing her retirement on August 19, and Ashten Prechtel ’23 and Nadia Fingall ’20 both made their WNBA debuts for the Golden State Valkyries, upping Stanford’s total of WNBA pros to 36.
- Prechtel, who occupied one of the Valkyries' player development roster spots, is Stanford’s eighth WNBA champion, joining Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks, 2016), Jeanette Pohlen (Indiana Fever, 2012), Candice Wiggins (Minnesota Lynx, 2011), Brooke Smith (Phoenix Mercury, 2009), Nicole Powell (Sacramento Monarchs, 2005), Olympia Scott (Phoenix Mercury, 2007; Sacramento Monarchs, 2005) and Sonja Henning (Houston Comets, 1999). She joins Sonja Henning, a 1990 national champion, as Stanford alumnae to win both NCAA and WNBA titles.
- Fingall was waived by the Valkyries in late September before the start of the playoffs so that she could join her team in Spain, Zaragoza, before the start of their season on October 4.
- In total, nine Cardinal played in the WNBA this season - Cameron Brink (Los Angeles Sparks), Nadia Fingall (Golden State Valkyries), Lexie Hull (Indiana Fever), Haley Jones (Portland Fire, Dallas Wings), Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks), Ashten Prechtel (Golden State Valkyries), Karlie Samuelson (Portland Fire), Alanna Smith (Dallas Wings) and Kiana Williams (Phoenix Mercury, Los Angeles Sparks, Toronto Tempo).