1996–97 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team

Intercollegiate basketball season

1996–97 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball

Pac-10 champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	34–2 (18–0 Pac-10)
Head coach	Tara VanDerveer (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Amy Tucker Reneé Brown
Home arena	Maples Pavilion
Seasons← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Pacific-10 Conference women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Stanford	18	–	0	1.000	34	–	2	.944
Oregon	14	–	4	.778	22	–	7	.759
USC	13	–	5	.722	20	–	9	.690
Arizona	12	–	6	.667	23	–	8	.742
Washington	12	–	6	.667	17	–	11	.607
UCLA	7	–	11	.389	13	–	14	.481
Oregon State	5	–	13	.278	11	–	16	.407
Washington State	4	–	14	.222	10	–	17	.370
Arizona State	3	–	15	.167	9	–	19	.321
California	2	–	16	.111	6	–	21	.222

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996–97 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represented Stanford University as members of the Pacific-10 Conference during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinal were led by head coach Tara VanDerveer and played their home games at Maples Pavilion. They won the Pac-10 Championship (18–0) and reached the Final Four for the sixth time in eight seasons.

The Cardinal finished the season with a record of 34–2 with both losses coming to National runner-up Old Dominion. This season capped a 3-year run with each season ending at the Final Four, and with an overall record of 93–8 and a 53–1 record in Pac-10 games.

Roster

1996–97 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Hometown
F	0	Olympia Scott	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	Los Angeles, California
G	10	Jamila Wideman	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Sr	Amherst, Massachusetts
F	13	Vanessa Nygaard	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS Jr	Carlsbad, California
G	15	Regan Freuen	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Spokane, Washington
G	21	Charmin Smith	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Sr	St. Louis, Missouri
G		Milena Flores	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Fr
F	24	Kristin Folkl	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	St. Louis, Missouri
F	30	Kate Starbird	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Sr	Tacoma, Washington
C	32	Chandra Benton	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	RS So	Lake Oswego, Oregon
F	33	Tara Harrington	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Klamath Falls, Oregon
C	34	Naomi Mulitauaopele	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Jr	Seattle, Washington
F/C	44	Heather Owen	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	Moscow, Idaho

Head coach

Tara VanDerveer

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 16, 1996*	No. 1	No. 2 Alabama	W 74–65	1–0	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Nov 21, 1996*	No. 1	Northern Arizona	W 96–48	2–0	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Nov 23, 1996*	No. 1	Purdue	W 83–57	3–0	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Nov 28, 1996*	No. 1	vs. Houston Wahine Classic	W 83–51	4–0	Honolulu, HI
Nov 29, 1996*	No. 1	vs. No. 24 Stephen F. Austin Wahine Classic	W 85–62	5–0	Honolulu, HI
Nov 30, 1996*	No. 1	vs. Michigan Wahine Classic	W 77–74	6–0	Honolulu, HI
Dec 5, 1996*	No. 1	vs. UMass	W 100–47	7–0	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Dec 7, 1996*	No. 1	at San Francisco	W 61–46	8–0	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, CA
Dec 14, 1996*	No. 1	at No. 5 Tennessee	W 82–65	9–0	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
Dec 17, 1996*	No. 1	at No. 4 Old Dominion	L 66–83	9–1	ODU Fieldhouse Norfolk, VA
Dec 19, 1996*	No. 1	vs. Ohio Diet Coke Shootout	W 95–59	10–1	Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
Dec 20, 1996*	No. 1	at Santa Clara Diet Coke Shootout	W 80–57	11–1	Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
Dec 27, 1996*	No. 3	at Colorado	W 64–48	12–1	Coors Events Conference Center Boulder, CO
Jan 1, 1997	No. 3	Arizona State	W 96–64	13–1 (1–0)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Jan 4, 1997	No. 3	Arizona	W 91–68	14–1 (2–0)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Jan 9, 1997	No. 3	at UCLA	W 74–62	15–1 (3–0)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
Jan 11, 1997	No. 3	at USC	W 77–76	16–1 (4–0)	LA Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA
Jan 15, 1997	No. 3	Oregon	W 85–61	17–1 (5–0)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Jan 17, 1997	No. 3	Oregon State	W 72–54	18–1 (6–0)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Jan 22, 1997	No. 3	at Washington	W 90–64	19–1 (7–0)	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA
Jan 24, 1997	No. 3	at Washington State	W 84–75	20–1 (8–0)	Beasley Coliseum Pullman, WA
Jan 30, 1997	No. 3	California	W 95–44	21–1 (9–0)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Feb 5, 1997	No. 3	USC	W 103–69	22–1 (10–0)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Feb 7, 1997	No. 3	UCLA	W 98–68	23–1 (11–0)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Feb 12, 1997	No. 3	at Oregon State	W 79–67	24–1 (12–0)	Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR
Feb 14, 1997	No. 3	at Oregon	W 69–66	25–1 (13–0)	McArthur Court Eugene, OR
Feb 19, 1997	No. 3	Washington State	W 82–45	26–1 (14–0)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Feb 21, 1997	No. 3	Washington	W 106–76	27–1 (15–0)	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Feb 27, 1997	No. 3	at California	W 82–50	28–1 (16–0)	Haas Pavilion Berkeley, CA
Mar 5, 1997	No. 3	at Arizona	W 90–65	29–1 (17–0)	McKale Center Tucson, AZ
Mar 7, 1997	No. 3	at Arizona State	W 81–62	30–1 (18–0)	Wells Fargo Arena Tempe, AZ
NCAA women's tournament
Mar 15, 1997*	(1 W) No. 3	(16 W) Howard First Round	W 111–59	31–1	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Mar 17, 1997*	(1 W) No. 3	(8 W) No. 17 Texas Tech Second Round	W 67–45	32–1	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
Mar 22, 1997*	(1 W) No. 3	vs. (4 W) No. 12 Virginia Regional Semifinals – Sweet Sixteen	W 91–69	33–1	Dahlberg Arena Missoula, MT
March 23, 1997*	(1 W) No. 3	at (2 W) No. 6 Georgia Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 82–47	34–1	Dahlberg Arena Missoula, MT
Mar 28, 1997*	(1 W) No. 3	vs. (1 ME) No. 2 Old Dominion National Semifinal – Final Four	L 82–83	34–2	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, OH
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=Stanford, CA regional. All times are in Pacific Time.

Rankings

Main article: 1996–97 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	Not released
Coaches	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3

References

"Women's Basketball 1996-97". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
"Old Dominion Stuns No. 1 Stanford". The Washington Post. December 18, 1996. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
"Stanford Advances Past Georgia, 82-47". The Washington Post. March 24, 1997. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
"Old Dominion stops Stanford in OT". The Deseret News. March 29, 1997. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
"1996-97 Women's Basketball Schedule". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved June 19, 2024.

v t e Stanford Cardinal women's basketball
Venues	Maples Pavilion (1974–present)
Rivalries	Tennessee UConn
Culture & lore	Stanford Tree "Come Join the Band" Harvard upset
People	Head coaches WNBA draftees
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

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