STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford closed out the 2023-24 season with a 30-6 overall record and its 27th conference championship with a 15-3 mark in the Pac-12. The Cardinal made its 36th consecutive NCAA postseason appearance, advancing to its 29th Sweet 16. Stanford finished the season ranked No. 9 in the final AP Top 25.
SWEET 16 WRAP
• Stanford made its 29th overall trip to the Sweet 16 in 2023-24.
• The Cardinal was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time.
• Stanford earned its 36th consecutive and 37th overall NCAA Tournament bid after earning an at-large bid on Selection Sunday.
• Since its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1982, Stanford has won three national championships (1990, 1992, 2021), reached 15 Final Fours (1990-92, 1995-97, 2008-12, 2014, 2017, 2021-22), 22 Elite Eights, 29 Sweet 16s and compiled an NCAA Tournament record of 102-34 (.750).
FIRST TWO ROUNDS
• Tara VanDerveer recorded her 100th NCAA Tournament victory and Stanford reach the 30-win plateau for the 18th time with a thrilling, 87-81 overtime victory over Iowa State in the second round on March 24.
• In a game that featured 12 ties and 18 lead changes, Iowa State led for 20:48, Stanford for 14:56, and the largest lead for either team was seven.
• Stanford was led by Kiki Iriafen, who scored a career-high 41 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.
• Iriafen's 41 points were a single-game high in the Tournament, and tied for the ninth-most in NCAA Tournament history. The point total is tied for sixth in Stanford single-game history and the most for the Cardinal since Nneka Ogwumike had 42 against Tennessee on Dec. 20, 2011.
• Iriafen joined fellow Cardinal Jayne Appel as the only DI players with 41 points and 16 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game in the past 25 years. Appel had 46 and 16, also against Iowa State, in the Elite Eight on March 30, 2009.
• Cameron Brink also broke her own single-season school record for blocks in the win over the Cyclones. She finished with 127 in 2023-24, besting last year's 118.
• The Cardinal won its 24th consecutive NCAA Tournament first-round game, beating Norfolk State on March 22, 79-50.
• Elena Bosgana scored a career-high 18 points and Iriafen reached the 1,000-point milestone in the victory. Stanford is 13-0 when Bosgana scores in double figures in her career.
• Brink (17 points, 15 rebounds, six blocks) recorded what was her sixth consecutive double-double, Stanford's longest streak since Chiney Ogwumike in 2014.
PAC-12 FAREWELL
• Following losses by Oregon State and USC, Stanford's Feb. 25 victory over Arizona State clinched the Cardinal a share of its fourth consecutive and 27th overall Pac-12 regular-season title in the league's 38 seasons.
• Stanford's win at No. 11 Oregon State on Feb. 29 secured the regular-season title outright.
• In 2024-25, Stanford will begin play in a new conference for the first time since Tara VanDerveer’s first Cardinal squad played in the Pac-West in 1985-86.
• Left behind is a program lineage that includes 27 Pac-12 regular-season championships, 15 Pac-12 Tournament titles and a 594-90 (.868) Pac-12 record.
• Stanford is 27-12 all-time against current members of the ACC (not including Cal or SMU).
CHANGE AT THE TOP
• Following the season on April 9, Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement after 38 seasons at Stanford.
• In 45 years as a head coach at Idaho (1978-80), Ohio State (1980-85) and Stanford (1985-95, 1996-2024), VanDerveer amassed an NCAA-record 1,216 victories. In 38 seasons at Stanford, she led the Cardinal to three NCAA championships – 1990, 1992 and 2021 – and 14 Final Fours.
• One week later on April 16, Kate Paye was named VanDerveer's successor.
• The 50-year-old Paye has been part of two of Stanford’s three national championships – as a player on the 1992 team and an associate head coach for the 2021 squad.
• One of the most respected assistant coaches in college basketball and a two-time WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year, she spent 17 years on Tara VanDerveer’s staff and was promoted to associate head coach in 2016.
ONLY HER
• In a win over Oregon State on Jan. 21, Tara VanDerveer won her 1,203rd career game, breaking a tie with Mike Krzyzewski to become the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history (men’s or women’s).
• VanDerveer won her 1,000th career game on February 3, 2017 and passed Pat Summitt (1,098) to become the winningest coach in women's college basketball history on Dec. 15, 2020.
•One of four coaches in the history of the sport to win three national titles, her teams won 20 or more games a record 39 times, including each of the last 23 seasons. VanDerveer has coached a team to 30 wins 18 times.
•Through her 45 seasons, VanDerveer averaged 27 victories and just six losses per year.
•She had one losing season, her first at Stanford when the team went 13-15 in 1985-86 after going 9-19 the year before.
•VanDerveer is not credited with any wins, conference championships or Final Four appearances from Stanford's 1995-96 season when she stepped away to serve as USA Basketball National Team head coach. The Cardinal went 29-3 that season and advanced to the Final Four.
