With Tara Vanderveer now gone, Stanford is set to miss the NCAA tournament for the first time in decades.
The Cardinal fell to Clemson 63-46 in the first round of the ACC tournament on Wednesday night in Greensboro, North Carolina. That moved them to 16-14 on the season and almost certainly eliminated any hope of making the NCAA tournament.
The Cardinal were listed under the “Next Four Out” section of on Wednesday morning, meaning they needed to pull off several wins at the ACC tournament. But with them headed home early, Stanford will miss out on the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1987.
That 37-season streak was the second-longest one in women’s college basketball. Only Tennessee had them beat with 42 consecutive appearances.
This season marked the first without VanDerveer, the longtime head coach who retired last spring after 38 seasons with the program. She finished with a 1,065-220 record at Stanford, and retired as the winningest head coach in men’s and women’s Division I college basketball. Longtime UConn head coach Geno Auriemma has since broken her record.
Stanford won three national titles under VanDerveer’s watch, most recently in 2021. The only time they missed the NCAA tournament was in her first two seasons at Stanford.
Stanford opted to promote longtime assistant Kate Paye to replace her. While they started out 7-1, the Cardinal then lost five of their next six games and failed to beat a ranked opponent all season. They earned the No. 11 seed in the ACC tournament.
Clemson had no issue getting past Stanford on Wednesday night. The Tigers outscored the Cardinal 16-6 in the second quarter alone, and rolled to the 17-point win in the second half behind 17 points and eight rebounds from Loyal McQueen. Courtney Ogden was the only Stanford player to hit double figures with her 13 points off the bench. The Cardinal shot 3-of-11 from behind the arc as a team.
Clemson will now advance to take on Louisville in the second round of the ACC tournament on Thursday night. Stanford, for the first time in what feels like forever, will head home and not be tuned in come Selection Sunday.
