By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Jan. 27, 2024
On Nov. 22, 1985, the Stanford women’s basketball team traveled to nearby San Jose to tip off the 1985–86 season with a two-day tournament. The Cardinal had finished the previous season on an 11-game skid, compiling a 9-19 tally for their second straight losing campaign. But the team had changed coaches, so there was at least a glimmer of hope for the future.
The team’s new leader was named Tara VanDerveer. A 32-year-old Indiana University graduate, VanDerveer had amassed a 152-51 record over seven seasons as head coach at first the University of Idaho and then Ohio State University. The Boston native had claimed at least a share of the Big 10 title in her final three seasons for the Buckeyes, leading the squad to the Elite Eight of the 1985 NCAA tournament. But the Ohio State athletic department was reluctant to pay for the equipment VanDerveer wanted, including sneakers and even basketballs in numbers she felt were necessary for an entire season of practice and play. And so VanDerveer, who grew up in Upstate New York, had interviewed for other jobs and been hired by Andy Geiger, then the athletic director on the Farm.
In her first game at Stanford, VanDerveer’s team claimed a 68-65 victory over Hawaii. The squad lost three of its next four games before seeming to find its stride with a seven-game victory streak bridging December and January. But the team faltered as 1986 wore on, losing 11 in a row over a month-long stretch that lasted into late February. Two victories in March weren’t enough to salvage the season, which ended on March 8 with a 75-59 home loss to Arizona. Final record: 13-15, including a 1-7 mark in Stanford’s sole season in the Pac-West conference.
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