THE GAME: Stanford returns home to host Syracuse on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. Krista Blunk and Angela Taylor have the call on ACC Network, while Tim Swartz will handle the radio broadcast on GoStanford.com and the Stanford Athletics app.
THE RUNDOWN: In its past eight games, the Cardinal has faced five ranked opponents, the second-most in the country over the past month (South Carolina - 6) ... Stanford was a perfect 15-for-15 from the line in the Jan. 30 win over Pittsburgh, a program record for makes without a miss ... The Cardinal is 49-of-53 (.925) on free throws over the past four games ... Nunu Agara is one of six underclassmen in the country averaging 16.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists ... Agara has increased her scoring by 11.2 points and her rebounding by 4.9 boards from her freshman year ... Tess Heal is the only major conference guard in the country making more than 50 percent of her field goals (.513) and 3-pointers (.500) with a minimum of one 3-pointer made per game ... Against Florida State, Elena Bosgana became the second DI player this season with 21 points, 15 rebounds and six assists ... Over the past six games, freshmen and sophomores have combined to score 264 of Stanford’s 358 points (73.7 percent) ... Stanford’s 2025 recruiting class, featuring three five-star talents and two four-stars, is ranked No. 3 nationally by espnW HoopGurlz ... On Jan. 27, it was announced that signees Alex Eschmeyer, Lara Somfai and Hailee Swain will participate in the 2025 McDonald’s All American Game ... Of the 24 women selected, Stanford and Tennessee have the most players suiting up next fall with three commits each.
VS. SYRACUSE: Thursday will be the second meeting between Stanford and Syracuse. On Nov. 29, 2019, the No. 3 Cardinal beat the No. 18 Orange 77-59 at the Greater Victoria Invitational in British Columbia. Hannah Jump scored 24 points and made eight 3-pointers, Haley Jones added 19 and Nadia Fingall had 10 points and 13 rebounds. Despite this being only the second game between the schools, their athletic departments made a trade in 2013: Stanford’s previous Twitter handle (@SUAthletics) for a collection of local goods, including oranges.
HOW THE REMAINING SCHEDULE SHAPES UP »
- Stanford has six games left in the regular season, including four at home, and only one against a ranked opponent (vs. No. 19 Georgia Tech on March 2).
- The Cardinal has faced a Top 25 opponent in five of its last eight games, beginning with a home loss to NC State on Jan. 12.
- Since Jan. 12, South Carolina is the only school to face more ranked opponents (6).
- Stanford has faced the toughest ACC schedule over the past month. Boston College, Clemson, SMU, Virginia and Wake Forest have each faced four ranked opponents since Jan. 12.
- Not included in the stretch is Stanford’s opponent in its previous game on Jan. 9 in Florida State. The Seminoles were unranked at the time, but are currently in the AP poll at No. 23.
- Stanford is 10-0 this season against unranked opponents at home.
DILIGENT DEVELOPMENT »
- Nunu Agara has taken a massive leap and is one of the NCAA’s most improved players this season. After averaging 5.4 points and 2.9 rebounds as a freshman, she’s putting up 16.6 points (+11.2) and 7.8 rebounds (+4.9) per game as a sophomore.
- Ninth in the league in scoring and eighth in rebounding, Agara is one of six underclassmen in the country averaging 16/7/2. The others are sophomore Khamil Pierre at Vanderbilt (21.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.0 apg), sophomore Ashley Sofilkanich at Bucknell (20.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.0 apg), sophomore Zanai Barnett-Gray at Navy (19.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 3.2 apg), sophomore Stailee Heard at Oklahoma State (16.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 2.3 apg) and freshman Sarah Strong at UConn (16.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.4 apg).
- In addition to Agara, Pierre, Heard and Strong, there are only three other major conference players averaging 16/7/2 this season in TCU’s Sedona Prince (17.8 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.3 apg), UCLA’s Lauren Betts (19.6 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 2.9 apg) and Wisconsin’s Serah Williams (18.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 2.5 apg).
