Nonconference Closes

No. 13 Stanford (9-2)
vs. Yale (8-3)
Wednesday, Dec. 28 • 2 p.m.
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
Complete Release (PDF)
Live Stream •Available via GoStanford.com
Live Statistics •Available via GoStanford.com

THE GAMENo. 13 Stanford (9-2) closes the nonconference portion of its schedule against Yale (8-3) on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 2 p.m. Kevin Danna and Chris Fitzgerald have the call on GoStanford.com's live stream.

THE RUNDOWNStanford's all-time record is 1,013-314 (.763) ... The Cardinal is the nation's eighth-winningest program by victories and fourth by percentage ... Entering her 31st season on the bench at Stanford, Tara VanDerveer has accumulated a 989-227 record in her 37+ years as a collegiate head coach and is 11 victories away from joining Pat Summitt as the only NCAA women's basketball coaches with 1,000 career wins ... Stanford is No. 13 in the Associated Press women's basketball poll and has appeared in 294 straight ... Stanford is the country's third winningest home program the last 10 seasons by percentage (.946) ... The Cardinal is 4-0 against teams from the Ivy League since 1999-00 ... Brittany McPhee is the eighth-best shooting guard among Power 5 conference players in the country with a field goal percentage of .516 ... Erica McCall has had 23 double-doubles in her last 45 games, fifth in the country among active players since the start of 2015-16 ... She became Stanford's 37th 1,000-point scorer in last Wednesday's win at George Washington ... Karlie Samuelson is second among active NCAA players in career 3-point field goal percentage (.420) ... Stanford signed the nation's fifth-ranked recruiting class on Nov. 9, including three top-50 recruits ... Since 2007-08, Stanford has shot 11.5 percentage points better than its opponents ... Only Connecticut (+.187) and Baylor (+.132) have better differentials over that span.

VS. YALEStanford has beaten Yale in the teams' two previous meetings. The Cardinal opened its season with a 100-44 win in New Haven, Conn. on Nov. 9, 2007 behind 20 points from Jayne Appel is what was the Bulldogs' worst loss in school history. Stanford would go on to win at No. 3 Rutgers two days later and the Cardinal returned to the Final Four that season after an 11-year absence. Yale's last trip to Maples Pavilion was a 75-61 Stanford win on Jan. 11, 1979. The Bulldogs went 11-11 that season, but 6-2 in conference to win its only Ivy League championship.

CATCHING YOU UP• Stanford won its 300th game in the past decade with last Wednesday's 71-52 victory at George Washington.
• Up just one point after the first quarter, the Cardinal grabbed a stranglehold on the game with a dominant second in which it outscored the Colonials 30-9. Stanford made 11 of its 15 shots in its best offensive period of the season.
• Brittany McPhee led Stanford with 21 points and Erica McCall had 13 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.
• Early in the second quarter, McCall finished off glass to become the Cardinal's 37th 1,000-point scorer.
• Marta Sniezek, who graduated from nearby National Cathedral School, had seven points, five rebounds and three assists in her homecoming.
• Freshman Nadia Fingall, who graduated from high school in Florida but now calls the capital region home, had 11 points and six rebounds in a career-high 25 minutes.
SETTING THE STAGE• Stanford is 141-8 (.946) at home the last 10 years and one of eight schools to have more than 140 home wins during that span along with Baylor (169), Connecticut (166), Maryland (152), Ohio State (148), Notre Dame (143), North Carolina (140) and Tennessee (140).
• Its .946 home winning percentage since 2007-08 is third behind Connecticut (.971) and Baylor (.960).
• The Cardinal is 4-0 against teams from the Ivy League since 1999-00 and 2-0 at home.
• Stanford beat Cornell 93-38 in Maples on Dec. 19, 2015 and topped Princeton 85-66 on Dec. 17, 2011.
• Stanford is 20th in the nation in field goal percentage (.473), 18th in field goal percentage defense (.340) and 22nd in scoring margin (+19.4).
• Since 2007-08, Stanford has shot 11.5 percentage points better than its opponents. Only Connecticut (+.187) and Baylor (+.132) have better field goal percentage differentials over that span.
• The Cardinal is 201-7 in home games against unranked opponents this millennium with the seven losses coming against Gonzaga (2016), Santa Clara (2015), Cal (2015), Florida State (2007), USC (2001), Cal (2001) and Arizona (2001).
AMONG THE BEST EVER• Stanford's victory over Oregon State on Feb. 26, 2016 was the 1,000th in program history. With 1,013 wins, the Cardinal is the eighth-winningest program in women's college basketball history. The country's other 1,000-victory programs are Tennessee (1,306), Louisiana Tech (1,078), Connecticut (1,057), James Madison (1,050), Old Dominion (1,019), Texas (1,018) and Stephen F. Austin (1,014).
• The Cardinal's overall record since its first varsity season in 1975 is 1,013-314 (.763) and 837-176 (.826) with Tara VanDerveer at the helm.
• Stanford's .763 winning percentage is fourth all-time in Division I, trailing Tennessee (.812) and Louisiana Tech (.782) and Connecticut (.781).
MORE MILESTONES ON THE HORIZON FOR TARA• Entering her 31st season on the bench at Stanford, Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer has accumulated a 989-226 record in her 37+ years as a collegiate head coach and an 837-176 mark on The Farm. Her teams have won 20 or more games 31 times, including each of the last 15 seasons.
• In November 2013, VanDerveer became just the fifth college women's basketball coach to win 900 career games and is 11 victories shy of joining Pat Summitt as the only NCAA women's basketball coaches with 1,000 career wins.

Winningest Coaches (By Victories)

• Summitt (1,098) along with Mike Krzyzewski at Duke (1,055) and Herb Magee at Philadelphia University (1,040) on the men's side are the only college basketball coaches with 1,000 wins.
McPHIRE• Brittany McPhee is 11th in the Pac-12 averaging 14.8 points per game and has scored 20+ four times.
• McPhee along with Kristine Anigwe (Cal), Kelsey Plum (Washington), Kennedy Leonard (Colorado) and Emily Potter (Utah) are the only players in conference with four or more 20-point efforts.
• McPhee is the eighth-best shooting guard among Power 5 conference players in the country with a field goal percentage of .516. She is shooting 24.1 percent on threes (7-29) and 60.0 percent from inside the arc (57-95).
• The junior torched then-No. 8 Texas on Nov. 14 for a career-high 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting (.733) and followed that up with 22 points against Gonzaga her first back-to-back 20-point games.
• Her performance from the floor against the Longhorns was the most efficient for a Stanford guard against a ranked opponent with records dating back to 1999-00 (minimum 10 field goals made).
• Four-time All-American Candice Wiggins is second on that list, converting 55.6 percent in games against No. 16 Minnesota on Nov. 20, 2005 (10-of-18) and No. 23 UTEP on March 24, 2008 (15-of-27).
• Including McPhee, Stanford guards have made 10 field goals in a game against top-25 teams nine times since 1999-00. Wiggins has seven of them.
BIRD SOARING• Since the start of her junior year, Erica McCall is averaging 15.3 points on 50.8 percent shooting, 9.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.
• McCall and Utah's Emily Potter are the only players in the country averaging those numbers since the beginning of last season.

• Her 66 blocks last season tied for third in Stanford single-season history and her 155 career blocks rank fifth at Stanford behind Jayne Appel (278), Chiney Ogwumike (202), Val Whiting (201) and Kristen Newlin (163).
• McCall's 25 career double-doubles are tied for 15th among active NCAA players and she's had 23 in her last 45 games. Among those active players, only Alaina Coates of South Carolina (27), Nia Coffey (26) of Northwestern, Lexi Martins of George Washington (25) and Brionna Jones (24) of Maryland have had more since the start of the 2015-16 season.
• McCall, on watch lists for the Naismith Trophy, Wade Trophy and Wooden Award, became Stanford's 37th 1,000-point scorer at George Washington on Dec. 21. She is currently tied for 36th in program history with Bethany Donaphin (1,010). Next up is Angie Paccione (1,013).
TAKE AIM• Karlie Samuelson was 80-of-169 from behind the arc in 2015-16 and checked in at third in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.473). She is second in Stanford single-season history in 3-point field goal percentage behind Jennifer Azzi (.495; 1988-89) and ninth in 3-point makes (80).
• The senior is the second in career 3-point field goal percentage (.420) among active NCAA players and with 176 3-pointers made is three shy of tying Kate Starbird for 10th in Stanford history.
• Samuelson, Oregon's Lexi Bando (.466; 2015-17) and Cal's Kristin Iwanaga (.422; 2002-05) are the only Pac-12 players to shoot better than 42.0 percent from behind the arc for their career this millennium (minimum 100 3FGM).

Active 3-Point FG% Leaders

• In her last 32 games, Samuelson is 75-of-155 on 3-pointers (.484). She is currently 63rd in the country in percentage from behind the arc this season (.418).
• More than 71 percent of her career attempts are from 3-point range and more than 80 percent of her points have come on 3-pointers and free throws. Samuelson is 79-of-165 (.479) on two-point shots.
• Samuelson returned to practice on Nov. 8 for the first time in roughly six weeks after she recovered from a hairline fracture in her wrist.FINGALL FINSHES• Among freshmen in the country with a minimum of 50 field goals attempted, Nadia Fingall's .647 percentage from the floor is third nationally behind Oregon's Ruthy Hebard (.723) and Ohio State's Tori McCoy (.662).

APPLYING PRESSURE• The Cardinal finished sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.338) and ninth in blocks per game (6.0) last year. Its field goal percentage defense was third in Stanford history and its 211 total blocks set a school record.
• The Cardinal is third in the nation in field goal percentage defense the past 10 years, holding its 343 opponents to 34.5 percent shooting (7,128-of-20,679).

FG% Defense Leaders (Since 2007-08)

IN THE POLLS• Stanford is No. 13 in the AP top 25 and No. 14 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.
• It has been ranked 503 times out of 718 total AP polls since 1977 (70.1 percent), with an average positioning of 7.1. It's been in the past 294, the second-longest active streak behind Connecticut (439). Stanford has been in 302 consecutive coaches polls.
• The Cardinal's 502 all-time appearances in the AP top 25 are fourth behind Tennessee (696), Georgia (522) and Texas (508).
• Stanford was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 when the conference announced the results of the preseason coaches' poll. It's the second consecutive season Stanford has come in second in the preseason poll. The Cardinal had topped the rankings for 15 consecutive years beginning in 2000-01.
CARDINAL FOURTUNE• On Nov. 9, the Cardinal announced the signings of Maya Dodson (Alpharetta, Ga./St. Francis), Alyssa Jerome (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Harbord Collegiate), Estella Moschkau (Mount Horeb, Wisc./Edgewood) and Kiana Williams (San Antonio, Texas/Karen Wagner), a group collectively rated No. 5 by espnW HoopGurlz.

• Dodson is a five-star talent and the No. 11 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100, Moschkau is a five-star prospect rated No. 44 and Williams is a five-star point guard and the No. 8 prospect overall.
• Williams is Stanford's first top-10 recruit since Chiney Ogwumike signed as the top player in the country in Nov. 2009.
• Jerome is a veteran of Canada Basketball and represented her country this summer at the both the aforementioned FIBA U17 World Championships in Spain and the FIBA Americas U18 Championships in Valdivia, Chile.
• Dodson and Williams were named to the 50-person Naismith Trophy High School Girl's Preseason watch list on Nov. 16.
FOREVER STANFORD• It was a big summer for Stanford alumnae, headlined by Nneka Ogwumike '12 winning the 2016 WNBA MVP award and hitting the game winner in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals with 3.1 seconds left to lift the Los Angeles Sparks to the championship.
• Ogwumike is Stanford women's basketball's seventh WNBA champion and the third Cardinal to win a league most valuable player award in any sport, joining NFL quarterbacks John Brodie (San Francisco 49ers; 1970) and John Elway (Denver Broncos; 1987).
• On Oct. 17, the 2012 Stanford graduate was voted president of the WNBA players' union executive council, a post she will hold for three years. She will serve alongside her sister Chiney '14, who will serve as the organization's vice president. Jayne Appel Marinelli, who retired this September after a seven-year WNBA career with the San Antonio Stars, will begin her post-playing days as the union's Associate Director of Player Relations.

• Sebnem Kimyacioglu '05, the fifth Stanford alumna to compete in the Olympics, helped Turkey advance to the quarterfinals in the country's second appearance in women's basketball at the Games.
• Kimyacioglu was one of 39 Stanford athletes to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Cardinal contingent in Rio hailed from 10 countries and spanned 17 varsity sports. The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games resulted in a school-record 27 medals, the most of any NCAA institution.
THAT'S HIM• Those who came to a Stanford practice during the fall quarter might have recognized a familiar face in two-time All-American Casey Jacobsen, who was a practice player for both the Cardinal women and men. Jacobsen left Stanford after three seasons and was the 22nd overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. He enjoyed a five-year NBA career and also played professionally in Spain and Germany.
• Jacobsen finished his degree in communication this month and will walk with his class next June.

• He is fourth in Stanford history in points (1,723), sixth in scoring average (18.1) and fourth in 3-pointers made (222).
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM• Sophomore guard Alexa Romano was among 40 student-athletes from Stanford and Duke who traveled to one of five countries during the summer for three weeks as part of the Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement Program.
• Romano served as a coaching assistant for sports activities, taught English as a second language courses and promoted computer literacy initiatives for youth at a community center in New Delhi.

• She is in the process of copying her journal from the trip - 50 typed pages on the computer - to a leather-bound version she purchased the Dili Haat open-air craft bazaar in New Delhi.
COMMUNICATION IS KEY• VanDerveer is constantly evolving and finding new ways to push herself and do her job well depending on the makeup of her team and communication was the focus this offseason.
• In mid-September, the Cardinal spent just more than an hour in a "Championship Communication" workshop with Betsy Butterick to develop communication techniques.
• Late last spring, Stanford played water polo at the Avery Aquatic Center. The team later had conversations with football coach David Shaw and former Stanford dean Julie Lythcott-Haims, who wrote "How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success." Stanford also did a Skype session with author Jon Gordon, who wrote "The Energy Bus."
• On Nov. 10, three-time Olympic volleyball champion and current U.S. women's coach Karch Kiraly — who has done his own communication exercises with the Americans through peer evaluations — spoke to the team before he worked TV for the USC-Stanford volleyball match at Maples Pavilion.