Stanford women's basketball looks to rebound in second ACC season

By its own well-established standards, last season was a massive disappointment for Stanford’s women’s basketball team.

In their first campaign in the Atlantic Coast Conference and without longtime coach Tara VanDerveer patrolling the sidelines, the Cardinal missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the Reagan Administration.

Between 1988 and 2024, 36 NCAA women's college basketball tournaments were contested and Stanford was part of every single one. The Cardinal made 15 Final Fours and won three national championships. Like UConn, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Baylor, Stanford had established itself as one of the sport’s blue bloods and a consistent contender.

So last season was seen as an aberration. In Kate Paye’s first season as head coach, Stanford went 16-15 and 8-10 in ACC action as they adjusted to the coast-to-coast league. The Cardinal were eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament by a Clemson team with a losing record. Then, they lost to Portland at home in the second-tier WBIT.

But this is still Stanford. The standard is still high.