The 2025–26 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represented Stanford University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinal were led by second-year head coach Kate Paye and played their home games at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California. They competed as second-year members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Cardinal began their season with a seven-game winning streak. They took their streak to Las Vegas, Nevada to participate in the Resorts World Classic. They lost the first game by four-points to Florida Gulf Coast but won the second game by two-points over Colorado State. They returned to California to host nineteenth-ranked Tennessee in an ACC–SEC Challenge rivalry game. The Cardinal lost by three-points, 62–65. Stanford opened ACC play with a victory over rivals California. They then defeated twenty-second ranked Washington and Oregon in the Invisalign Bay Area Women's Classic. They began 2026 with an ACC loss to NC State, but followed it with a victory over sixteenth-ranked North Carolina in overtime. They won two of their next three games, with the lone loss coming against Duke. Stanford then went on a stretch where the team lost eight of its next nine games. The lone victory came at Pittsburgh. The losses included a rivaly rematch against California, and the only ranked team the Cardinal played over the stretch was seventh-ranked Louisville. Stanford won its final three games of the regular season, all by double-digits.

The Cardinal finished the season 21–14 overall and 8–10 in ACC play to finish in a three-way tie for eleventh place. As the thirteenth seed in the ACC tournament, they faced twelfth seed Miami in the first round. The Cardinal lost to the Hurricanes for the second time this season, this time 76–83 in overtime. They received an at-large bid to the WBIT and were the second seed in the BYU section of the bracket. They defeated unseeded Loyola Marymount in the first round and unseeded Quinnipiac in the second round. They lost to first-seed BYU in the quarterfinals to end their season.

Previous season

The Cardinal finished the season 16–15 overall and 8–10 in ACC play to finish in a tie for tenth place. As the eleventh seed in the ACC tournament, they faced fourteenth seed Clemson in the first round. The Cardinal lost to Clemson for the second time this season, this time 63–46. They received an at-large bid to the WBIT and were the second seed in the St. Joseph's section of the bracket. They lost to unseeded Portland 69–68 in overtime, in the first round to end their season.

Offseason Departures Departures 20 G 6'2" Athens, Greece Graduated 21 F 6'3" Foothill Ranch, California Graduated 32 G 5'10" Sacramento, California Graduated; transferred to SMU 34 G 5'10" Melbourne, Australia Transferred to Kansas State

Recruiting Source:

Roster

Schedule and results

Source:

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!colspan=9 style=| Regular season

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Rankings

*AP did not release a week 8 poll.

References