1996–97 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team

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.

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 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

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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[2]	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[3]	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 OT[4]	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.

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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

1. "Women's Basketball 1996-97". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
2. "Old Dominion Stuns No. 1 Stanford". The Washington Post. December 18, 1996. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
3. "Stanford Advances Past Georgia, 82-47". The Washington Post. March 24, 1997. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
4. "Old Dominion stops Stanford in OT". The Deseret News. March 29, 1997. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
5. "1996-97 Women's Basketball Schedule". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved June 19, 2024.