Just a handful of years ago, Stanford being 7-0 to start the season would have been standard operating procedure. The Cardinal would be ranked, they would be preparing for some big non-conference matchups and preparing to dip into a very competitive Pac-12 Conference schedule with their eyes on a title and a high NCAA seed.
Times have changed.
Heading into the holiday week tournaments, Stanford is sitting at 7-0 in a schedule that hasn’t yet included a ranked team, and the Cardinal sit where they have sat all season so far, outside the national ranking, although just barely, with 36 votes this week, putting them just behind three-loss No. 25 North Carolina State.
And with ACC title contenders struggling in the non-conference, the Cardinal are starting to look intriguing.
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Last year was a transition season, from Tara VanDerveer to Kate Paye, from a team led by Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen to one led by role players with a veteran point guard out for the season, from a team that made the NCAA Tournament 36 years in a row to one that lost in the first round of the WBIT at home. That’s done and gone.
The Cardinal know they are not all the way back to elite status. But they think they are on the way.
“It feels so good this season,” said junior forward Nunu Agara, whose 10-for-10 field goal and 24-point performance led Stanford to a dominant win over Lehigh on Sunday and got her named ACC Player of the Week. “Last year, I think we felt like we let a lot of people down because of what the Stanford jersey represents. We need to get Stanford back where we are supposed to be. And this team will get us back.”
While the Stanford schedule has been built for early success, Paye said getting off to a strong start has been “helpful” for a team that has integrated five highly rated freshmen and asked some of its veteran players to play more complementary roles.
“This team is putting in the work, and that’s what I’m excited about,” Paye said. “Our freshmen have been fantastic, and our returners have stepped up. We are learning about ourselves every single game.”
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There is more to learn and quickly. Stanford is headed to Las Vegas to the Resorts World Classic, where it will face Florida Gulf Coast on Friday and an unbeaten Colorado State team on Saturday in a pair of neutral-site games. After that comes the biggest challenge of the season by far, a Wednesday night ACC-SEC challenge game against No. 14 Tennessee at Maples Pavilion before opening ACC play on December 14 at home against Cal.
“We have a whole lot of new pieces, and there is a lot I still don’t know about this team, but I’m learning more every single step of the way,” Paye said. “We are getting something out of every experience.”
The question, however, is worth asking. What do we actually know about Stanford at this point in the season?
The freshmen are as good as advertised. Lara Somfai, the national freshman of the week, has been the early breakout. The 6-foot-3 Australian is averaging 11.7 points and 8.9 rebounds a game out of the starting lineup, giving the Cardinal the kind of mobile, versatile post that has been a hallmark of Stanford’s best teams. Guard Hailee Swain, the highest-rated recruit in Stanford’s highly rated class, is also off to a strong start in the starting lineup, averaging 10.1 points a game and improving rapidly.
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Having Talana Lepolo back is a huge plus. Lepolo was limited to five games last season because of a knee injury. Her steady hand guiding the team on the floor was clearly missed. Her return this season is also deeply felt. Lepolo is averaging 27 minutes a game, shooting 56 percent from the field and leads the team in assists.
“We missed her so much last year,” Paye said. “She’s a pure point guard, and she understands the game at a high level. She organizes the floor, and she helps everybody. I’m so happy for her; she’s moving well. This is her kind of team. There are so many options, and that takes advantage of her skills because she can orchestrate.”
Agara said Lepolo’s presence isn’t replaceable.
“Just having her on the court feels so great,” Agara said.
The bench will be key to the Cardinal’s success. Stanford’s bench is averaging 32.7 points a game. Chloe Clardy is the team’s second-leading scorer at 12.1 points a game, and leads the team with 11 3-pointers off the bench.
“Chloe is a starter; she just isn’t in our starting lineup today,” Paye said. “She is thriving as a sixth player.”
Mary Ashley Stevenson is also helping out, pitching in 5.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in 18 minutes a game.
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The defense is ahead of the offense.
Stanford is allowing opponents 49.7 points a game and just 31 percent shooting from the floor — among the national leaders in both categories.
“This is a team that works hard,” Paye said. “They are putting team success first, and they are extremely competitive. The offense will come along as everyone plays together longer.”
The struggles of the ACC’s top teams provide an opening.
With Duke and North Carolina State struggling early with some unexpected losses, Stanford has an opportunity to establish itself as a front-runner in a way that it wasn’t able to do a year ago. If the Cardinal guards can be productive and withstand defensive pressure, and if the team’s forwards can take advantage of their size inside, this could be a team that hangs close to the top of the ACC standings.
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