Cardinal host Georgia Tech am Senior Day – Stanford Cardinal

THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is 13-0 this season against unranked opponents at home … Chloe Clardy scored a career-high 30 and had five assists on Feb. 20 at Virginia Tech … Clardy’s 12 assists against Syracuse on Feb. 13 were the most by a Cardinal since 2016 … She’s been Stanford’s leading scorer in the last 12 games in which she is averaging 14.0 points on 47.5 percent shooting, including 39.7 percent from deep, and 3.2 assists … In the past three games, Courtney Ogden is averaging 16.7 points on 52.6 percent shooting (20-of-38), a team-best 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists … Stanford was a perfect 15-for-15 from the line in the Jan. 30 win over Pitt, a program record for makes without a miss …  The Cardinal is 15th in the nation in 3-point percentage (.369) … Over the past 11 games, underclassmen have combined to score 464 of Stanford’s 747 points (62.1 percent) … Tess Heal is one of three players in the country averaging the elusive 50-40-90 splits … 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. GEORGIA TECH: Stanford and Georgia Tech will meet for the first time on Sunday with ACC Tournament seeding on the line. Among a number of scenarios in play, the Cardinal still has a chance to finish as high as ninth in the ACC standings and earn a first-round bye next week in Greensboro. With a win over the Yellow Jackets and road losses by Virginia at No. 8 North Carolina and Virginia Tech at Clemson, Stanford would be the No. 9 seed and play Thursday at 10:30 a.m. PT. Depending on Sunday results, the Cardinal could drop as low as 13th.

OF LATE »

• The Cardinal has won four of its last five games, its best five-game stretch since going 4-1 from Nov. 13 (UC Davis) through Nov. 29 (UC San Diego).
• Stanford had a three-game winning streak snapped last Sunday at Virginia. Cardinal victories over Syracuse (Feb. 13), Boston College (Feb. 16) and Virginia Tech (Feb. 20) were the first time the team had strung three wins together since late November against Morgan State, Cal Poly and UC San Diego.
• A game prior, the Cardinal had a crucial overtime win at Virginia Tech. The road win was the Cardinal’s second away from Maples Pavilion this season and first against a team with a winning record.

GET RIGHT AT HOME »

• Stanford has won three consecutive games in Maples Pavilion over Syracuse (79-58), Boston College (80-75) and Miami (86-69).
• The Cardinal has shot 52.0 percent in the three wins (91-of-175), 50.0 percent from deep (35-of-70), and had a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio (64/41).
• The Cardinal had 21 assists on 28 made baskets against the Orange, 20 assists on 30 buckets against the Eagles and 23 assists on 33 field goals against the Hurricanes.
• Stanford also made double-digit 3-pointers in all three, 10 against Syracuse, 11 against Boston College and 14 against Miami.
• The Cardinal is 13-3 at home this season and 13-0 against unranked opponents.
• In home games, Stanford is scoring 79.7 points per game on 48.3 percent shooting, including 40.5 perfect from deep. In its 12 road and neutral games away from Maples, the Cardinal is averaging 64.9 points on 39.7 percent shooting and 31.2 percent on 3-pointers.

RESUME »

• Stanford, which has made 36 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, is currently 49th in the NET rankings.
• The Cardinal’s strength of schedule according to the NET is 33rd.
• Stanford’s 89-84 victory over Florida State on Jan. 9 moved to a Quad 1 victory after the Seminoles won at Georgia Tech (NET No. 29) on Sunday. FSU is 23rd in the NET.
• The Cardinal is one of 52 programs nationally that has a Quad 1 win this season.
• Stanford’s win at Virginia Tech is on the doorstep of turning into a Quad 1 victory. The Hokies are currently No. 48 in the NET and road wins over NET 1-45 are Quad 1.
• The Cardinal had moved onto the NCAA Tournament bubble and among the ‘Next Four Out’ according to ESPN’s Bracketology after beating Virginia Tech, but are no longer included in the latest update.
• Major conference teams without a Quad 1 win that are currently in the field in ESPN’s Bracketology are Minnesota (No. 35 NET; 0-5 Q1; No. 72 SOS), Creighton (No. 31 NET; 0-5 Q1; No. 70 SOS) and Iowa State (No. 37 NET; 0-9 Q1; No. 42 SOS).

CHLOE CRUSHED IT »

• Chloe Clardy scored a career-high 30, including 21 after halftime, in Stanford’s win over Virginia Tech.
• 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’s been Stanford’s leading scorer in the last 12 games and is averaging 14.0 points on 47.5 percent shooting, including 39.7 percent from deep, and 3.2 assists.
• In just the past five games she has 29 assists and seven turnovers (4.1 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 is the third 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).
• Clardy is the only major conference player with a 14-point, 12-assist, five-steal game this season and the first DI player to do it against a Power 4/5 opponent since Colorado’s Kennedy Leonard had 14 points, 13 assists and six steals at Washington on Feb. 16, 2018.
• 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).

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 15, with another sophomore, Mary Ashley Stevenson, taking Agara’s place in the starting lineup in the past six.
• It is Stanford’s longest stretch starting three underclassmen since 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 11 games, Stanford’s freshmen and sophomores have combined to score 464 of Stanford’s 747 points (62.1 percent) and grab 204 of its 379 rebounds (53.8 percent).

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 15.9 points (+10.5) and 7.6 rebounds (+4.7) per game as a sophomore.
• Eleventh in the league in scoring and eighth in rebounding, Agara is one of seven underclassmen in the country averaging 15/7/2.
• The last ACC players to average 15/7/2 for an entire season were Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley (18.2 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.0 apg) and Notre Dame’s Maddy Westbeld (15.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.5 apg) in 2020-21.
• 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 rest of that game and the Cardinal’s contests against Louisville and Syracuse but returned to play a limited role in the win over Boston College. She did not make the trip to Virginia and missed Thursday’s win over Miami. In Stanford’s last seven games, she has played 11 minutes and 53 seconds and has not scored.
• 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.

HEAL IS UNREAL »

• Tess Heal had 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.
• A career 31.5 percent 3-point shooter at Santa Clara, she is 32-of-64 this year (.500).
• Shooting 51.6 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent on 3-pointers, Heal is the only major conference guard in the country making more than 50 percent both overall and from distance (minimum one 3-pointer made per game).
• She is also one of three players in the country averaging the elusive 50-40-90 splits along with Utah’s Gianna Kneepkens and Kennady McQueen.
• Heal popped off for another 23 points and five 3-pointers in the win over Boston College.
• Heal has scored in double figures in four of the last seven games after doing so just seven times in her first 20 appearances for Stanford.
• She has come off the bench in Stanford’s last 15 games and is averaging 8.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting (47-of-87), including 47.5 percent from deep (19-of-40).
• Her 8.8 points per game as a sub in ACC contests are fifth best in the league behind Duke’s Toby Fournier (14.9 ppg), Georgia Tech’s Dani Carnegie (12.4 ppg), Duke’s Oluchi Okananwa (10.8 ppg) and Clemson’s Hannah Kohn (9.5 ppg).

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, becoming just the second player 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.

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.

• 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.

WHERE WE STAND »

• Stanford snapped its second three-game losing streak of the year with the Feb. 13 win over Syracuse.
• 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 went 4-11 over 15 games from Dec. 5 through Feb. 9, 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).
• That was the team’s 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 28-game start since finishing the 1986-87 season 14-14.
• The Cardinal moved back to .500 with the win over Syracuse on Feb. 13. Stanford had not been below .500 this late in a season since the end of 1986-87. 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 has only 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 still do not have a road or neutral-site win.
• Stanford is 2-9 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).

NEW CHAPTER »

• A two-time WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year during 17 seasons on Tara VanDerveer’s staff, Kate Paye leads Stanford into its inaugural ACC campaign after being hired to lead her alma mater on April 16.
• 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.
• Since Paye’s return in 2007-08, the Cardinal has gone 542-100 (.844) and won the 2021 national championship, advancing to two other title games, nine Final Fours and the Sweet Sixteen all but one year.
• Born at Stanford hospital, Paye earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Stanford in 1995. She also graduated with distinction with both her Juris Doctorate and master’s degree in business administration from Stanford in 2003.