Head coach Tara VanDerveer will have her first opportunity to reach 1,000 career wins this Friday as No. 8 Stanford women’s basketball (19-3, 9-1 Pac-12) hosts USC (12-9, 3-7) in Maples Pavilion. With a Cardinal victory, VanDerveer would join Pat Summitt as the only NCAA women’s basketball coach with 1,000 wins or more.
After a win on the road last week at No. 10 Washington, Stanford is now on a six-game winning streak since its loss to Oregon State. Against Washington, the Cardinal showed versatility on both sides of the court as they rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit. The game saw three players (senior Erica McCall, junior Brittany McPhee and senior Briana Roberson) score in double figures.
Stanford is 56-20 all-time against USC, including a 28-6 record at home. Since 2008, the Cardinal have won 17 of their 18 encounters with the Trojans. Last season, Stanford was able to pull off a 57-47 win at USC while posting a school-record 13 blocks.
This season, the Cardinal are one of three teams in the country to be in the top 15 for both field goal percentage made on offense and field goal percentage allowed on defense. Senior Karlie Samuelson is currently ranked second nationally in three-point field goal percentage, converting 50 percent of her attempts.
Friday’s game will be played at 6 p.m. in Maples Pavilion and will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network.
Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.