2024-25 Season In Review

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford closed out the 2024-25 season with a 16-15 overall record, including an 8-10 conference mark in its first season in the ACC.

SEASON OF CHANGE

• After making 36 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 1988-2024, Stanford was not an at-large selection to the field and appeared in the WBIT for the first time.
• Stanford was 49th in the NET rankings ahead of Selection Sunday, the fourth-highest rated program to not make the NCAA Tournament (No. 39 Minnesota, No. 46 Virginia Tech; No. 48 UNLV).
  • The Cardinal was 50th in the final NET rankings after the completion of the NCAA Tournament.
• With a 16-15 overall record, Stanford posted a winning record for the 38^th consecutive season, the fifth-longest active streak in the country.
• The Cardinal's 16 wins were its fewest since 1986-87 (14) and its 8-10 conference mark was its first sub-.500 league record since the same year (8-10).
• Stanford played in a different league for the first time since Tara VanDerveer’s first Cardinal squad played in the Pac-West in 1985-86.
• The 2024-25 campaign was also the first as head coach for Kate Paye. The two-time WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year during 17 seasons on VanDerveer’s staff was hired to lead her alma mater on April 16, 2024.

STRONG END TO REGULAR SEASON

• Stanford closed the regular season by winning five of its final six games over the last three weeks.
• It was the Cardinal's best six-game stretch since going 5-1 from Nov. 10 (Gonzaga) through Nov. 29 (UC San Diego).
• The strong finish came on the heels of a rough two months in which Stanford went 4-11 from Dec. 5 (LSU) to Feb. 9 (Louisville), the program's worst 15-game stretch since the final 15 games of the 1985-86 season when it closed 4-11.
• In its final six games regular-season games, the Cardinal shot 49.7 percent from the floor, 40.8 percent from 3-point range, and averaged 79.3 points per game, with 115 assists against 80 turnovers (1.44 A/ TO ratio). During its preceding 15-game swoon, Stanford shot 40.2 percent from the field, 30.9 percent from behind the arc, averaged 65.6 points, and had 163 assists against 252 turnovers (0.65 A/TO ratio).
• In its regular-season finale in Maples Pavilion on March 2, Stanford shot 61.4 percent (35-of-57) in beating Georgia Tech, its best since shooting 63.5 percent in an 80-60 win over UCLA on Feb. 4, 2024.
  • The fifth-best shooting performance by an ACC team this season, it was the highest field goal percentage for any ACC team in a league game, bettering the 61.0 percent (39-of-64) NC State shot in its win over Duke on Feb. 3.

3-POINT PROFICIENCY

• Stanford finished 22nd in the country in 3-point percentage (.363).
• In the season opener against Le Moyne on Nov. 4, the Cardinal made a school-record 18 triples to break the previous school record of 16, achieved three times - vs. Idaho on Nov. 11, 2018, at UCLA on Feb. 24, 2002, and at Washington on Feb. 24, 2001.
• One game after hitting a school-record 18 3-pointers against Le Moyne, the Cardinal went 14-of-20 (.700) in a win over Washington State on Nov. 7.
  • Against the Cougars and in available records dating to 2002-03, Stanford’s 3-point percentage (.700) was its best when attempting at least 20, eclipsing a 13-of-20 (.650) effort at Washington State on Jan. 2, 2004.
  • The Cardinal became first DI team to hit at least 70.0 percent on 20+ attempts against another DI opponents since Valparaiso at Southern Illinois on Feb. 27, 2021. Valpo was 15-of-20 (.750).

AT THE LINE

• Stanford shot 74.0 percent on free throws (364-of-492), the 10^th-best mark in school history.
  • The Cardinal was a perfect 15-for-15 from the line in the Jan. 30 win over Pitt, a program record for makes without a miss.

HOME/ROAD

• The Cardinal went 14-4 at home this season, including 14-1 against unranked opponents.
• Stanford only managed two road wins this season at Wake Forest on Jan. 16 and at Virginia Tech on Feb. 20.
• The Cardinal 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 did not have a road or neutral-site win this season.
• Stanford was 2-9 in true road games. The Cardinal’s only other sub-.500 road record over the past 37 seasons was in 2000-01 (6-8).
• In home games, Stanford scored 79.4 points per game on 48.5 percent shooting, including 39.5 perfect from deep. In its 13 road and neutral games away from Maples, the Cardinal averages 63.5 points on 39.1 percent shooting and 31.0 percent on 3-pointers.

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 started 10 of the final 18 games, with another sophomore, Mary Ashley Stevenson, taking Agara’s place in the starting lineup in the other eight.
  • It was Stanford’s longest stretch starting three underclassmen (18 games) since 2018-19, when sophomore Kiana Williams and freshman Lacie Hull started the final 24 with either sophomore Maya Dodson or sophomore Alyssa Jerome, and alongside senior Alanna Smith and junior DiJonai Carrington.
  • Over the final 14 games, Stanford’s freshmen and sophomores combined to score 584 of Stanford’s 948 points (61.6 percent) and grab 255 of its 484 rebounds (52.7 percent).

WHAT WAS BACK, WHAT WASN'T

• 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).
• The Cardinal’s young squad had seven underclassmen and just one returning player on the roster that had averaged more than 20 minutes per game in her career (Talana Lepolo). Lepolo was limited to the season's first five games and then missed the remainder of the year due to injury.
• Outside of Lepolo and among available players prior to this season, only Elena Bosgana, Brooke Demetre and Jzaniya Harriel had started any games for Stanford, and they had combined for just 40 total starts in their first three seasons. Bosgana started all 36 games in 2023-24 and Demetre and Harriel started two each.

CHLOE CRUSHED IT »

• Chloe Clardy scored a career-high 30, including 21 after halftime, in Stanford’s win over Virginia Tech on Feb. 20. She also added five assists and three steals and became the first Stanford guard with 30+ points and 5+ assists in a game since current assistant coach Jeanette Pohlen had 31 and six in the Cardinal’s 71-59 upset of No. 1 UConn on Dec. 30, 2010.
  • It was the first 30-point, five-assist, three-steal game for the Cardinal in over a decade. Chiney Ogwumike was the last to do it when she had 31 points, six assists and three steals in a win over Oregon State on Jan. 5, 2014.
• In the season’s first 15 games, Clardy averaged 7.0 points on 40.7 percent shooting and 2.1 assists. She was Stanford's leading scorer in the last 16 games, averaging 13.2 points on 44.9 percent shooting, including 39.4 percent from deep, and 3.1 assists.
• In the final eight games she had 37 assists and 12 turnovers (3.1 A/TO ratio).
• Clardy went for 14 points, 12 assists, zero turnovers and five steals to lead Stanford to a 79-58 victory over visiting Syracuse on Feb. 13.
  • Her 12 assists were the most by a Cardinal since Marta Sniezek had 13 in the Pac-12 Tournament against Washington on March 4, 2016 and tied for sixth in Stanford single-game history.
  • The only players with more are Sniezek, Jennifer Azzi (twice) and Sonja Henning (twice).
  • The sophomore didn’t turn the ball over once and, in records dating back to 2002-03, became the fourth in program history to have double-digit assists without a turnover, joining Sniezek in the game against UW, Talana Lepolo against San Diego State on Nov. 7, 2022 (11 assists, 0 turnovers) and Jeanette Pohlen on Jan. 22, 2011 against USC (12 assists, 0 turnovers).
  • Clardy’s performance was one of four against a DI opponent this season with at least 12 assists and no turnovers. Boston College’s Kaylah Ivey has done it twice, on Nov. 20 against New Hampshire (12 assists, 0 turnovers) and Jan. 16 against Miami (16 assists, 0 turnovers). College of Charleston's Taylor Barbot did it on March 8 against Hampton (12 assists, 0 turnovers).
  • In readily available records dating back to 2002-03, she’s the only Stanford player to have that line and just the second ACC player to do it in a league contest along with North Carolina’s Cetera DeGraffenreid against Virginia on Feb. 15, 2010 (21 points, 12 assists, six steals).

DILIGENT DEVELOPMENT

• An All-ACC Second Team selection, Nunu Agara took a massive leap and after averaging 5.4 points and 2.9 rebounds as a freshman, put up 15.8 points (+10.4) and 7.6 rebounds (+4.7) per game as a sophomore.
• Agara was one of seven major conference underclassmen averaging 15 points and seven rebounds along with Iowa State sophomore Audi Crooks (23.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg), Vanderbilt sophomore Khamil Pierre (20.5 ppg, 9.7 rpg), Oklahoma State sophomore Stailee Heard (16.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg), Iowa State sophomore Addy Brown (15.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg), Kentucky sophomore Clara Strack (15.2 ppg, 9.7 rpg) and UConn freshman Sarah Strong (16.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg).
• Agara took a hard fall with 5:01 on the clock in the first quarter of Stanford’s loss at Notre Dame on Feb. 6. She missed the majority of Stanford’s final eight regular-season games, playing only 11 minutes and 53 seconds and not scoring.
• 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%)

BOSGANA'S BIG DAY

• Elena Bosgana scored a career-high 26 points and didn’t miss from the floor to lead Stanford to an 84-54 win over visiting UC San Diego on Nov. 29.
  • Bosgana poured in her 26 on a perfect 10-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-5 from deep, tying the school record for single-game field goal percentage (min. 10 attempts). Kim Kupferer was 11-of-11 from the floor in a game against Pacific on Jan. 24, 1981.
  • The senior also had six rebounds, three assists and four steals in her 30 minutes. The only “blemish” in her otherwise perfect game was a missed free throw in the third quarter.
  • According to Sports Reference, Bosgana is just the sixth DI player since 2002-03 to be perfect from the floor when attempting at least 10 total field goals and five 3-pointers and first since South Dakota State’s Tagyn Larson on Feb. 13, 2019 against Omaha (11-of-11, 5-of-5).
  • She also became the fourth Stanford player to be perfect on 3-pointers with at least five attempts, joining Jennifer Azzi (7-of-7 vs. Eastern Michigan on Dec. 29, 1989), Joslyn Tinkle (5-of-5 vs. Michigan on March 26, 2013) and Lauren St. Clair (5-of-5 vs. UCLA on Feb. 3, 2000).
• Against Florida State on Jan. 9, Bosgana had her second consecutive double-double with 21 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.
  • She was one of just four players in the country this season with those numbers in a game. Gonzaga’s Yvonne Ejim had 26 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists in a win over New Mexico on Nov. 24, Ohio State's Ajae Petty had 23 points, 15 rebounds and six assists in a win over Michigan State on Feb. 26 and Georgia Southern's Leah Johnson had 24 points, 15 rebounds and six assists in a win over Louisiana-Monroe on March 5.

COURTNEY CAME ON

• In the final six games, Courtney Ogden averaged 13.5 points on 51.6 percent shooting (33-of-64), 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
• In the first 25 games, averaged 4.1 points on 43.0 percent shooting, 2.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists.

HEAL WAS UNREAL

• Tess Heal her breakout game at Stanford’s win over Wake Forest on Jan. 16, scoring a season-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 6-of-8 from deep.
  • Scored all 24 of her points in the first three quarters and made her first six 3-pointers. Heal went on a personal 11-0 run in the first to push Stanford to a 19-9 lead after one.
• A career 31.5 percent 3-point shooter at Santa Clara, she went 34-of-69 this year (.493).
• She was the only major conference player in the country to shoot 50.0 percent from the field, 45.0 percent from 3-point range and 85.0 percent at the free throw line.
• Heal popped off for another 23 points and five 3-pointers in the Feb. 16 win over Boston College.
• She came off the bench in Stanford’s last 18 games and averaged 8.3 points on 51.5 percent shooting (53-of-103), including 46.7 percent from deep (21-of-45).
• Her 8.8 points per game as a sub in ACC contests were fifth best in the league.
• Heal finished third in ACC Sixth Player of the Year voting with 52 points behind Dani Carnegie (372 points) and Oluchi Okananwa (324 points).

STARTED WITH A BANG

• Jzaniya Harriel scored a career-high 24 points in the season opener against Le Moyne on Nov. 4.
  • She sank six of her seven 3-pointers and went 6-of-8 from the floor overall.
  • Her 24 points were the most for a Stanford player in an opener since Brittany McPhee had 24 at No. 5 Ohio State on Nov. 10, 2017.
  • In available records dating back to 2002-03, her scoring output was the most for a Stanford player in a game with eight or fewer field goal attempts.

DIDN'T TAKE LONG

• In a Nov. 22 win over Morgan State, Kennedy Umeh came off the bench in the second half and collected her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in just 11 minutes.
  • According to Sports Reference, she was only the seventh power conference player with a double-double in 11 minutes or less since 2002-03, and first since Iowa’s Hannah Stuelke against Purdue on Dec. 29, 2022 (11 points, 10 rebounds, 11 minutes).

FIRST CLASS

• Kate Paye’s first signing class as head coach included 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	8	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	5-11 • G
Lara Somfai	12	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	6-4 • F
Alex Eschmeyer	21	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	6-5 • F
Nora Ezike	85	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	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 was rated No. 3 by espnW HoopGurlz.
• Stanford’s three five-star signees were  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). That group won a national championship as sophomores.
• Eschmeyer, Somfai and Swain participated 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 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).
• This was the fourth time Stanford 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 were also on the USA Basketball roster for the 26th Nike Hoop Summit on April 12 in Portland, Ore. Somfai suited up opposite as part of the World Select Team.
• All three were also Jordan Brand Classic All-Americans and played in that all-star showcase on April 18 in Washington, D.C.

2024-25 Awards

Nunu Agara

• All-ACC Second Team

Elena Bosgana

• College Sports Communicators Academic All-District

Tess Heal

• College Sports Communicators Academic All-District

Mary Ashley Stevenson

• College Sports Communicators Academic All-District