Women’s basketball tips off its season on Oct. 24 in an exhibition game against the University of the Pacific at Maples Pavilion. The game will be the start of a tough schedule for a team entering its third season in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). A connection forged this off-season with another elite Stanford program, however, has the team coming in with renewed momentum after organizing its first-ever player-led retreat to Muir Beach.
“It started back in the spring when we had a meeting with the men’s gymnastics team,” said sophomore forward Alexandra Eschmeyer during an ACC press conference. “We met with their team and the thing that stuck out to us specifically was that they do a team retreat every year, just players, and it’s an opportunity for them to really build out their goals for the year, discuss their standards.”
While they discussed their tone and vision for the season, the retreat also served as a bonding experience for a team that has brought in seven new faces, including four freshmen and three transfers.
“It was a great opportunity for us to bond with each other,” Eschmeyer said. “Having a lot of new girls, I think that honestly the most important thing was to get to know each other because when you have more chemistry off the court, it definitely translates.”
Sophomore guard Hailee Swain revealed the team set a motto to guide the players throughout the season.
“We came up with a saying for our team this year, which is ‘It’s just us,’” said Swain. “So that means focusing on our team and individual development as long as there is collective team development and just really going out on the court and working together to win.”
Head coach Kate Paye praised Eschmeyer and Swain for helping organize the retreat, stating it helped build “a championship culture.” Paye was quick to say their goal is to play in the NCAA tournament, something they have not done since the 2023-24 season, but she also acknowledged the fierce competition they will face.
“Obviously we expect to be playing in the NCAA tournament,” Paye said. “We have an extremely challenging non-conference schedule. We are the only power four school to play five other power four schools and five true [non-conference] road games. I think we’ll learn a lot about ourselves. And with such a new roster, we want to learn about ourselves early.”
With the team lacking seniors or fifth-year players, a big question will be team leadership. Paye, however, expressed faith in their young roster.
“You don’t get to Stanford without being a leader and having leadership qualities and leadership skills,” Paye said. “We are going to count on every single woman on our team, all 12 of them, to be leaders in some way that’s authentic to them.”
There may be a lot of unanswered questions about this team, but Swain chose the word “hungry” to describe the upcoming season of Stanford women’s basketball.
“I think that we are obviously a very young team, but there is room for opportunity and for us to grow individually and together,” Swain said. “I’m just really excited. We’re hungry, ready to go, ready to work, and ready to win.”