Stanford lost to Clemson, 63-46, in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, a defeat that will likely end the school’s historic NCAA Tournament streak. The Cardinal have made 36 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, which is second only to Tennessee (42) for the longest streak all time.
While Stanford held Clemson scoreless for the first four minutes and 33 seconds, they only managed six points themselves, which was not a big enough lead. Clemson went ahead late in the first quarter and never trailed again. Stanford’s 46 points were its fewest in a game this season, and its 31.5% mark from the field was its second-worst shooting performance.
Women’s NCAA conference tournaments: Stanford’s historic NCAA Tournament streak among three key storylines
Jack Maloney
As the Cardinal await their fate come Selection Sunday, here’s a look at their past year, their NCAA Tournament streak and their future outlook.
What went wrong for Stanford this season?
The Cardinal’s issues on the court this season stem back to their devastating offseason.
Legendary coach Tara VanDerveer, who had led the program to 14 Final Fours and three national championships, retired after 38 seasons in Palo Alto. On the playing side, there was a mass exodus of talent. Star center Cameron Brink went to the WNBA, where she was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 draft, while breakout star Kiki Iriafen transferred to USC and starting guard Hannah Jump graduated.
Iriafen (19.4 points per game), Brink (17.4) and Jump (10.6) accounted for nearly 60% of the 2023-24 team’s scoring. Even for a program with Stanford’s pedigree, it’s impossible to replace that level of production and experience. Sure enough, Stanford’s offensive rating fell from 114.2 last season, which ranked fifth in the country, to 103.9 this season, which was 63rd.
The Cardinal’s transition to the ACC after the Pac-12 was disbanded also complicated matters. They had to adjust to a new league with unfamiliar opponents and were routinely flying back and forth across the entire country. It’s impossible to quantify exactly how much their unique travel situation impacted their play, but it certainly didn’t help.
Why did their streak matter?
Stanford is synonymous with women’s basketball. In fact, the first ever intercollegiate women’s basketball game featured Stanford against the University of California way back in 1896. (Stanford won, 2-1, thanks to a late game-winner by Agnes Morley.)
When VanDerveer took over the program nearly 90 years later, it was in disarray. It took VanDerveer a few years to rebuild, but by 1988 she had led the Cardinal to a then-program-record 27 wins and their first ever Sweet 16. They never looked back.
Stanford has not missed the NCAA Tournament since 1988, and along the way has won three national championships and made 15 Final Fours (VanDerveer stepped away from the program for one season to focus on coaching Team USA, so she has only been a part of 14 Final Four teams), 22 Elite Eights and 29 Sweet Sixteens.
The Cardinal’s 36 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances are second only to Tennessee (42) for the longest streak all time, while their three national titles are tied for the third-most by any program behind only UConn (11) and Tennessee (eight). Likewise, only UConn (23) and Tennessee (18) have made more trips to the Final Four than Stanford.
Stanford’s sustained excellence has only been matched by UConn and Tennessee, and if they do indeed miss out on the tournament this season, it will be the end of an era.
Do the Cardinal have any hope of stealing an at-large bid?
The short answer is it’s extremely unlikely.
The Cardinal got off to a strong 7-1 start this season, were ranked in the top 25 at one point and even took LSU to overtime on the road. That turned out to be the high point of their campaign, however, as they had a difficult start to conference play and suffered a number of close losses. In the span of a month they lost by four to SMU, by four to Clemson in overtime, by three to Cal and by two to North Carolina.
Stanford did manage to close the ACC regular season on a 5-1 run, which gave them a lifeline, but they had a lot of work to do in the ACC Tournament. CBS Sports’ Connor Groel had them ranked as his fifth team out ahead of their matchup with Clemson on Wednesday.
If Stanford had beaten Clemson and gone on to defeat Louisville and Duke in the second and third rounds of the ACC Tournament, that might have been enough to get in. But after a first-round loss to Clemson, it’s hard to see how the Cardinal jump any of the bubble teams ahead of them.
Their final resume looks like this:
- 16-14 overall (8-10 in conference play)
- 50th in NET
- Quad 1 games: 1-9
- Quad 2 games: 2-4
- Quad 3 games: 5-1
- Quad 4 games: 8-0
What is Stanford’s long-term outlook?
Part of the reason Stanford struggled this season is it had to rely heavily on underclassmen. Notably, sophomores Nunu Agara and Chloe Cardy finished first and second in minutes and first and third in scoring. Of the Cardinal’s top-six players in terms of both minutes and scoring, only two — Elena Bosgana and Brook Demetre — were seniors. The growing pains the Cardinal experienced this season should only benefit them in the long term.
Furthermore, Stanford will be bolstered by a strong incoming recruiting class that is ranked third in the country by 247 Sports. Hailee Swain, the No. 8 overall recruit, highlights the group, which also features fellow McDonald’s All-Americans Alexandra Eschmeyer and Lara Somfai.
Is Stanford going to jump right back into the national championship picture next season? Probably not. But it seems more likely this season was a blip on the radar caused by a unique confluence of events rather than the start of the program’s downfall.
