{"id":163318,"date":"2026-02-21T01:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T01:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163318\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T01:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T01:06:08","slug":"first-time-in-tallahassee-stanford-cardinal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163318\/","title":{"rendered":"First Time in Tallahassee &#8211; Stanford Cardinal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE GAME: Stanford (16-12, 5-10 ACC) plays at Florida State (9-18, 4-11 ACC) on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. ET. Mark Neely and Angel Gray have the call on ACC Network and Brian Brownfield will handle radio on GoStanford.com, the Stanford Athletics app and Learfield\u2019s Varsity Network.<\/p>\n<p>THE RUNDOWN: Stanford is No. 45 in the NET rankings through games as of Feb. 19, 58th in Wins Above Bubble, and has played the nation\u2019s 37th-toughest schedule &#8230; Stanford, Louisville and Syracuse are the only ACC schools with multiple nonconference wins against Power 4 opponents &#8230; Stanford is ninth nationally in free throw percentage (.791) &#8230; The Cardinal has had 97 individual double-digit scoring efforts this season with only 12 20-point performances &#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/lara-somfai\" title=\"Lara Somfai\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lara Somfai<\/a> is one of three freshmen in the country averaging 10.3 points and 9.5 rebounds &#8230; Her seven double-doubles are the most for a Stanford freshman since <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/chiney-ogwumike\" title=\"Chiney Ogwumike\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chiney Ogwumike<\/a> had 11 in 2010-11 &#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/chloe-clardy\" title=\"Chloe Clardy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chloe Clardy<\/a> is one of 52 players in the country averaging 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 steals, but is one of only two to do it coming primarily off the bench &#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/courtney-ogden\" title=\"Courtney Ogden\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Courtney Ogden<\/a> is averaging 14.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals in the last 18 games &#8230; The Cardinal&#8217;s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Nunu Agara is one of eight Power 4 players averaging 14.6 points and 8.2 rebounds &#8230; Stanford has the fewest transfers on its roster among all 68 Power 4 programs &#8230; The Cardinal boasts a roster of coaches that features four WNBA veterans, more than any other program in the country.<\/p>\n<p>VS. FLORIDA STATE: Stanford is 4-2 all-time against Florida State, but Sunday&#8217;s game will be the teams&#8217; first in Tallahassee. The Cardinal picked up its first ACC win in beating the Seminoles 89-84 on January 9 last season behind a career-high 24 points from <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/brooke-demetre\" title=\"Brooke Demetre\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brooke Demetre<\/a>, 21 points and 15 rebounds from <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/elena-bosgana\" title=\"Elena Bosgana\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Elena Bosgana<\/a>, and 17 points and nine rebounds from Nunu Agara. Three of the six games between the two schools have come in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, in which Stanford is 2-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>OPENING TIP \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Stanford picked up its second ranked win of the season on Jan. 4, knocking off then-No. 16 North Carolina on the road in overtime, 77-71. It was the Cardinal&#8217;s first Top 25 win on the road since a 67-63 result at No. 11 Oregon State on Feb. 29, 2024.<br \/>\nCoupled with a 67-62 home win over then-No. 22 Washington on Dec. 19, the Cardinal is 2-2 against the AP Top 25 this season. Prior to the victory over the Huskies, Stanford had lost 10 consecutive games against ranked opponents.<br \/>\nStanford (2-2), Duke (3-4), Louisville (3-4) and Notre Dame (2-4) are the only ACC schools with multiple victories against the AP Top 25.<br \/>\nThe Cardinal has matched its win total from all last season when it went 16-15. The team&#8217;s 16th victory last season came March 2 against Georgia Tech (87-82).<br \/>\nStanford, Louisville and Syracuse are the only ACC schools with multiple nonconference wins against Power 4 conference opponents. The Cardinal has its two Big Ten victories on its resume, Louisville beat Colorado and Tennessee, and Syracuse has wins over Utah and Auburn.<br \/>\nThe Cardinal is ninth nationally in free throw percentage (.791).<br \/>\nThe school record for single-season free throw percentage is 80.8 in 2003-04.<br \/>\nStanford\u2019s offense hasn\u2019t relied on just one person this season. The Cardinal has had 97 individual double-digit scoring efforts across its 28 games with only 12 20-point performances.<br \/>\nStanford\u2019s 97 double-digit scoring efforts are tied for 20th nationally, while its 12 20-point performances are tied for 145th in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>RESUME COMPARISON \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>The Cardinal is No. 45 in the NET rankings through games as of Feb. 19 and has played the nation&#8217;s 37th-toughest schedule.<br \/>\nStanford has a pair of Quad 1 wins over North Carolina (NET 19) and Oregon (NET 23). The Cardinal is one of 41 teams with multiple Quad 1 wins. As it currently stands, the Cardinal has zero Quad 1 games left on its schedule. It has one Quad 2, one Quad 3 and one Quad 4.<br \/>\nThe Cardinal has five Quad 1 and Quad 2 victories on its resume, tied for the 33rd-most in the nation.<br \/>\nStanford is among the next four teams out (ranked 73-76) according to Charlie Creme&#8217;s latest ESPN Bracketology along with California, South Dakota State and Kansas State. Colorado, Clemson, Virginia and Arizona State are the last four teams in, and Utah, Nebraska, Kansas and Richmond are the first four out (ranked 69-72).<\/p>\n<p>Last 4 In<br \/>\nNET<br \/>\nWAB<br \/>\nSOS<br \/>\nQ1<br \/>\nQ2<\/p>\n<p>Colorado<br \/>\n43<br \/>\n39<br \/>\n57<br \/>\n1-4<br \/>\n4-1<\/p>\n<p>Clemson<br \/>\n39<br \/>\n45<br \/>\n53<br \/>\n2-8<br \/>\n1-0<\/p>\n<p>Virginia<br \/>\n37<br \/>\n49<br \/>\n65<br \/>\n2-5<br \/>\n2-2<\/p>\n<p>Arizona State<br \/>\n48<br \/>\n34<br \/>\n69<br \/>\n0-3<br \/>\n7-1<\/p>\n<p>Next 4 Out<br \/>\nNET<br \/>\nWAB<br \/>\nSOS<br \/>\nQ1<br \/>\nQ2<\/p>\n<p>California<br \/>\n53<br \/>\n53<br \/>\n46<br \/>\n1-8<br \/>\n2-1<\/p>\n<p>Stanford<br \/>\n45<br \/>\n58<br \/>\n37<br \/>\n2-6<br \/>\n3-4<\/p>\n<p>S Dakota St.<br \/>\n44<br \/>\n51<br \/>\n91<br \/>\n0-3<br \/>\n2-2<\/p>\n<p>Kansas State<br \/>\n57<br \/>\n76<br \/>\n45<br \/>\n2-4<br \/>\n3-4<\/p>\n<p>START &#8216;EM YOUNG \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>When Nunu Agara was unavailable, <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/alex-eschmeyer\" title=\"Alexandra Eschmeyer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alexandra Eschmeyer<\/a> started five consecutive games alongside fellow freshmen <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/hailee-swain\" title=\"Hailee Swain\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hailee Swain<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/lara-somfai\" title=\"Lara Somfai\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lara Somfai<\/a>, and juniors <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/chloe-clardy\" title=\"Chloe Clardy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chloe Clardy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/courtney-ogden\" title=\"Courtney Ogden\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Courtney Ogden<\/a>.<br \/>\nPrior to the game against Louisville on Jan. 29, Eschmeyer&#8217;s first start, Stanford had only started three freshmen in the same game three times in available records dating back to 1985-86:<\/p>\n<p>There are only four schools in the country that regularly start three true freshmen, and all are mid-majors: Middle Tennessee, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Akron.<br \/>\nStanford is one of three Power 4 schools that has started three true freshmen in at least five games this season along with Pittsburgh (6) and Wake Forest (5).<\/p>\n<p>OF LATE \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Since its win at North Carolina on Jan. 4, Stanford is 3-9 over the past month and has not beaten a top 125 NET team. All three of those wins have been Quad 4: Wake Forest, Boston College, Pittsburgh.<br \/>\nOver those 12 games, the Cardinal has averaged 64.8 points on 38.3 percent shooting compared to 71.4 points on 45.4 percent shooting in the season&#8217;s first 16 games.<br \/>\nDuring those 12 games, Stanford opponents have averaged 69.2 points on 42.9 percent shooting. In the 16 games to start the year, those numbers were 56.9 points and a field goal percentage of 36.4.<br \/>\nStanford has played its last eight games without senior starting point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/talana-lepolo\" title=\"Talana Lepolo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Talana Lepolo<\/a> and missed junior starting forward Nunu Agara for a five-game stretch in early February. Lepolo and Agara have combined for 135 career starts. The rest of the team has combined for 142 starts at Stanford.<br \/>\nStanford is in the midst of its second four-game losing streak of the season. Prior to this year, Stanford had not lost four consecutive games in the same season for the first time since January and February 1987. Its last four-game losing streak of any kind was the final game of 1997-98 season (Harvard) and the first three games of 1998-99 (Arkansas, Duke, Illinois).<br \/>\nThe Cardinal hasn&#8217;t lost five straight since enduring a nine-game swoon from January 21 to February 22, 1986 in <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/staff\/tara-vanderveer\" title=\"Tara VanDerveer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tara VanDerveer<\/a>&#8216;s first season at Stanford.<\/p>\n<p>OGDEN ON FIRE \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>A 43.5 percent shooter as a freshman and sophomore, <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/courtney-ogden\" title=\"Courtney Ogden\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Courtney Ogden<\/a> is making 51.0 percent this season (132-of-259). She is eight makes shy of appearing in the national rankings for field goal percentage (minimum five made per game). Her 51.0 percent clip would be tied for 54th in the country.<br \/>\nIn her last 18 games, the junior is averaging 14.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals. In the season&#8217;s first 10 games she averaged 7.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 0.8 steals.<br \/>\nShe had zero 20-point games and 14 10-point games in her first 72 career outings and now has five 20-point performances and 13 10-point performances in her last 18.<br \/>\nAgainst Notre Dame on Feb. 1, Ogden registered her first career double-double with 23 points and 10 boards, and she had another 23 points and a career-high eight assists at Pitt.<br \/>\nOgden is the first Stanford player with 23 points and eight assists since <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/kiana-williams\" title=\"Kiana Williams\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kiana Williams<\/a> had 25 and eight against UCLA on Feb. 7, 2020.<br \/>\nOn Jan. 15 at Boston College, she had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists, the first Stanford player with that line in a road game since <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/cameron-brink\" title=\"Cameron Brink\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cameron Brink<\/a> had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists at Utah on Feb. 25, 2023.<br \/>\nShe was named ACC Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 15 after scoring a career-high 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting to go with seven rebounds, two assists and one block in the Cardinal\u2019s 78-69 win to open ACC play against Cal.<br \/>\nHer efficient performance is one of 66 in the country this season in which a player has scored 25 points on at least 80.0 percent shooting, but one of only 16 to come against a Power 4 opponent.<\/p>\n<p>SUPERB START FOR SOMFAI \u00bb<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/lara-somfai\" title=\"Lara Somfai\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lara Somfai<\/a> was selected ACC Rookie of the Week for the fourth time on Feb. 9 after averaging 17.0 points, 16.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in Stanford\u2019s road trip to Pitt and Georgia Tech.<br \/>\nAgainst Pitt, Somfai went for 15 points, 23 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and three blocks, becoming just the second player in NCAA history with those numbers in available records dating back to 2002-03 and the only freshman. Illinois-Chicago\u2019s Ruvanna Campbell had the exact same line against Northern Illinois on Nov. 17, 2014.<br \/>\nSomfai\u2019s 23 boards are an ACC freshman record, the most by a major conference freshman in the country this season, and the most for an ACC player since Sarah Imovbioh (Virginia) had 24 against Ohio State on Nov. 14, 2014. Her rebounding total is tied for third in Stanford history, trailing only 24-rebound performances from <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/cameron-brink\" title=\"Cameron Brink\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cameron Brink<\/a> at Oregon State on Feb. 29, 2024 and <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/chiney-ogwumike\" title=\"Chiney Ogwumike\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chiney Ogwumike<\/a> against Oregon on Feb. 24, 2013.<br \/>\nSomfai followed that up with a career-high 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists and one block at Georgia Tech. She\u2019s the only freshman with that line in a game this season and the first ACC freshman to do it since Hannah Hidalgo in Dec. 2023.<br \/>\nSomfai is averaging a team-high 9.5 rebounds per game this season, good for fourth in the ACC. No ACC freshman has averaged 9.0 rebounds for an entire season since North Carolina&#8217;s Janelle Bailey in 2017-18 (9.1). The Stanford record for freshman rebounding average is held by <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/kaylee-johnson\" title=\"Kaylee Johnson\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kaylee Johnson<\/a> in 2014-15 (9.6).<br \/>\nSomfai is ninth in the country in defensive rebound percentage at 30.0 percent, a metric that shows how often a player collects available defensive boards.<br \/>\nHer four conference Rookie of the Week awards are the most in program history. <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/haley-jones\" title=\"Haley Jones\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Haley Jones<\/a> was a three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in 2019-20 and <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/kaylee-johnson\" title=\"Kaylee Johnson\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kaylee Johnson<\/a> was a three-time winner in 2014-15. The Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award began in 2012-13.<br \/>\nAlso putting up 10.3 points per game, Somfai is one of three freshmen in the country averaging 10.3 points and 9.5 rebounds along with Gonzaga&#8217;s Lauren Whittaker (19.0 ppg, 10.1 rpg) and American&#8217;s Charlotte Tuhy (10.9 ppg, 10.6 rpg).<br \/>\nShe is also tied for fifth in the ACC in double-doubles (7) and has the most double-doubles for a Stanford freshman since <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/chiney-ogwumike\" title=\"Chiney Ogwumike\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chiney Ogwumike<\/a> had a school freshman record 11 in 2010-11.<br \/>\nA well-rounded player, Somfai has 287 points, 266 rebounds, 38 assists, 21 blocks and 21 steals. With a few more games, she will become just the 19th freshman in NCAA history to total 300 points, 300 steals, 40 assists, 20 blocks and 20 steals and the first major conference freshman to do it since Minnesota&#8217;s Amanda Zahui B. in 2013-14. The only other Stanford freshman to do it was <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/kayla-pedersen\" title=\"Kayla Pedersen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kayla Pedersen<\/a> in 2007-08. The first name on the list is Cheryl Miller in 1982-83.<\/p>\n<p>ESCHMEYER&#8217;S EMERGENCE \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Freshman <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/alex-eschmeyer\" title=\"Alexandra Eschmeyer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alexandra Eschmeyer<\/a> scored a career-high 16 points and had seven rebounds and four blocks in the Jan. 25 game at Cal, becoming the first Cardinal freshman with 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in a game since <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/cameron-brink\" title=\"Cameron Brink\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cameron Brink<\/a> against Oregon State on March 5, 2021 (24p, 11r, 4b) and just the fourth since 2002-03, joining Brink, <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/kayla-pedersen\" title=\"Kayla Pedersen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kayla Pedersen<\/a> and Jayne Appel.<br \/>\nIn her last 13 games, she is averaging 6.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks after putting up 4.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in her first 15 outings.<br \/>\nEschmeyer had 11 rebounds and a career-high six blocks in the victory over Wake Forest on Jan. 8.<br \/>\nHer six blocks against Wake Forest were the most for a Stanford player since <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/cameron-brink\" title=\"Cameron Brink\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cameron Brink<\/a> had seven in the 2024 Sweet 16 against NC State and the most for a Cardinal freshman since Brink had six in the 2021 Final Four against South Carolina. She\u2019s the first Stanford freshman with 11 rebounds and six blocks in available records dating back to 2002-03 and one of four freshmen in the country to have those numbers in a game this season along with Maddison Krug (Lafayette), Alyssa Koerkenmeier (Saint Louis) and Avril Smith (Omaha).