AN ALL-TIME GREAT
• Cameron Brink became the 31st Stanford player to hear her named called in the WNBA Draft when the Los Angeles Sparks selected her with the second overall pick on April 15 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. Brink is the program's 15th first-round selection and highest pick since Chiney Ogwumike went No. 1 overall to the Connecticut Sun in 2014.
• A three-time All-American and two-time National Defensive Player of the Year, Brink was the only player in the country to average 17.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game this season and just the ninth major conference player to do that since 1999-2000. She finished with a PER of 45.75, the best mark for a major conference player since 2018-19.
• Brink's 424 career blocks are the 14th most in NCAA history and her national-best 3.74 blocks per game average this season were the most by a major conference player since 2020-21. She was fifth nationally in rebounds per game, averaging a team-best 11.9, the third best in program history behind Chiney Ogwumike in both 2012-13 (12.9) and 2013-14 (12.1).
• Her 127 blocks this season broke her own school record from last year (118) and are the third-most in Pac-12 history. When she arrived on campus, Jayne Appel held Stanford's career (273) and single-season (84) blocked shots records. Brink's 88 blocks as a freshman were her fewest at Stanford.
• Using College Basketball Reference advanced metrics, she topped all DI players in defensive box plus/minus (9.9), total rebound percentage (24.6) and block percentage (13.8). Her defensive rating of 69.9 was second.
• Brink's career totals of 1,892 points, 1,223 rebounds, 226 assists and 424 blocks make her the third player with 1,800 points, 1,200 rebounds, 200 assists and 400 blocks in the past 25 years along with Brittney Griner (Baylor) and Courtney Paris (Oklahoma). This year, she also became the first college player with 500 points, 300 rebounds and 100 blocks in back-to-back seasons since UConn's Breanna Stewart (2014-16).
• Brink entered last season shooting just 62.7 percent in her career from the free throw line, but shot 84.8 percent (156-of-184) as a junior and ended the year with a program-record 48-straight makes.
• After going 25-of-25 at the line to start this season, her first miss in 284 days came on the second of two free throws at 9:26 in the second quarter of a 74-55 win over Belmont on Nov. 22.
• Brink’s streak of 73 consecutive free throws made is the second-longest in DI history. The NCAA record is 75, set by North Dakota State’s Michelle Gaislerova from Dec. 30, 2018 to Feb. 23, 2020.
• At No. 11 Oregon State on Feb. 29, Brink had 25 points and tied the Stanford single-game record with 24 rebounds (Chiney Ogwumike). In doing so, she became the first player to have 25 points and 24 rebounds on the road against a ranked team in records dating back 25 seasons.
• Brink had 19 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks against No. 15 USC on Feb. 2 and 19 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks against No. 7 UCLA on Feb. 4. She became the third DI player to have consecutive 15-point, 15-rebound, 7-block games in available records dating back to 1999-00, and the only one to do it against Top 25 opponents. Middle Tennessee's Cheyenne Parker did it on Jan. 29 and 31, 2015 and UC Riverside's Kemie Nkele did it on Jan. 6 and 10, 2005.
• Against Arizona State on Senior Day, she had 14 points, nine rebounds, a career-high seven assists and six blocks in 23 minutes. The only other player to have those numbers in less than 30 minutes was Breanna Stewart against SMU on Jan. 23, 2016.
• Brink won her fifth Pac-12 Player of the Week honor of the season on March 4 and 12th of her career to move past Sabrina Ionescu (11) and into second all-time. Chiney Ogwumike has the record with 18.
DYNAMIC DUO
• Kiki Iriafen was named the winner of the 2024 Katrina McClain Award, recognizing the nation's best power forward, and Cameron Brink was voted the winner of the 2024 Lisa Leslie Award, given to the country's top center, when the Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Coaches Association revealed this year's five positional award winners on April 6. Also known as the Women's Naismith Starting Five, the winners were determined by a combination of input from committees composed of top basketball personnel and Starting Five Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies.
• Since the full slate of five awards began in 2018, it's the third time one school has had multiple players represented. Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu (point guard) and Ruthy Hebard (power forward) were both winners in 2018 and again in 2020 when they were joined by Satou Sabally (small forward).
• This season was the first time Stanford had two players average a double-double in the same season since Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike in 2011-12. In national records dating back to 1999-2000, it's also the first time a school has had two players average 17.0 points and 11.0 rebounds for an entire season.
• Third in the league in scoring (19.4) and rebounding (11.0), Kiki Iriafen was one of two players in the country to average 19.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game this season (Elizabeth Kitley – Virginia Tech).
• In 10 games against the AP Top 25 this season she averaged 20.0 points and 11.2 rebounds and was the only player in the country to average 20+ points and 11+ rebounds against ranked foes.
• Iriafen won the first Pac-12 Player of the Week award of her career on Jan. 22 and was also named ESPN National Player of the Week for the first time after averaging 28.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in Stanford’s wins over Oregon and Oregon State on Jan. 19 and 21.
• She scored a then-career-high 36 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the victory over OSU to become the first Cardinal since Chiney Ogwumike in 2014 with at least 35 points and 10 boards in a game.
• At then-No. 19 Utah on Jan. 12, Kiki Iriafen had 25 points and 16 rebounds in a 66-64 win, her second such game against a ranked opponent this season (30 points, 17 rebounds vs. No. 13 Florida State).
• There were only seven such performances against a Top 25 opponent in the country this season and Iriafen had two.
• Iriafen had 19 points and 19 rebounds at No. 5 Colorado on Jan. 14. It's one of three 19-point, 19-rebound outings in a true road game against a top-5 team since 1999-2000 (available records). Xavier's Ta'Shia Phillips had 23 points and 25 boards at No. 4 North Carolina on Nov. 19, 2008 and BYU's Lauren Gustin had 25 points and 21 rebounds at No. 4 Kansas State on Jan. 27, 2024.
ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS
• Cameron Brink was voted Pac-12 Player and Defensive Player of the Year, Kiki Iriafen was awarded Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year honors, and Tara VanDerveer was chosen by her peers as the John R. Wooden Coach of the Year for the 18th time to highlight Stanford's awardees in a vote of the conference's head coaches announced on March 5.
• Brink is Stanford's 20th Pac-12 Player of the Year all-time, a total which is more than the rest of the league combined. She is the Cardinal's eighth Defensive Player of the Year winner since the award began in 2008 and the second in conference history to win it in three consecutive seasons, joining Chiney Ogwumike (2012-14). Brink is only the third in Pac-12 history to sweep the league's Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards, along with Ogwumike (2013, 2014) and Arizona's Aari McDonald (2021).
• Brink and Iriafen were also named to the 15-person All-Pac-12 team and Brink was one of five on the All-Defensive team. Hannah Jump and Talana Lepolo were selected All-Pac-12 honorable mention, while Nunu Agara and Courtney Ogden received Pac-12 All-Freshman honorable mention accolades.
SHOOTERS SHOOT
• For the second consecutive season, Hannah Jump was named to the Academic All-America Division I second team as selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC).
• Jump is the fourth in program history to receive multiple Academic All-America honors, joining Lexie Hull (2021, 2022), Chiney Ogwumike (2013, 2014) and Chris MacMurdo (1992, 1993).
• Stanford's 18 women's basketball Academic All-Americans all-time lead the country and the school's 350 Academic All-Americans across all sports are the third most.
Jump earned her bachelor's in psychology with a concentration in developmental psychology and a master's degree in communication with a concentration in media studies. She had a 3.76 cumulative GPA and last season was the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year in addition to landing on the CSC Academic All-America second team.
• She finished her decorated career as the school's all-time 3-point leader, with 364 career makes, a total that is second in Pac-12 history.
• In the regular-season finale at Oregon on March 2, Jump passed Anna Wilson (160) to become Stanford's all-time leader in games played and finished with 167.
• In 2022-23, Jump was one of two players to average better than 44.0 percent from deep while making at least 100 3-pointers and the ninth major conference player to do that since 1999-2000. She was an All-Pac-12 pick that season, one in which she broke Stanford's single-season record for 3-point makes (100), ranked ninth nationally in 3-point field goals and eighth in percentage (.441).
• Jump is 25th on Stanford's all-time scoring list (1,434) and finished third in school history in career 3-point percentage (.409).
2023-24 AWARDS
Cameron Brink
• Naismith Defensive Player of the Year
• WBCA All-American
• Lisa Leslie Award
• Pac-12 Player of the Year - Coaches and Media
• Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year - Coaches and Media
• Associated Press All-America First Team
• Wooden Award All-American
• ESPN All-America First Team
• The Athletic All-America First Team
• USBWA All-America First Team
• The Sporting News All-America First Team
• WBCA All-Region
• All-Pac-12 - Coaches and Media
• Pac-12 All-Defensive Team - Coaches and Media
• Associated Press National Player of the Week (March 5)
• USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week (Feb. 13)
• USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week (Nov. 21)
• Pac-12 Player of the Week (March 4)
• Pac-12 Player of the Week (Jan. 29)
• Pac-12 Player of the Week (Jan. 8)
• Pac-12 Player of the Week (Nov. 27)
• Pac-12 Player of the Week (Nov. 20)
Kiki Iriafen
• Katrina McClain Award
• WBCA All-America Honorable Mention
• Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention
• Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year - Coaches and Media
• WBCA All-Region
• All-Pac-12 - Coaches and Media
• Portland Regional Regional 4 All-Tournament Team
• ESPN National Player of the Week (Jan. 22)
• Pac-12 Player of the Week (Jan. 22)
• USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week (Nov. 14)
• Ball Dawgs Classic MVP
• Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll
Hannah Jump
• All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention - Coaches
• College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Second Team
• College Sports Communicators Academic All-District
• Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll
Elena Bosgana
• College Sports Communicators Academic All-District
• Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll
Talana Lepolo
• All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention - Coaches
Nunu Agara
• Pac-12 All-Freshman Honorable Mention - Coaches
Courtney Ogden
• Pac-12 All-Freshman Honorable Mention - Coaches
Lauren Green
• Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll
Stavi Papadaki
• Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll