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Stanford Transfer Charlotte Tuhy Grabs 15 Boards in Exhibition Rout of Pacific
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- Stanford Transfer Charlotte Tuhy Grabs 15 Boards in Exhibition Rout of Pacific
(Stan Szeto-Imagn Images)
After an offseason of turmoil that resulted in a number of former top recruits entering the transfer portal for a change of scenery, the Stanford women's basketball program took the court as a unit for the first time ahead of the 2026-27 season, earning a 72-45 victory over Pacific at home.
Head coach Kate Paye's starters in the opener were sophomore Hailee Swain, junior Shay Ijiwoye, junior transfer Inés Sotelo Míguez, sophomore Alexandra Eschmeyer, and transfer sophomore Charlotte Tuhy. As you can see, there are a lot of young pieces on this roster, and a lot will be expected of them in order for the Cardinal to find success this season.
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Swain played a game-high 32:23 minutes and scored 18 points, which is likely an indication that she'll be leaned upon heavily in Paye's offense. She also added four assists, two rebounds, a steal, and a block, along with four turnovers. Swain shot 7-of-14 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from three.
Ijiwoye was right behind her with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, and an impressive 4-of-8 from three.
Coach Paye noted after the game that both women have improved greatly from last season, with Ijiwoye playing with Team Nigeria and Swain getting after it in the gym.
"Me and Shay both know that it starts with us in practice, as well as in games," Swain said postgame. "I feel like we both know our job is to lead the team, bring energy, and a great attitude every single day, and just keep pushing each other to be great."
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Ijiwoye noted that she really appreciates having Swain as a teammate, because she's always there to pick her up when her own energy may be waning.
Sotelo Míguez scored 12 in her Stanford debut and was the only other player on the team to hoist 10 shots, going 5-of-10. Based on the shots taken in game one, these three women are the shot takers.
Of course, that can change game to game when someone has a hot hand, but in a first exhibition game you can get a sense of what the plan is for the program.
Tuhy was a monster on the boards, collecting 15 rebounds. The Cardinal finished with 44 boards, and nobody else on the team had more than five, which means those duties were spread out nicely — aside from Tuhy's dominance, of course.
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"It was fun to see Charlotte Tuhy," coach Paye said after the game. "I kind of teased Charlotte. I don't think we can count on her hitting a half-court shot every single game, but I do count on her to rebound like that. That is why she's here."
Junior Kennedy Umeh played 14 minutes in her first action since her freshman season, and the Cardinal will be looking to utilize her size at 6-foot-4. With only 12 players on the roster this season, they'll need everyone on the team to play meaningful minutes at times, and getting Umeh back could be a huge boost.
While the final score wasn't close, coach Paye was adamant that the team was far from firing on all cylinders, saying that a lot of things they've been working on she didn't really see on the court, but also noting that it's still just October , so they will learn from this game and improve from here.
"We know we can play much better than this," Paye said, "but we're excited to build on it."
