Stanford Women's Basketball Earns WBIT Bid

For the first time since the 1986-87 season when Stanford was a part of the Pac-10, the women's basketball team has failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, more affectionately known as March Madness.

Yet, with a 16-14 overall record, which included an 8-10 mark in the ACC, Stanford has earned one of 32 bids to play in the WBIT tournament. With the Cardinal's success over the past four decades, this will be the program's first appearance in a postseason event that is not the NCAA Tournament.

The 2024-25 season has been a struggle for the Cardinal, who hadn't finished with less than 20 wins in a season since the 2000-01 campaign. With the departures of Cameron Brink to the WNBA and Kiki Iriafen to USC, this was always going to be a rebuilding season for the program.

Not only was Stanford without longtime head coach Tara VanDerveer for (nearly) the first time since the mid-1980's, but they were also joining a new conference, the ACC, which came with its own learning curve.

There were plenty of obstacles for this team to overcome, and yet, the future appears to be bright with the emergence of sophomore Nunu Agara leading the way for the new-look Cardinal, along with a highly ranked recruiting class.

As for the WBIT Tournament, Stanford is a No. 2 seed, the same as the men's program in the NIT Tournament. The women will host Portland (29-4) on Thursday, March 20 at Maples Pavilion. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. (PT) and the game will air on ESPN+.

Stanford is 4-0 all-time against Portland. The first meeting came at the Gonzaga Invitational in Spokane, Wash. on Dec. 7, 1985, 79-52, in what was Tara VanDerveer’s third win as Cardinal head coach.

The two schools have renewed the series of late, with Stanford winning at home on Nov. 16, 2021, 77-55, and at the Chiles Center on Nov. 13, 2022, 87-47. Last season, Stanford was 81-51 winners on Dec. 15.

If the Cardinal were to advance in the tournament with a win over Portland on Thursday, their next game would also be at Maples, on Sunday, facing the winner of the Seton Hall (No. 3)/Quinnipiac first-round matchup.

Saint Joseph's, Seton Hall, and Villanova are the first, third, and fourth seeds in Stanford's portion of the WBIT bracket. Saint Joseph's won an automatic No. 1 seed as one of the first four out of the NCAA Tournament.

The rest of the tournament schedule, past Sunday, would play out on Thursday, March 27 in Quarterfinals action, then the Semifinals would be held on Monday, March 31 from Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Finals are going to be on Wednesday, April 2 at 3 p.m. (PT), also from Indianapolis.