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| The team took home a trophy after winning the Bull Dawgs Classic over Thanksgiving, and Kiki (third from left) took home one as the tournament's most valuable player. (Stanford Athletics) |
The Stanford women’s basketball team ended the 2023-24
season with a 30-6 record and gave fans much to like.
During the season, Stanford bounced around in AP’s
weekly ratings. It began with its lowest rating, No. 15, to start the season
and soared as high as No. 2 on March 4.
It wound up being a bittersweet season because it
was the last for the Pac-12 conference as we’ve known it. Instead, 10 of the
teams will leave for other conferences, including the Atlantic Coast
Conference, the destination for Stanford and Cal.
On top of that, on April 9, head coach Tara
VanDerveer announced that she is retiring from coaching as of May 9. She said
her decision was not related to going to the ACC. Instead, she said she felt it
was time.
However, she will remain with the program as a
consultant and adviser, so she’ll have a presence at Stanford. Associate head
coach Kate Paye has been named to succeed her. Jeanette Pohlen, director of
player development, will join Kate on the bench as a coach.
But for now it’s time to recall the season’s ups and
downs, mostly ups.
Freshmen,
new coaches join the team
When the summer of 2023 began, the team welcomed its
Tree-O of freshmen: forward Nunu Agara, guard Chloe Clardy and forward Courtney
Ogden.
Also welcomed back to the Farm was assistant coach
Tempie Brown, who was an assistant there from 2013-20. Then, thanks to new NCAA
rules, Stanford grad Erica “Bird” McCall, ’17, became the fifth member of the
coaching staff.
Nine of the 12 players were on campus. The two Greek
players, junior Elena Bosgana and sophomore Stavi Papadaki, both guards, were
in their home country playing on national teams while taking classes remotely.
Sophomore guard Talana Lepolo was in Madrid on the USA U-19 team.
Senior forward Cameron Brink was back after leading
the USA 3x3 team to the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Vienna and being named MVP of
the tournament.
Open
practice, scrimmage preview team
Fans got a preview of the team during an open
practice Oct. 23.
It was followed by a reception in the Hall of
Champions, where Tara said that construction of new, more spacious locker rooms,
training room, lounge and theater had caused the front lawn and handicapped
parking area to be fenced off. Men’s and
women’s basketball and women’s volleyball will use the facilities.
A scrimmage Oct. 28 gave fans another preview before
a 126-53 exhibition victory over Dominican University, a Division II team, on
Nov. 1.
The starting lineup – grad guard Hannah Jump, Cam,
junior forward Kiki Iriafen, Elena and Talana – remained the same for the rest
of the season except when a starter couldn’t play.
Victories
usher in season
The regular season started with an 87-40 victory
over Hawaii. Kiki poured in 23 points and snared 13 rebounds while Nunu came
off the bench to add 18 points and six rebounds.
Another home win followed Nov. 12 when Indiana fell
96-64.
Then came two more home wins: 86-32 over Cal Poly on
Nov. 16 and 82-79 over Duke in overtime on Nov. 19, when Cam led the team with
a career-high 29 points. After that game, Cam was named Pac-12 Player of the
Week and National Player of the Week for the second straight time.
Team
brings home trophies from tournament
The team took to the road for the first time,
traveling to Henderson, Nev., for the Ball Dawgs Classic. It featured a 74-55
win over Belmont on Nov. 22 and a 100-88 victory over Florida State on Nov. 24,
giving the team the tournament trophy. Kiki received a trophy as the
tournament’s most valuable player after she posted a career-high 30 points and
17 rebounds against Florida State.
Returning home, the team defeated Albany 79-35 on
Nov. 26. Hannah provided a game highlight when she made four 3s, including the
300th of her career in the second quarter, and finished with 303 for
her career to date.
After racking up a season record of 8-0, including an
85-44 win at San Diego State two days earlier, the team suffered its first
loss, 96-78, at Gonzaga on Dec.3.
With finals over, the team resumed its winning ways
by defeating Portland 81-51 at home Dec. 15 when only 10 players were
available. Courtney and redshirt sophomore guard Jzaniya Harriel were in street
clothes, as they were the following game.
That’s when UC Davis fell 92-52 at Maples on Dec.
20. This game was highlighted by Hannah’s record-setting 312th and
313th 3s, surpassing former teammate Kiana Williams, ’21, who held
the previous record of 311.
Next:
2023 ends, Pac-12 play begins
