The Stanford women’s basketball program is in the midst of some changes. Former head coach Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement at the end of last season after 38 years, paving the way for longtime assistant Kate Paye to take over the role. The Cardinal are playing in the ACC for the first time and will have to face new teams and deal with new travel situations. The season doesn’t start for another couple of months, but it’s already becoming clear who the Cardinal will be playing against. It was recently announced that the team will travel to Bloomington on November 17 to face Indiana.
Stanford finished the 2023-24 season ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25, while Indiana finished 12th.
As announced earlier this week, the Cardinal will travel to Indiana for the first time ever for non-conference play. They will play a rematch at their alma mater in VanDerveer against an Indiana team they beat last year. They defeated the then-ninth-ranked Hoosiers 96-64 at Maples Pavilion, thanks to Cameron Brink’s 20 points. Not only is it Stanford’s most-scoring game against a top-10 opponent since 2011, the 32-point win was also the school’s most against a top-10 team since 2010.
Stanford’s overall record against Indiana is 3-1. The team lost 73-63 in 1979, won 87-72 in 2001, 69-66 in 2021 and 96-64 in 2023. With the announcement of this year’s game, this is now the third confirmed game on the schedule after the team also announced games against LSU (away) on Dec. 5 and Ohio State (at Chase Center) on Dec. 20. The team is currently preparing for a trip to Italy. The rest of the team’s schedule will be announced upon return later this month.
Stanford has a 30-6 record, won the Pac-12 regular season and finished ninth in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. Two starters and nine total players return, and five newcomers will join the team, including three nationally ranked freshmen: Shay Ijiwoye (No. 53), Harper Peterson (No. 87) and Kennedy Umeh (No. 44).
A new era is about to begin in Palo Alto, and as anticipation for the season builds, things are slowly coming together as the Cardinal prepare for their debut season as members of the ACC.
