First Look: Exhibition Sunday

STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 6 Stanford women’s basketball team will take the court for the first time in 2014-15 when it hosts Vanguard in an exhibition on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.

Live stats of the action will be available on GoStanford.com and radio coverage will be provided by KZSU 90.1FM and also be available via an online stream.

All youth (8th grade and under) are eligible to receive FREE admission with advance registration through the following link. To receive voucher(s) for free youth admission, complete the form at the above mentioned URL and print out the confirmation email containing the voucher. Exchange the voucher (one per youth) on game day at the Maples Pavilion Ticket Office for one free general admission youth ticket.  Additional adult tickets may be purchased at the time of exchange. Free youth admission is only valid with paid adult admission. Single-game reserved tickets cost $12 (upper) and $15 (lower), while general admission adult seats are $8 and $5 for seniors.

Vanguard, ranked No. 3 in the NAIA Preseason Coaches’ Poll, returns to Maples Pavilion for exhibition action for the seventh straight year. The Lions, 12-time NAIA Golden State Athletic Conference Champions, completed a perfect regular season (25-0) and advanced to the second round of the NAIA Tournament a year ago, posting a 27-2 overall record and a 14-0 mark in conference play. Stanford won last season’s exhibition, 79-47, as Kailee Johnson and Erica McCall combined for 27 points and 13 rebounds.

On Thursday, The Associated Press released its 2014-15 NCAA Division I preseason women’s basketball poll, in which the Cardinal were ranked sixth. It’s the ninth consecutive season the Cardinal has been among the top seven teams in the nation in the preseason. Stanford has been ranked in the AP Preseason Top 25 every year since 2000-01.

A difficult schedule awaits Stanford when the regular-season rolls around, as the Cardinal will face seven members of the preseason Top 25 in 2014-15. Stanford, which last week was tabbed by Pac-12 coaches to capture its 15th straight conference title, will host No. 1 Connecticut in Maples Pavilion on Monday, Nov. 17 (6 p.m.) in a game carried on ESPN2 as part of the network’s 24-hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. The Cardinal will also face No. 4 Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday, Dec. 20 (10 a.m. PT) in a SEC Network broadcast.

No. 9 Texas visits Maples on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. for a Pac-12 Networks broadcast. The Cardinal will meet No. 13 North Carolina in an Elite Eight rematch from a season ago in this first game of the Rainbow Wahine Shootout in Honolulu on Friday, Nov. 28 (4 p.m. PT).

Pac-12 foes California (No. 15), Oregon State (No. 20) and UCLA (No. 23) also checked in among the nation’s best. Stanford hosts Cal on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. (ESPN2) and UCLA on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 4:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Networks). The Beavers do not make the Bay Area trip this season and instead the Cardinal will matchup with OSU on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. in Corvallis, Ore. (Pac-12 Networks).

In 2014-15, Stanford returns two backcourt starters in two-time All-Pac-12 honoree Amber Orrange (10.3 ppg, 4.5 apg) and sophomore guard Lili Thompson (8.3 ppg, 2.7 apg), a 2014 Pac-12 All-Freshman Team selection.

Ten other returning letterwinners in senior Bonnie Samuelson (7.3 ppg, 1.36 rpg), senior Taylor Greenfield (5.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg), sophomore Karlie Samuelson (5.1 ppg, 1.3 apg), sophomore Erica McCall (3.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg), sophomore Kailee Johnson (2.4 ppg, 1.7 rpg), sophomore Briana Roberson (1.6 ppg, 0.7 rpg), redshirt junior Alex Green (1.0 ppg, 0.6 apg), redshirt junior Jasmine Camp (0.8 ppg, 0.2 rpg), junior Tess Picknell (0.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg) and senior Erica Payne (0.4 ppg, 0.6 rpg) will look to collectively replace the production of departed seniors Chiney Ogwumike, Mikaela Ruef and Sara James. That trio accounted for 35.5 points and 22.9 rebounds per game a season ago.

The group is bolstered by a highly-touted freshman class that features guards Brittany McPhee and Taylor Rooks along with forward Kaylee Johnson. The guards were both 2014 Parade All-Americans. McPhee was a three-time Washington Gatorade Player of the Year (2012, 2013, 2014) and Rooks was a two-time New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year (2013, 2014). Johnson was also consistently the best player in her home state and was a three-time Wyoming Gatorade Player of the Year (2012, 2013, 2014).

Single-game tickets and season packages for every Stanford women’s basketball home game, including Connecticut and Cal are on sale now. Flexible three and six game partial plans are also available starting at $60 (Pick 3) and $85 (Pick 6) and include Connecticut and your choice of other games, including any Pac-12 rival. For more information, visit www.gostanford.com/wbbcentral or call 1-800-STANFORD (option 3) to speak to a ticket sales consultant.