The 2020–21 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represented

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

during the

2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season The 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November 2020 and ended with the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Game, championship game of the 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament at the Alamo ...

. The Cardinal, led by thirty-fifth year head coach

Tara VanDerveer Tara Ann VanDerveer (born June 26, 1953) is an American former basketball coach who was the head women's basketball coach at Stanford University from 1985 until her retirement in 2024. Designated the Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketba ...

, played their home games at the

Maples Pavilion Maples Pavilion is a 7,233-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. Opened in 1969, Maples underwent a $30 million renovation in March 2004 and reopened ahead of schedule, in time for conference pla ...

as members of the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

. As a result of

Santa Clara County, California Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

health orders, the Cardinal were unable to play in Palo Alto for much of their season, moving home games to

Kaiser Permanente Arena Kaiser Permanente Arena is an indoor arena located in Santa Cruz, in the U.S. state of California. It has a seating capacity of 2,505 spectators. It hosts the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. It was also the home of the ...

in Santa Cruz. They finished the season 31–2, 19–2 in Pac-12 play to finish in first place. They won the Pac-12 women's tournament by defeating UCLA, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated

Utah Valley Utah Valley is a valley in North Central Utah located in Utah County, Utah, Utah County, and is considered part of the Wasatch Front. It contains the cities of Provo, Utah, Provo, Orem, Utah, Orem, and their suburbs, including Alpine, Utah, A ...

and

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

in the first and second rounds, Missouri State in the Sweet Sixteen,

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

in the Elite Eight,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

in the Final Four and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in the National Championship Game to win its third NCAA title overall and first since 1992.

Haley Jones Haley Jones (born May 23, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the WNBA. She played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal of the Pac-12 Conference, helping the team win the national championship in ...

was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

Roster

Schedule

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Pac-12 women's tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA women's tournament

Rankings

^ Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team Stanford Cardinal women's basketball seasons

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four seasons NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament championship seasons