# 2016–17 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team

The 2016–17 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represented Stanford University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinal, led by 31st year head coach Tara VanDerveer, played their home games at the Maples Pavilion and were members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 32–6, 15–3 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for second place. They defeated Washington State, Oregon and Oregon State to win Pac-12 women's tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament.
Earning a No. 2 seed in the Lexington region, they defeated New Mexico State and Kansas State in the first and second rounds. In the Sweet Sixteen, they defeated Texas 77–56. In the Elite Eight, they defeated Notre Dame 76–75 to reach their 13th Final Four in school history. At the Final Four in Dallas Texas, they were defeated by South Carolina 53–62. South Carolina would go on to beat Mississippi State for the national title.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/04/2016* 6:00 pm | No. 11 | UC San Diego | W 85–41 | | Maples Pavilion (2,660) Stanford, CA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm | No. 11 | Cal Poly | W 83–55 | 1–0 | Maples Pavilion (2,684) Stanford, CA |
| 11/14/2016* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 11 | No. 8 Texas College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon | W 71–59 | 2–0 | Maples Pavilion (2,447) Stanford, CA |
| 11/18/2016* 7:00 pm, P12N | No. 11 | Gonzaga | L 63–68 | 2–1 | Maples Pavilion (2,654) Stanford, CA |
| 11/20/2016* 11:30 am | No. 11 | Cal State Northridge | W 88–54 | 3–1 | Maples Pavilion (2,627) Stanford, CA |
| 11/24/2016* 8:00 am | No. 11 | vs. Northeastern Cancún Challenge Mayan Division | W 74–45 | 4–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (1,610) Cancún, Mexico |
| 11/25/2016* 8:00 am | No. 11 | vs. Wichita State Cancún Challenge Mayan Division | W 87–39 | 5–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (1,610) Cancún, Mexico |
| 11/26/2016* 10:30 am | No. 11 | vs. Purdue Cancún Challenge Mayan Division | W 78–69 | 6–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (1,610) Cancún, Mexico |
| 12/01/2016* 7:00 pm | No. 11 | at Cal State Bakersfield | W 77–56 | 7–1 | Icardo Center (1,688) Bakersfield, CA |
| 12/04/2016* 2:00 pm | No. 11 | UC Davis | W 68–42 | 8–1 | Maples Pavilion (2,743) Stanford, CA |
| 12/18/2016* 12:00 pm, SECN | No. 10 | at Tennessee Rivalry | L 51–59 | 8–2 | Thompson–Boling Arena (9,137) Knoxville, TN |
| 12/21/2016* 4:00 pm | No. 14 | at George Washington | W 71–52 | 9–2 | Charles E. Smith Center (1,270) Washington, D.C. |
| 12/28/2016* 2:00 pm | No. 13 | Yale | W 102–44 | 10–2 | Maples Pavilion (3,564) Stanford, CA |
| Pac-12 regular season ||||||
| 12/30/2016 3:00 pm, P12N | No. 13 | at No. 18 Arizona State | W 64–57 | 11–2 (1–0) | Wells Fargo Arena (2,556) Tempe, AZ |
| 01/01/2017 1:00 pm | No. 13 | at Arizona | W 77–55 | 12–2 (2–0) | McKale Center (1,425) Tucson, AZ |
| 01/06/2017 8:00 pm, P12N | No. 10 | Oregon | W 81–60 | 13–2 (3–0) | Maples Pavilion (2,723) Stanford, CA |
