The NCAA held the first official postseason tournament for Division I Women's College basketball in 1982. All tournaments including it are played alongside Tennessee Lady Volunteers.
Stanford owns the second-longest winning streak to appear in the NCAA Tournament at 36. Cardinal missed the field in 1986 and 1987 in Taravan Derveer's first two seasons. Stanford appeared in all big dances from 1988 to 2024 when she became the most winning coach in college basketball history.
Just like Pat Summitt did in Tennessee, as did Geno Auriemma uconnlike Muffet McGraw did. Notre Dameand, as Kim Mulkey did with Baylor, Vanderbeal made Stanford synonymous with the Women's NCAA Tournament. As the sport grew in popularity, Cardinal became one of its signature programs.
“Tara is the best coach in the history of the game,” said Kate Pay, a longtime understudy at Vandervia.
And a few weeks after last season ended, Vanderbeal left it and retired at the age of 70. She went out to the Pac-12.
For 17 years, her former player and assistant coach, Paye took the reins of the program as she set out for a new era of Cardinal OLM basketball. On July 1, 2024, Stanford officially joined the Atlantic Coast Conference with Cal and SMU. With the Pac-12 disbanded due to greed and mismanagement over television revenue from football, Stanford and Cal flew on their first real lifeboat, even if they came from multiple time zones based largely on the basis of the game. The choice was to participate in the ACC or suffered the fate of Oregon and Washington Statewas left behind and forced to partner with the Mid Major Conference together.
These two major changes for Stanford – Vandervere's retirement and the disbandment of the Pac-12, Pai's elevation and participation in ACC coincided with some of the best players leaving the program. All-American and two-time Pac-12 player of the year Cameron Brink WNBA Kiki Iliafen, a draft and Katrina McClain Award winner, has transferred to USC. When Stanford went to Sweet 16, Brink and Iriafen averaged double doubles last season.
Still, people were optimistic that Stanford would succeed in the ACC. Cardinal was chosen to finish seventh in the league in the preseason polls and even voted for first place. Certainly, at least a lot of thoughts – Stanford will make an area of the NCAA Tournament.
However, that prediction may not come true. More importantly, Stanford's winning streak of NCAA Tournament appearances could end.
Cardinal, who took part in the ACC Tournament as the 11th seed this week, finds himself on the wrong side of the tournament bubble. His latest In parentheses At ESPN, Charlie Cream projects Stanford into what is called “the next four outs.”
“It's going to take a lot of time (to make an NCAA tournament),” Cream told SB Nation about Stanford's outlook. “They're ways from real fields. They needed two impactful victories in the ACC tournament, then lost from (the other bubble teams).”
Megan Gauer, statistical parentheses scholar of her hoop I agree.
“I think we're trying to see the end of their tournament streak,” Gauer told SB Nation. “Stanford has some good wins…but it's not enough to compensate for the 13 losses and the sub.500 meeting record.”
However, Pay entered the ACC tournament this week in Greensboro, North Carolina, with a newfound optimism with her team.
“Our team is very confident. We play really well and our teams love playing together,” Paye said. “It's a march. As a basketball player, this is the most exciting time. What we've learned over the years is that teams that are peaking in tournament time are teams that really love each other and want to play more games together. It feels like our teams have that.”
Stanford has won five games out of his last six games, giving him a 16-13 record and an 8-10 mark in ACC play. One of those wins outweighed AP ranked teams Georgia Institute of Technology.
One reason for Stanford's second half of the season's surge is that wage changes have been made. She inserted Chloe Krerdie into the starting lineup, giving Tess Heal and Courtney Ogden's off-bench contributors a few more minutes.
A junior transfer from Santa Clara, Heal is the only player over 50% from the floor, 50% from the 3-point range and 85% from the free throw line. Ogden averaged 16.5 points, five rebounds and four assists in her final four games, while Clerdi scored a career-high 30 points to help Stanford win Virginia Tech.
“Our team is playing well and we're playing with confidence,” Paye said. “I'm really excited and proud of the incredible improvements to the team. When I remember our first road trip, we feel like a completely different team. We're getting a lot better… People feel very comfortable with their role.”
Cardinal ranks 48th in the online rankings ahead of fellow bubble teams such as Princeton, St. Joseph, Arizona and Colorado. Quad 1 has only one win, but it's a 7-4 combination against Quad 2 and three teams.
Stanford will have the opportunity to run to the NCAA Tournament and continue to live that streak, but the road there can be bumpy. If Cardinal defeats Clemson on Wednesday night, they will have to beat Louisville and Duke to feel comfortable participating in the NCAA Tournament – both will be a Quad 1 victory. Stanford averaged 17 points to both the Cardinals and the Blue Devils on the Road this season.
Again, certainly not easy for Stanford. Cardinal will be 2-7 in the ACC road game this year, and the tournament in Greensboro will probably feel like a real road game for Californians.
“We're traveling much less than Stanford,” Clemson coach Sean Poppy said of the upcoming games.
Paye says players have not complained about the trip, but Stanford's road record shows it's another obstacle for ACC rookies for most of the season. But despite the tournament unfolding, Paye is taking in the ups and downs of her first year and hopes that will help her build in the next few years.
“To be honest, it was a really enjoyable journey,” Paye said. “This isn't about me. It's about incredible women in our team who are very selfish, very hardworking and very coachable through a lot of adversity. They're really stuck together. I'm really proud of them. It was challenging, but in a good way. I've grown as a coach and learned a lot.”
