Stanford Women

The Stanford Cardinal women's basketball program began varsity competition in the 1974–75 season, amid the growing impact of Title IX on collegiate athletics. The team competed in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) during its first decade, making tournament appearances in 1978, 1979, and 1980. Though Stanford posted some early 20-win seasons, the program lacked consistent leadership and national visibility through its first decade. It wasn't until the hiring of Tara VanDerveer in 1985 that the trajectory of Stanford basketball began to change.

VanDerveer inherited a struggling program that had gone 9–19 the year prior. In just three seasons, she engineered a dramatic turnaround. Her methodical, defense-first philosophy laid the foundation for a transformation that culminated in Stanford’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1988. That year, the team went 27–5, won the Pac-10 regular-season title, and reached the Sweet Sixteen.

Stanford’s rise to national prominence culminated in the 1989–90 season, when the Cardinal captured their first NCAA national championship. Behind point guard Jennifer Azzi and forward Katy Steding, Stanford finished with a 32–1 record and steamrolled through the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal scored 114 points in a rout of Arkansas in the Elite Eight, defeated Virginia 75–66 in the Final Four, and overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to beat Auburn 88–81 in the national championship game. Azzi was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player and earned the Naismith and Wade Trophy awards.

Stanford remained a Final Four contender in the following seasons. In 1991, they advanced to the national semifinals before falling to Tennessee. Then in 1992, the Cardinal captured their second national title. Led by Val Whiting, Rachel Hemmer, and Molly Goodenbour, Stanford defeated Western Kentucky 78–62 in the championship game, capping a dominant tournament run. Goodenbour, who hit a then-record 18 three-pointers during the tournament, was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. By the mid1990s, Tara VanDerveer had firmly established Stanford as one of the top programs in the country.

Stanford remained an elite program throughout the 1990s, continuing to dominate the Pac-10 while consistently earning top seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Led by All-American players like Christy Hedgpeth, Jamila Wideman, and Kate Starbird, the Cardinal reached the Final Four in 1995, 1996, and 1997. Starbird, the 1997 Naismith Player of the Year, led a team that went 34–2 and advanced to the national semifinals, where they were upset by Old Dominion.

During the 1996–97 season, Tara VanDerveer took a yearlong sabbatical to coach the United States national team at the Atlanta Olympics. Under her guidance, Team USA went undefeated and won the gold medal. Back at Stanford, interim coaches Amy Tucker and Marianne Stanley led the Cardinal to a 34–2 record and a return trip to the Final Four. The program’s ability to thrive even in VanDerveer’s absence underscored the system and culture she had built in Palo Alto.

After a decade of consistent Final Four appearances, the early 2000s marked a relatively quiet stretch for the Cardinal by their lofty standards. Although Stanford remained dominant in Pac-10 play—winning multiple regular-season titles—the team failed to return to the Final Four from 1998 through 2007. Several promising teams were derailed by injuries, including the 2001 squad, which lost All-American Susan King Borchardt to a torn ACL.

However, the team continued to produce elite players, including Nicole Powell, who became a three-time All-American and led Stanford to the Elite Eight in 2004. That year marked a turning point, as VanDerveer and her staff began assembling a new generation of stars that would return the program to the national spotlight.

The late 2000s and early 2010s brought a dramatic resurgence under VanDerveer, driven by the emergence of star players like Candice Wiggins, Jayne Appel, and most notably, sisters Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike. From 2008 to 2014, Stanford returned to national prominence with six Final Four appearances: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014. The Cardinal won the Pac-10/Pac-12 regular-season title each of those seasons and consistently entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.

The 2008 team reached the national title game after upsetting UConn 82–73 in the Final Four, but fell to Tennessee 64–48 in the championship game. In 2010, Nneka Ogwumike scored 38 points in a national semifinal win over Oklahoma, but the Cardinal were narrowly defeated by UConn in the title game, 53–47. In that contest, Stanford held UConn to just 12 first-half points but couldn’t overcome their own offensive struggles in the second half.

Chiney Ogwumike took over as the program’s leader in the early 2010s, finishing her career as the Pac-12’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder. Despite her dominant play, Stanford fell short of returning to the national title game. In 2014, they reached their sixth Final Four in seven years before losing to eventual champion UConn in the National Semifinals, 75–56.

Following a brief rebuilding period in the mid-2010s, Stanford returned to the national stage behind a new core of elite talent in the early 2020s. Players like Alanna Smith, Kiana Williams, Lexie and Lacie Hull, Haley Jones, Anna Wilson, and Cameron Brink helped revitalize the program. The Cardinal won the Pac-12 Tournament in 2021 and entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed.

The 2020–21 season, played under strict COVID-19 protocols, proved historic. Stanford played much of the season away from home due to Santa Clara County restrictions, yet still finished 31–2. In the Final Four, the Cardinal edged South Carolina 66–65 in a thriller that ended with a last-second block by Brink. Two nights later, Stanford claimed its third national championship with a narrow 54–53 win over Arizona. Haley Jones scored 17 points in the title game and was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player.

Stanford followed up their title in the 2021–22 season with a 32–4 campaign, again earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and reaching the Final Four. In the National Semifinals, they fell to UConn 63–58 in a tightly contested game. It marked the program’s 15th Final Four appearance.

The 2022–23 season saw the Cardinal once again secure a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, but they were stunned in the second round by #8 seeded Ole Miss, 54–49. The loss marked the end of Stanford’s streak of 15 consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearances. In 2023–24, Stanford entered the tournament as a #2 seed, defeating Norfolk State and surviving Iowa State in an overtime battle, 87–81. However, their run ended in the Sweet Sixteen with a 77–67 loss to eventual Final Four contender NC State.

Despite strong regular seasons, the inability to return to the Final Four led to speculation about a coming transition. That speculation was confirmed in April 2024, when Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement after 38 seasons at Stanford. With 1,216 career victories, VanDerveer retired as the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, men’s or women’s. Her legacy included three national championships, 15 Final Four appearances, and a record of sustained excellence unmatched in the modern era of the sport.