2020–21 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represented Stanford University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinal, led by thirty-fifth year head coach Tara VanDerveer, played their home games at the Maples Pavilion as members of the Pac-12 Conference. As a result of Santa Clara County, California health orders, the Cardinal were unable to play in Palo Alto for much of their season, moving home games to Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz. They finished the season 31–2, 19–2 in Pac-12 play to finish in first place. They won the Pac-12 women's tournament by defeating UCLA, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated Utah Valley and Oklahoma State in the first and second rounds, Missouri State in the Sweet Sixteen, Louisville in the Elite Eight, South Carolina in the Final Four and Arizona in the National Championship Game to win its third NCAA title overall and first since 1992. Haley Jones was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.^[1]

2020–21 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions Pac-12 tournament champions Pac-12 regular season champions
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 2
Record	31–2 (19–2 Pac-12)
Head coach	Tara VanDerveer (35th season)
Associate head coach	Kate Paye (14th season)
Assistant coaches	Katy Steding (1st season) Britney Anderson (1st season)
Home arena	Maples Pavilion
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 2 Stanford†	19	–	2		.905			31	–	2		.939
No. 11 Arizona	13	–	4		.765			21	–	6		.778
No. 9 UCLA	12	–	4		.750			17	–	6		.739
No. 23 Oregon	10	–	7		.588			15	–	9		.625
Oregon State	7	–	6		.538			12	–	8		.600
Colorado	8	–	8		.500			12	–	11		.522
Washington State	9	–	10		.474			12	–	12		.500
USC	8	–	10		.444			11	–	12		.478
Arizona State	6	–	9		.400			11	–	12		.478
Utah	4	–	15		.211			5	–	16		.238
Washington	3	–	13		.188			7	–	14		.333
California	1	–	12		.077			1	–	16		.059
† 2021 Pac-12 Tournament winner As of March 29, 2021 Rankings from AP poll

Roster

2020–21 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 2 Agnes Emma-Nnopu 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Lake Ginninderra College Ocean Grove, Victoria G 3 Anna Wilson 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Bellevue Bellevue, WA G 4 Jana Van Gytenbeek 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr Cherry Creek Greenwood Village, CO F 5 Francesca Belibi 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Regis Jesuit Centennial, CO F 10 Alyssa Jerome 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr Harbord Collegiate Toronto, ON F 11 Ashten Prechtel 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) So Discovery Canyon Colorado Springs, CO F 12 Lexie Hull 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Central Valley Spokane, WA F 15 Maya Dodson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr St. Francis Alpharetta, GA F 22 Cameron Brink 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr Mountainside Beaverton, OR G 23 Kiana Williams 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Karen Wagner San Antonio, TX F 24 Lacie Hull 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Central Valley Spokane, WA G 30 Haley Jones 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Archbishop Mitty Santa Cruz, CA G 33 Hannah Jump 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So Pinewood San Jose, CA G 54 Jenna Brown  5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr The Lovett School Atlanta, GA	Head coach Tara VanDerveer (Indiana) Assistant coach(es) Kate Paye (Stanford) Katy Steding (Stanford) Britney Anderson (Virginia Tech) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: April 5, 2021

Schedule

^[2]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 11:00 am, Stanford Live Stream	No. 2	Cal Poly	W 108–40	1–0	Maples Pavilion (0) Stanford, CA
November 30, 2020* 2:00 pm, Stanford Live Stream	No. 2	San Diego Canceled due to Santa Clara Public Health Department [3]			Maples Pavilion  Stanford, CA
December 5, 2020* 2:00 pm, Mountain West Network	No. 2	at UNLV	W 101–54	2–0	Thomas & Mack Center (0) Las Vegas, NV
December 6, 2020 2:00 pm	No. 2	vs. Washington	W 83–50	3–0 (1–0)	Thomas & Mack Center (0) Las Vegas, NV
December 11, 2020* 4:00 pm	No. 1	UC Davis Canceled due to Santa Clara County ban on athletic activities.[4]			Maples Pavilion  Stanford, CA
December 13, 2020 7:00 pm, P12N	No. 1	at California	W 83–38	4–0 (2–0)	Haas Pavilion (0) Berkeley, CA
December 15, 2020* 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	at Pacific	W 104–61	5–0	Stockton, CA (0) Alex G. Spanos Center
December 19, 2020 6:00 pm, P12N	No. 1	at USC	W 80–60	6–0 (3–0)	Galen Center (0) Los Angeles, CA
December 21, 2020 12:00 pm, P12N	No. 1	at No. 10 UCLA	W 61–49	7–0 (4–0)	Pauley Pavilion (0) Los Angeles, CA
January 1, 2021 4:00 pm, P12N	No. 1	at No. 6 Arizona	W 81–54	8–0 (5–0)	McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ
January 3, 2021 3:00 pm, P12N	No. 1	at Arizona State	W 68–60	9–0 (6–0)	Desert Financial Arena (0) Tempe, AZ
January 8, 2021 11:30 am, P12N	No. 1	vs. No. 11 Oregon	W 70–63	10–0 (7–0)	Kaiser Permanente Arena (0) Santa Cruz, CA
TBD TBD		Oregon State postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Beavers' program.[5]			Kaiser Permanente Arena  Santa Cruz, CA
January 15, 2021 12:30 pm, P12N	No. 1	at Utah	W 82–54	11–0 (8–0)	Jon M. Huntsman Center (0) Salt Lake City, UT
January 17, 2021 11:00 am, P12N	No. 1	at Colorado	L 72–77	11–1 (8–1)	CU Events Center (0) Boulder, CO
January 22, 2021 7:00 pm, P12N	No. 5	vs. No. 6 UCLA	L 66-70	11–2 (8–2)	Kaiser Permanente Arena (0) Santa Cruz, CA
January 24, 2021 4:00 pm, P12N	No. 5	vs. USC	W 86-59	12–2 (9–2)	Kaiser Permanente Arena (0) Santa Cruz, CA
January 27, 2021 6:30 pm, P12N	No. 6	at Washington State	W 71-49	13–2 (10–2)	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
January 29, 2021 12:00 pm, WSU Live Stream	No. 6	at Washington State	W 77-49	14–2 (11–2)	Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA
January 31, 2021 1:00 pm, P12N	No. 6	at Washington	W 74–48	15–2 (12–2)	Alaska Airlines Arena (0) Seattle, WA
February 5, 2021 6:00 pm, P12N	No. 6	Colorado Breast Cancer Awareness Game	W 62–54	16–2 (13–2)	Maples Pavilion (1) Stanford, CA
February 7, 2021 1:00 pm, P12N	No. 6	Utah	W 83–41	17–2 (14–2)	Maples Pavilion (1) Stanford, CA
February 12, 2021 6:00 pm, P12N	No. 5	at Oregon State	W 83–58	18–2 (15–2)	Gill Coliseum (0) Corvallis, OR
February 15, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 6	at No. 13 Oregon	W 63–61	19–2 (16–2)	Matthew Knight Arena (0) Eugene, OR
February 19, 2021 7:00 pm, P12N	No. 6	Arizona State	W 80–41	20–2 (17–2)	Maples Pavilion  Stanford, CA
February 22, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 4	No. 9 Arizona	W 62–48	21–2 (18–2)	Maples Pavilion  Stanford, CA
February 28, 2021 1:00 pm, P12N	No. 4	California	W 72–33	22–2 (19–2)	Maples Pavilion (0) Stanford, CA
Pac-12 women's tournament
March 4, 2021 2:00 pm, P12N	(1) No. 4	vs. (8) USC Quarterfinals	W 92–53	23–2	Michelob Ultra Arena (0) Paradise, NV
March 5, 2021 5:00 pm, P12N	(1) No. 4	vs. (5) Oregon State Semifinals	W 79–45	24–2	Michelob Ultra Arena  Paradise, NV
March 5, 2021 5:00 pm, P12N	(1) No. 4	vs. (3) No. 9 UCLA Championship	W 75–55	25–2	Michelob Ultra Arena  Paradise, NV
NCAA women's tournament
March 21, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN	(1 A) No. 2	vs. (16 A) Utah Valley First Round	W 87–44	26–2	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
March 23, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN2	(1 A) No. 2	vs. (8 A) Oklahoma State Second Round	W 73–62	27–2	UTSA Convocation Center  San Antonio, TX
March 28, 2021* 12:00 pm, ABC	(1 A) No. 2	vs. (5 A) No. 20 Missouri State Sweet Sixteen	W 89–62	28–2	Alamodome (1,072) San Antonio, TX
March 30, 2021* 4:00 pm, ESPN	(1 A) No. 2	vs. (2 A) No. 8 Louisville Elite Eight	W 78–63	29–2	Alamodome (1,483) San Antonio, TX
April 2, 2021* 3:00 pm, ESPN	(1 A) No. 2	vs. (1 H) No. 6 South Carolina Final Four	W 66–65	30–2	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
April 4, 2021* 3:00 pm, ESPN	(1 A) No. 2	vs. (3 M) No. 11 Arizona National Championship	W 54–53	31–2	Alamodome (4,604) San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. A=Alamo H=HemisFair. All times are in Pacific Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls

Poll	Pre- season	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12	Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Week 17	Final
AP	2	2	1 (24)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (27)	1 (29)	5 (1)	6	6	5	6 (1)	4 (1)	4 (1)	2 (5)	2 (5)	N/A
Coaches	2	^	1 (22)	1 (22)	1 (30)	1 (29)	1 (31)	1 (31)	4 (1)	6	6	4	4	2	3	2 (4)	2 (5)	1 (32)

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
RV		Received votes
NR		Not ranked
( )		Number of first place votes

^ Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll