For Cal and Stanford women, ACC tourney will determine fate of NCAA bids

Less than two weeks ago, Kate Paye's Stanford team fell 66-51 to host Miami, the eighth loss in nine games for the Cardinal.

Stanford's hopes for an NCAA Tournament bid looked bleak at best, but three straight wins since that loss to the Hurricanes on Feb. 19 have given the Cardinal new life and at least a decent chance of making the field of 68.

As Stanford and Cal prepare to open play in the ACC tournament at Gas South Arena in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth on Wednesday, Paye seems brimming with confidence.

"We feel like our team is playing the best basketball of the season and now is the right time," she said Monday on an ACC coaches Zoom call as Stanford was preparing to fly from San Jose to Atlanta.

The Cardinal (19-12, 8-10), the 13th seed, will get a rematch with Miami (16-13, 8-10), the 12th seed, in the first game of the tournament. The second game pits 15-seed Wake Forest (14-16, 4-14) against the Bears (18-13, 9-9), the 10th seed.  

It would be difficult for Stanford to play any better than it did Sunday in an 85-50 romp over Clemson (20-10, 11-7) at Maples Pavilion. Nunu Agara had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Hailee Swain scored 20 points and fellow freshman Lara Somfai had 11 points, nine boards and six assists.

Agara, a junior forward who leads the Cardinal in points per game at 15.2 and is second on the team in rebounds per game at 8.6, suffered an injury in Stanford's 78-71 overtime loss at Cal on Jan. 25.

That was the first game that starting guard Talana Lepolo missed after she was ruled out for the season because of an injury.

"It was a tough stretch right in the meat of the schedule," Paye said. "Our team never lost belief in themselves.

"It's great to have Nunu back."

Agara returned for the Cardinal's 75-69 loss to Virginia on Feb. 15. Sunday's double-double was her seventh this season. That's also the number of double-doubles for Somfai, a 6-foot-3 forward born in Hungary but raised in Australia.

"Lara Somfai, in my opinion, is no doubt the best true freshman in the ACC," Paye said. "She's a double-double machine. You're starting to see her showcase her playmaking skills.

"A triple-double is in her future."

Somfai and Stanford enjoyed that 35-point win Sunday, the same day the Hurricanes absorbed a 30-point loss (79-49) at Georgia Tech. 

Miami head coach Tricia Cullop found a silver lining to that loss heading into Wednesday's meeting with the Cardinal. 

"I think the one advantage we do have: We're here. We're resting," Cullop said. "We're in Atlanta, where we know that … they're making a long flight here. That's not easy, especially playing an 11 a.m. tip-off game."

That means the game begins at 8 a.m. PST, but Paye said the Cardinal will be ready.

"Our team is used to" the travel, she said. "We have a system. We have a routine. We have no excuses."

As of Monday morning, Stanford owned a NET ranking of 42, meaning it needs probably two wins in Georgia to have a legitimate shot at an NCAA bid. Cal's NET ranking was 53, meaning it needs at least two and likely three wins in Georgia to receive an NCAA berth.

The Bears overwhelmed SMU 78-34 at Haas Pavilion on Sunday. Junior guard Lulu Twidale went 7-for-11 from beyond the arc en route to a game-high 25 points.

"I think we still have our best basketball to play," Twidale said after Sunday's win, "and I think that's really exciting for our team going into March."
Twidale leads the ACC in 3-pointers with 90 and free-throw percentage at 87.1.

The Bears beat the Demon Deacons 61-52 at Haas on Jan. 11. "I do think we've matured a lot since then," Wake Forest head coach Megan Gebbia said. "We have to make sure that we handle their physicality because they're a very physical team."

Said Cal head coach Charmin Smith: "I think Wake is a much-improved team than when we saw them last and hopefully, we will be as well on Wednesday, a much-improved team in that moment." 

What's next: The winner of the Stanford-Miami game faces fifth seed Notre Dame (20-9, 12-6) on Thursday. The Irish beat the Cardinal 78-66 at Maples on Feb. 1. … The winner of the Wake-Cal game faces Syracuse (22-7, 12-6), the seventh seed, on Thursday. The Bears lost 90-87 in triple overtime at Syracuse on Jan. 15.

Steve Kroner is a freelance writer. Email: [email protected]; X: @SteveKronerSF  

This article originally published at For Cal and Stanford women, ACC tourney will determine fate of NCAA bids.