Stanford women’s basketball: Can this deep roster win it all again?

As the 2022 Women’s NCAA Tournament kicks off, the Stanford Cardinal will be looking prove last year’s title wasn’t a fluke.

The Stanford Cardinal steamrolled their way through the Pac-12 this season, building on the momentum from last year’s championship run. There a slew of worthy contenders in this year’s tournament field but Stanford knows how to win and have returned most of the roster who got it done last season.

Stanford women’s basketball:1 player to watch — Haley Jones

Stanford features a deep and experienced roster with plenty of weapons but Haley Jones is the engine that makes them go. The 6-foot-1, junior guard averaged 13.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 82.7 percent from the free-throw line. She’s not much of an outside shooter but she’s physical, tough in the open court and can get into the teeth of the defense and make things happen.

Jones was named MVP of the Pac-12 Tournament after scoring 19 points in Stanford’s finals win over the Utah Utes and she dropped 17 in last year’s National Championship Game, helping Stanford knock off Arizona. She has skilled teammates to rely on but she’s the one who makes things easier for everyone else with her skill and intensity.

Stanford women’s basketball:1 reason they’ll cut down the nets — Experience and balance

Stanford returned essentially every key player from last year’s championship squad except Kiana Williams. Losing your leading scorer is never easy but Jones, Cameron Brink and Lexie Hull all took big steps forward to help pick up that production and didn’t miss a beat during their 28-3 regular season.

The team features five juniors and seniors in the core rotation. They have three different players who averaged double-figure scoring during the regular season and three backcourt players who hit 40 percent or better from beyond the arc. They play tough defense, and composed, efficient offense, able to attack in a variety of ways. They’ve blown out lesser teams and they’ve figured out how to squeeze out wins against more competitive opponents. In short, there’s nothing this team hasn’t seen before and they know exactly how to handle it all.

Stanford women’s basketball: Recent NCAA Tournament history

Stop me if you’ve heard this one but … Stanford is the defending champions, having beaten Arizona 54-53 last April. It was the team’s first title since the 1991-92 season but they’ve regularly worked their way deep into the NCAA Tournament. Over the past decade, they’ve made the tournament every single year except 2019-20 when the tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. During those 19 appearances they’ve only failed to advance out of the tournament’s first weekend twice and they’ve made eight Final Four and three National Championship game appearances. In short, this is a program that knows how to win.

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