STANFORD, Calif. – Fifteen regular-season home games, at least 13 contests against NCAA Tournament opponents from last season and a total of 19 televised tilts on ESPN and the Pac-12 Networks highlight the 2015-16 Stanford women’s basketball schedule, when dates, times and television selections were announced by the conference on Monday.
Season tickets for the 2015-16 campaign are on sale now by visiting gostanford.com/tickets or calling 800-STANFORD. Purchasing season tickets guarantees your seat for all 15 home games and includes a host of additional exclusive benefits. Fans can also create their own 3-or 6-game mini plans, selecting any combination of games to build a ticket package that fits any calendar or budget, starting at under $10 per game.
The Cardinal is coming off its eighth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance in 2014-15. Stanford finished 26-10 overall and claimed the program’s 11th Pac-12 Tournament title in 14 years.
Highlighting Stanford’s challenging nonconference slate is the previously announced continuation of its storied rivalry with Tennessee, which is scheduled to visit Maples Pavilion at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, December 16 for a game televised on ESPNU. The Cardinal, which has won four of the last six meetings between the two schools, has also taken four straight in Maples Pavilion. Stanford and the Lady Vols have played 32 total games and at least once in each of the past 27 seasons.
Tennessee’s visit to The Farm kicks off Stanford’s second stretch of nonconference home games. The Cardinal hosts George Washington on Saturday, November 21 (TBD) and Santa Clara on Monday, November 23 (7 p.m.) before heading to the Gulf Coast Showcase where it will begin with Missouri State on Friday, November 27 at 1:30 p.m. ET. A matchup with either Dayton or awaits on Saturday, November 28 and potential day three opponents include Louisville, Marist, LSU or Purdue.
Stanford’s season begins on the road in mid-November with dates at UC Davis on Friday, November 13 (7:30 p.m.) and Gonzaga on Sunday, November 15 (1 pm.). The Aggies came to Maples late last December and left with a 71-59 loss thanks in large part to Bonnie Samuelson’s 30-point outburst.
The game with the Bulldogs resumes a series that took a one-year hiatus after featuring matchups each November or December from 2009 to 2013. Stanford is 6-0 against Gonzaga and won 69-41 in its last trip to face the Zags in Spokane on December 2, 2012. The Bulldogs advanced to the Sweet 16 as an 11-seed in the NCAA Tournament a year ago and won 25 games for the seventh straight season.
Sandwiched between the Gulf Coast Showcase and the showdown with Tennessee, Stanford travels to Austin for a game at Texas on Sunday, December 13 at noon CT that will be carried on ESPN. Texas ended the 2014-15 season ranked 22nd in the nation after a run to the Sweet 16.
The Longhorns’ 87-81 win in overtime in Maples last November snapped the Cardinal’s 28-game home winning streak. Stanford held the Longhorns to just 17 second-half points in a come-from-behind win in its last visit to Austin, 63-54, on November 23, 2013.
Following the Tennessee game, Stanford hosts Cornell on Saturday, December 19 (2 p.m.), CSU Bakersfield on Tuesday, December 22 (2 p.m.) and Chattanooga on Monday, December 28 (7 p.m.) to close out the nonconference portion of its schedule.
Seventeen of Stanford’s 18 conference matchups will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
The Pac-12 slate begins on the road on Saturday, January 2 and Monday, January 4 with visits to Arizona (3 p.m. MT) and Arizona State (6 p.m. MT). Stanford split its two meetings with the Wildcats a season ago and lost both regular-season games against ASU before knocking off the Sun Devils in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.
Stanford’s home conference schedule begins against Utah on Friday, January 8 (7 p.m.) and Colorado on Sunday, January 10 (noon). The game against the Utes will be the Cardinal’s only conference tilt that won’t be televised in 2016. Stanford is 18-0 all-time against Utah and has won eight straight against the Buffaloes.
The Cardinal hits the road for four consecutive games in mid-January, playing at the Oregon schools followed by a trip to Southern California to tackle USC and UCLA. Both games in the state of Oregon tip at 6 p.m., with Stanford in Eugene on Friday, January 15 and Corvallis on Sunday, January 17. The Cardinal knocked off the then-No. 7 Beavers in Gill Coliseum, 69-58, on February 26, but three days later fell to the Ducks, 62-55.
Stanford plays at USC on Friday, January 22 at 8 p.m. and at UCLA on Sunday, January 24 at 6 p.m. Tara VanDerveer’s teams have won 16 of the last 17 against the Women of Troy and 21 straight against the Bruins.
The Cardinal welcomes the Washington schools to Maples Pavilion on Friday, January 29 and Sunday, January 31. Stanford and the Huskies meet first at 8 p.m. followed by a Sunday afternoon matchup with the Cougars. The Cardinal is 46-15 all-time against Washington and 59-0 against Washington State.
In this year’s rotation, UCLA and USC do not visit Maples Pavilion while Stanford misses its regular-season trip to Washington and Washington State.
In the month of February, Stanford begins at home against rival California on Tuesday, February 2 at 7 p.m. and heads across the bay on Friday, February 5 for a game in Haas Pavilion at 7 p.m. Stanford and Cal split last season’s regular-season meetings and the Cardinal topped the Golden Bears to win the Pac-12 Tournament, 61-60, on March 8.
Arizona and Arizona State comes to The Farm on Friday, February 12 (7:30 p.m.) and Sunday, February 14 (6 p.m.). Stanford is at Colorado and Utah on Friday, February 19 (8 p.m. MT) and Sunday, February 21 (2 p.m. MT). The regular season wraps up at home against Oregon State and Oregon on Friday, February 26 (8 p.m.) and Sunday, February 28 (11 a.m.).
