Stanford earns final No. 1 seed in NCAA women’s basketball tournament
STANFORD – Stanford will start its quest for a fourth NCAA Tournament championship in a familiar place – as the No. 1 seed playing at Maples Pavilion.
The Cardinal (28-5) was placed in one of the two Seattle regionals. Friday it will face the winner of Wednesday night’s game between No. 16 seeds Southern and Sacred Heart.
If Stanford wins its first game, the second-round match-up Sunday at Maples would be against either No. 8 Ole Miss or No. 9 Gonzaga. Stanford beat No. 9 Gonzaga 84-63 at Maples on Dec. 4.
Stanford will be hosting NCAA Tournament games at Maples Pavilion for the 24th time and is 40-4 at home in the tournament. Maples has hosted more NCAA Tournament games than any other facility.
The Cardinal is ranked fifth in the latest AP Poll. Stanford tied for first in the Pac-12 regular season with Utah and lost in the conference tournament semifinals to UCLA, but that didn’t cost them its 13th-ever No. 1 seed.
The other top teams in Stanford’s regional are No. 2 Iowa starring Caitlin Clark, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Louisville and No. 6 Colorado.
Stanford has been to two straight Final Fours, winning it all in 2021 and losing to South Carolina last year. The Gamecocks, who beat the Cardinal in overtime in Maples Pavilion in November, are the overall No. 1 seed in this year’s tournament.
The Cardinal is led by Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Cameron Brink and all-Pac-12 teammate Haley Jones. Brink is averaging a program record 3.4 blocks per game and also leads the team with 14.9 points and 9.5 rebounds a game.
Jones, a three-time all-Pac-12 selection from Mitty, is second on the team in points (13.4) and rebounds (9.1) and leads the team in assists (4.1) and steals (0.9).
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