- The last ACC player to average 16/7/2 for an entire season with Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley in 2020-21 (18.2 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.0 apg).
- Agara is one of three ACC players in the league’s top 10 in both scoring and rebounding, along with Khadija Faye (Pitt) and Makayla Timpson (Florida State).
- In seven games against ranked opponents, she’s averaging 16.6 points and 9.1 rebounds and has made 9-of-14 (.429) from behind the arc.
- She has scored in double figures in 20 of her 22 games this season, including five 20-point efforts, and has a double-double in six of her last 11 games.
- Agara had 29 points and 13 rebounds in Stanford’s overtime loss at No. 5 LSU on Dec. 5 and shot 75.0 percent from the floor (12-of-16). According to Sports Reference, she is the fifth DI player since 2002-03 to have 29 points and 13 rebounds in a true road game against an AP top five opponent and the only one to do it on better than 60.0 percent shooting.
- 11/21/21: NaLyssa Smith (Baylor) at No. 3 Maryland (30 pts, 15 rebs, .560 fg%)
- 1/24/21: Elizabeth Kitley (Virginia Tech) at No. 2 NC State (30 pts, 13 rebs, .591 fg%)
- 12/22/13: Crystal Bradford (Central Michigan) at No. 4 Notre Dame (30 pts, 13 rebs, .429 fg%)
- 11/19/08: Alysha Clark (MTSU) at No. 2 Oklahoma (31 pts, 16 rebs, .444 fg%)
YOUTH MOVEMENT »
- Stanford made a change to its starting lineup against Clemson on Jan. 5, with freshman Shay Ijiwoye and sophomore Chloe Clardy earning their first career starts in the backcourt. Along with sophomore Nunu Agara in the front court, it was the first time Stanford had started three underclassmen since Feb. 7, 2020, when sophomores Lacie and Lexie Hull and freshman Ashten Prechtel joined senior Nadia Fingall and junior Kiana Williams in the first five in a game against UCLA.
- Those three have started nine of the past 10 games, with another sophomore, Mary Ashley Stevenson, taking Agara’s place in the starting lineup at Louisville on Feb. 9.
- Starting three underclassmen in 10 straight is Stanford’s longest stretch since the end of 2018-19 when sophomore Kiana Williams and freshman Lacie Hull started the final 24 games with either sophomore Maya Dodson or sophomore Alyssa Jerome, and alongside senior Alanna Smith and junior DiJonai Carrington.
- Over the past six games, Stanford’s freshmen and sophomores have combined to score 264 of Stanford’s 358 points (73.7 percent) and grab 121 of its 202 rebounds (59.9 perecent).
- Heading in 2024-25, Stanford was looking replace 59.8 percent of its scoring, 54.4 percent of its rebounding and 42.8 percent of its minutes played from a season ago.
- The Cardinal’s leading returning scorer was Elena Bosgana (6.7) and its leading returning rebounder was Brooke Demetre (3.6).
FIRST CLASS »
- Kate Paye’s first signing class as head coach includes three five-star talents and two four-stars according to espnW HoopGurlz, and four ranked in that publication’s top 100.
Player | HoopGurlz Rank | Stars | Ht./Pos. |
Hailee Swain | 9 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 5-11 • G |
Lara Somfai | 16 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 6-4 • F |
Alex Eschmeyer | 31 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 6-5 • F |
Nora Ezike | 84 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 6-2 • F |
Carly Amborn | -- | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 6-2 • G/F |
- The class began with Swain’s commitment in July 2022 and culminated with Somfai’s announcement the morning of Nov. 13. The group is rated No. 3 by espnW HoopGurlz.
- Stanford’s three five-star signees are second to LSU (4) and the program’s most since it had four in the Class of 2019 (Haley Jones, Ashten Prechtel, Fran Belibi, Hannah Jump). That group won a national championship as sophomores.
- On Jan. 27, it was announced that Eschmeyer, Somfai and Swain will participate in the 2025 McDonald’s All American Game on April 1 in Brooklyn.
- Of the 24 women selected to be McDonald’s All Americans, Stanford and Tennessee have the most players suiting up next fall with three commits each.
- Stanford’s three McDonald’s All Americans are almost as many as the rest of the ACC combined (4).
- This is the fourth time Stanford has had three McDonald’s All Americans in the same class, along with 2019 (Fran Belibi, Haley Jones, Ashten Prechtel), 2016 (DiJonai Carrington, Nadia Fingall, Anna Wilson) and 2007 (Ashley Cimino, Kayla Pedersen, Jeanette Pohlen).
- Eschemyer and Swain are also on the USA Basketball roster for the 26th Nike Hoop Summit on April 12 in Portland, Ore.
RESUME »
- Stanford, which has made 36 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, is currently 51st in the NET rankings.
- The Cardinal’s strength of schedule according to the NET is 12th.
- Stanford’s 89-84 victory over Florida State on Jan. 9 moved to a Quad 1 victory after the Seminoles won at North Carolina (NET No. 14) on Jan. 16. FSU is 24th in the NET.
- The Cardinal is one of 48 programs nationally that has a Quad 1 win this season.
- Major conference teams without a Quad 1 win that are currently in the field in ESPN’s Bracketology are West Virginia (No. 11 NET; 0-2 Q1; No. 84 SOS), Baylor (No. 21 NET; 0-3 Q1; No. 77 SOS), Minnesota (No. 31 NET; 0-4 Q1; No. 73 SOS), Creighton (No. 33 NET; 0-4 Q1; No. 67 SOS) and Iowa State (No. 38 NET; 0-7 Q1; No. 29 SOS).
WHERE WE STAND »
- Stanford is in the midst of its second three-game losing streak of the season.
- Prior to this year, the Cardinal hadn’t experienced a three-game losing streak within the same season since January 2001 against Arizona, Oregon State and Oregon. Stanford has not dropped four straight in a season since January and February 1987 against Oregon State, Oregon, USC and UCLA.
- Stanford is 4-11 in its last 15 games, shooing 40.2 percent from the floor, 30.9 percent from beyond the arc, and with 163 assists against 252 turnovers (0.65 A/TO ratio). In the team’s first eight games during the month of November, the Cardinal went 7-1, shot 50.5 percent overall, 44.0 percent from deep, and had 135 assists and 95 turnovers (1.42 A/TO ratio).
- The team’s 4-11 record since the start of December is its worst 15-game stretch since the final 15 games of the 1985-86 season when it closed 4-11.
- Stanford’s record is the program’s worst 23-game start since beginning the 1985-86 season 11-12.
- The Cardinal has not been below .500 this late in a season since the end of the 1986-87 campaign. Stanford was 13-14 following a 63-54 loss to No. 18 Oregon on March 5 before beating Oregon State 58-56 on March 7 to finish the year 14-14.
ROAD WOES »
- Stanford secured its first and only road win of the season at Wake Forest on Jan. 16, 74-71. It was the Cardinal’s first win in the state of North Carolina since a 78-63 win at NC State on Dec. 3, 1994.
- The Cardinal is 10-3 at home this season, but 1-9 away from Maples Pavilion. Stanford was the third-to-last Power 4 program to secure a victory away from its home court this season (road or neutral), ahead of Rutgers and Houston. The Cougars still do not have a road or neutral-site win.
- This was the latest in a season Stanford had gone without a road win since 2000-01. That year, the Cardinal didn’t pick up its first true road win since beating California in Berkeley on Jan. 20, 63-56.
- In home games, Stanford is scoring 79.2 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting, including 38.2 perfect from deep. In its 10 road and neutral games away from Maples, the Cardinal is averaging 63.5 points on 39.3 percent shooting and 31.7 percent on 3-pointers.
- Stanford is 1-8 in true road games this season. The Cardinal’s only sub-.500 road record over the past 37 seasons was in 2000-01 (6-8).