<br \/>\nThe only other Stanford players with 11 rebounds and six blocks in records dating back to 2002-03 include <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/cameron-brink\" title=\"Cameron Brink\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cameron Brink<\/a> (nine times), <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/alanna-smith\" title=\"Alanna Smith\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alanna Smith<\/a> (two times), <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/chiney-ogwumike\" title=\"Chiney Ogwumike\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chiney Ogwumike<\/a> and Jayne Appel.<\/p>\n<p>CLARDY PARTY \u00bb <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/chloe-clardy\" title=\"Chloe Clardy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chloe Clardy<\/a> is one of 52 players in the country averaging 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 steals, but is one of only two to do it coming off primarily off the bench (MiLaysia Fulwiley &#8211; LSU).<br \/>\nShe is one of three ACC players with those averages along with Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) and Kymora Johnson (Virginia).<\/p>\n<p>AGARA AGAIN \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>One of the country\u2019s most improved players a season ago, Nunu Agara has picked up right where she left off. Stanford\u2019s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Agara is one of eight Power 4 players averaging 14.6 points and 8.2 rebounds along with Oklahoma&#8217;s Raegan Beers, Kentucky&#8217;s Clara Strack, Miami&#8217;s Ra Shaya Kyle, NC State&#8217;s Khamil Pierre, UCLA&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/lauren-betts\" title=\"Lauren Betts\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lauren Betts<\/a>, Penn State&#8217;s Gracie Merkle, and Duke&#8217;s Toby Fournier.<br \/>\nAgara was voted ACC Player of the Week on Nov. 24 after averaging a double-double of 20.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in Stanford\u2019s wins against UC Davis (70-45) and Lehigh (98-43). She shot 75.0 percent from the floor across the two games, making 15 of her 20 field goal attempts. It was Stanford\u2019s first conference player of the week since <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/cameron-brink\" title=\"Cameron Brink\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cameron Brink<\/a> won Pac-12 Player of the Week on March 4, 2024.<br \/>\nAgainst Lehigh on Nov. 23, Agara poured in 24 points on a perfect 10-of-10 shooting, tying the school record for single-game field goal percentage. Just last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/elena-bosgana\" title=\"Elena Bosgana\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Elena Bosgana<\/a> was 10-of-10 from the floor in a win over UC San Diego on Nov. 29. <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/kim-kupferer\" title=\"Kim Kupferer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kim Kupferer<\/a> was 11-of-11 from the floor in a game against Pacific on Jan. 24, 1981. She is one of three players in the country this season to be perfect from the floor when attempting at least 10 field goals (Clara Silva &#8211; TCU; Grace Oliver &#8211; Wake Forest).<br \/>\nA career 82.8 percent free throw shooter (217-of-262), Agara is fifth in school history in that category.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0AS GOOD AS ADVERTISED \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Stanford\u2019s freshmen have been as good as advertised to start the season. The group has accounted for 733 of the Cardinal\u2019s 1,921 points, or 38.2 percent. They\u2019re on pace to score 864 combined points this season, which would be the most for a Stanford freshman class since 1994-95 when <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/naomi-mulitauaopele\" title=\"Naomi Mulitauaopele\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Naomi Mulitauaopele<\/a> (240), Kristin Folkl (227), <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/heather-owen\" title=\"Heather Owen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Heather Owen<\/a> (177), <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/olympia-scott\" title=\"Olympia Scott\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Olympia Scott<\/a> (141), <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/vanessa-nygaard\" title=\"Vanessa Nygaard\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vanessa Nygaard<\/a> (94) and <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/regan-freuen\" title=\"Regan Freuen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Regan Freuen<\/a> (29) combined for 908 points.<br \/>\nThe Cardinal is the only Power 4 program with multiple freshmen averaging 9.8 points per game in <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/lara-somfai\" title=\"Lara Somfai\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lara Somfai<\/a> (10.3) and <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/hailee-swain\" title=\"Hailee Swain\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hailee Swain<\/a> (9.8).<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/hailee-swain\" title=\"Hailee Swain\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hailee Swain<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/lara-somfai\" title=\"Lara Somfai\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lara Somfai<\/a> have started in every one of Stanford&#8217;s 28 games this season.<br \/>\nStanford, Saint Louis and Youngstown State are the only schools in the country with two freshmen that have started 28 games.<br \/>\nSomfai and Swain are two of only eight freshmen that have started at least 25 games for Stanford in the past 17 seasons and are the only set of Cardinal first-year teammates to do it in the same season over that span.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>RETURNING PRODUCTION \u00bb <\/p>\n<p>Stanford is near the top of the ACC in returning production, welcoming back 54.2 percent of its scoring (1,221 of 2,255 points), 49.7 percent of its rebounding (583 of 1,172 rebounds), 57.4 percent of its assists (251 of 437 assists) and 56.9 percent of its minutes played (3,585 of 6,300 minutes).<br \/>\nThe Cardinal is fourth in the ACC in returning points (Duke &#8211; 67.7%, Virginia 61.6%, Virginia Tech 54.7%), second in returning rebounds (Duke &#8211; 64.1%), fourth in returning assists (Virginia &#8211; 70.7%, Virginia Tech &#8211; 68.5%, Duke &#8211; 63.0%), and third in returning minutes (Duke &#8211; 68.1%, Virginia Tech &#8211; 57.6%).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>CARDINAL CONTINUITY \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>The Cardinal only has one transfer on its roster in junior <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/mary-ashley-stevenson\" title=\"Mary Ashley Stevenson\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mary Ashley Stevenson<\/a>, who is in her second year on The Farm after playing one season at Purdue.<br \/>\nStanford has the fewest transfers on its roster among all 68 Power 4 programs. NC State, Washington and Oklahoma each have two.<br \/>\nAmong Power 4 schools, Stanford and Washington tied for the least amount of portal movement this offseason (total number of transfers in + transfers out). The Cardinal had two outgoing transfers in senior <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/tess-heal\" title=\"Tess Heal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tess Heal<\/a> (Kansas State) and graduate student <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/jzaniya-harriel\" title=\"Jzaniya Harriel\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jzaniya Harriel<\/a> (SMU). The Huskies, which had zero outgoing transfers, welcomed two incoming transfers in Avery Howell (USC) and Yulia Grabovskaia (Michigan).<\/p>\n<p>SUPERB STAFF \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Stanford boasts a roster of coaches that features four WNBA veterans, more than any other program in the country, in <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/kate-paye\" title=\"Kate Paye\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kate Paye<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/katy-steding\" title=\"Katy Steding\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Katy Steding<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/erica-mccall\" title=\"Erica McCall\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Erica McCall<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/jeanette-pohlen\" title=\"Jeanette Pohlen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jeanette Pohlen<\/a>. All are Stanford graduates.<br \/>\nPaye played 79 games for Minnesota and Seattle from 2000-02, Steding 55 games for Sacramento and Seattle in 2000 and 2001, Pohlen 148 games for Indiana from 2011-2017, and McCall 122 games for Indiana, Atlanta, Minnesota and Washington from 2017-21.<br \/>\nWhile not a coach, <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/karlie-samuelson\" title=\"Karlie Samuelson\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Karlie Samuelson<\/a>, a 2017 honorable mention All-American who led the Cardinal to two Final Fours, has returned to her alma mater as an intern for the 2025-26 season.<br \/>\nBack with the program while she rehabs from a left foot injury sustained in June, Samuelson has played for six franchises across seven WNBA seasons since her graduation from Stanford with a degree in human biology in in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>FIRST CLASS \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Stanford\u2019s three five-star signees tied for the national lead with Tennessee and LSU and the program\u2019s most since it had four in the Class of 2019 (<a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/haley-jones\" title=\"Haley Jones\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Haley Jones<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/ashten-prechtel\" title=\"Ashten Prechtel\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ashten Prechtel<\/a>, Fran Belibi, <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/hannah-jump\" title=\"Hannah Jump\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hannah Jump<\/a>).<br \/>\nOf the 24 women selected to be McDonald\u2019s All Americans, Stanford (Eschmeyer, Somfai, Swain) and Ten\u00adnessee had the most players suiting up next fall with three commits each. Stanford\u2019s three McDonald\u2019s All Americans were almost as many as the rest of the ACC combined (4).<\/p>\n<p>PRESEASON ACC PROGNOSTICATIONS \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>The Cardinal was picked to finish sixth in the ACC in a vote of the league\u2019s 18 head coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel. Stanford totaled 1,041 points from 70 voters to finish sixth in the predicted order of finish behind Duke, NC State, North Carolina, Louisville, and Notre Dame.<br \/>\nAn All-ACC second team selection last season, Nunu Agara was voted to the 10-person Preseason All-ACC Team. She was Stanford\u2019s leading scorer (15.8 ppg) and rebounder (7.6 rpg) a season ago and is the ACC\u2019s third-leading returning scorer (Hannah Hidalgo \u2013 Notre Dame; Kymora Johnson &#8211; Virginia) and its second-lead\u00ading returning rebounder (Jessica Peterson &#8211; Miami).<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/hailee-swain\" title=\"Hailee Swain\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hailee Swain<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/player\/lara-somfai\" title=\"Lara Somfai\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lara Somfai<\/a> landed on the six-person Preseason All-Freshman Team and Stanford was the only school with multiple players on the list.<\/p>\n<p>SEASON OF CHANGE \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>After making 36 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 1988-2024, Stanford was not an at-large selection to the field in 2024-25 and appeared in the WBIT for the first time.<br \/>\nStanford 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).<br \/>\nThe Cardinal was 50th in the final NET rankings after the completion of the NCAA Tournament.<br \/>\nWith a 16-15 overall record, Stanford posted a winning record for the 38th consecutive season, the fifth-longest active streak in the country.<br \/>\nThe Cardinal\u2019s 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).<br \/>\nStanford finished 261st nationally in field goal percentage defense (.421) and 286th in scoring defense (69.3) last season. Prior to 2024-25 and in available NCAA records dating to 2001-02, the Cardinal had never finished outside the top 50 in field goal percentage defense and had been outside the top 100 in scoring defense just twice.<br \/>\nStanford played in a different league for the first time since <a href=\"https:\/\/gostanford.com\/staff\/tara-vanderveer\" title=\"Tara VanDerveer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tara VanDerveer<\/a>\u2019s first Cardinal squad played in the Pac-West in 1985-86.<\/p>\n<p>HOME OF CHAMPIONS \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Stanford has won at least one NCAA team title in each of the past 49 years (dating back to the 1976-77 campaign), the longest streak in NCAA history.<br \/>\nStanford leads the NCAA with 137 team titles, including two national team championships during the 2024-25 campaign &#8211; women\u2019s water polo and women\u2019s rowing, increasing its overall total to 173.<br \/>\nStanford is one of six schools with at least one national championship in football, baseball, and men\u2019s basketball, and the only school with at least one in football, baseball, men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball.<br \/>\nFrom 1995-2019, Stanford won 25 straight Division I Learfield Sports Directors\u2019 Cups. The Cardinal enters the 2025-26 year with 26 of the 31 total Directors\u2019 Cups, most recently capturing the award during the 2022-23 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE GAME: Stanford (16-12, 5-10 ACC) plays at Florida State (9-18, 4-11 ACC) on Sunday, Feb. 22 at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-163318","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-tallahassee","9":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","10":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}