| 01/08/2017 5:00 pm, P12N | No. 10 | No. 16 Oregon State | L 69–72 $^{2OT}$ | 13–3 (3–1) | Maples Pavilion (3,072) Stanford, CA |
| 01/13/2017 5:00 pm, P12N | No. 13 | at Utah | W 77–58 | 14–3 (4–1) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (2,340) Salt Lake City, UT |
| 01/15/2017 1:00 pm, P12N | No. 13 | at Colorado | W 84–70 | 15–3 (5–1) | Coors Events Center (2,126) Boulder, CO |
| 01/20/2017 7:00 pm | No. 10 | Arizona | W 73–46 | 16–3 (6–1) | Maples Pavilion (3,796) Stanford, CA |
| 01/22/2017 3:00 pm, P12N | No. 10 | No. 18 Arizona State | W 66–56 | 17–3 (7–1) | Maples Pavilion (3,280) Stanford, CA |
| 01/27/2017 8:00 pm, P12N | No. 10 | at Washington State | W 76–54 | 18–3 (8–1) | Beasley Coliseum (626) Pullman, WA |
| 01/29/2017 5:00 pm, P12N | No. 10 | at No. 7 Washington | W 72–68 | 19–3 (9–1) | Alaska Airlines Arena (10,000) Seattle, WA |
| 02/03/2017 6:00 pm, P12N | No. 8 | USC | W 58–42 | 20–3 (10–1) | Maples Pavilion (4,490) Stanford, CA |
| 02/06/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 8 | No. 15 UCLA | L 76–85 | 20–4 (10–2) | Maples Pavilion (2,846) Stanford, CA |
| 02/10/2017 8:00 pm, P12N | No. 8 | Colorado | W 64–51 | 21–4 (11–2) | Maples Pavilion (2,546) Stanford, CA |
| 02/12/2017 1:00 pm, P12N | No. 8 | Utah | W 87–51 | 22–4 (12–2) | Maples Pavilion (3,601) Stanford, CA |
| 02/16/2017 8:00 pm, P12N | No. 10 | at California | W 72–66 | 23–4 (13–2) | Haas Pavilion (4,965) Berkeley, CA |
| 02/19/2017 5:00 pm, P12N | No. 10 | California | W 72–54 | 24–4 (14–2) | Maples Pavilion (4,327) Stanford, CA |
| 02/24/2017 8:00 pm, P12N | No. 8 | at No. 10 Oregon State | L 47–50 | 24–5 (14–3) | Gill Coliseum (9,604) Corvallis, OR |
| 02/26/2017 1:00 pm, P12N | No. 8 | at Oregon | W 65–59 | 25–5 (15–3) | Matthew Knight Arena (4,286) Eugene, OR |
| Pac-12 Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/03/2017 6:00 pm, P12N | (2) No. 10 | vs. (7) Washington State Quarterfinals | W 66–36 | 26–5 | KeyArena Seattle, WA |
| 03/04/2017 8:30 pm, P12N | (2) No. 10 | vs. (6) Oregon Semifinals | W 71–56 | 27–5 | KeyArena (8,384) Seattle, WA |
| 03/05/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2) No. 10 | vs. (1) No. 6 Oregon State Championship Game | W 48–43 | 28–5 | KeyArena (6,829) Seattle, WA |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/18/2017* 10:30 am, ESPN2 | (2 L) No. 6 | vs. (15 L) New Mexico State First Round | W 72–64 | 29–5 | Bramlage Coliseum (4,005) Manhattan, KS |
| 03/20/2017* 3:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2 L) No. 6 | at (7 L) No. 24 Kansas State Second Round | W 69–48 | 30–5 | Bramlage Coliseum (3,969) Manhattan, KS |
| 03/24/2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN | (2 L) No. 6 | vs. (3 L) No. 14 Texas Sweet Sixteen | W 77–66 | 31–5 | Rupp Arena (3,163) Lexington, KY |
| 03/26/2017* 9:00 am, ESPN | (2 L) No. 6 | vs. (1 L) No. 2 Notre Dame Elite Eight | W 76–75 | 32–5 | Rupp Arena (2,527) Lexington, KY |
| 03/31/2017* 4:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2 L) No. 6 | vs. (1 S) No. 3 South Carolina Final Four | L 53–62 | 32–6 | American Airlines Center Dallas, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. L=Lexington Region. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |