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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
STANFORD, Calif. — Step aside Coach K, Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer is the new winningest basketball coach in NCAA history.
The Stanford women’s basketball team defeated Oregon State 65-56 at Maples Pavilion Sunday to give VanDerveer her 1,203rd career victory, passing former Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski, who had held the record since 2019.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment for Tara VanDerveer, who is already one of the most accomplished coaches in the history of basketball. This is yet another milestone to add to an amazing legacy,” Krzyzewski said in a statement. “More important than all the astounding numbers and career accomplishments, she’s positively impacted countless lives as a coach and a mentor. Tara remains a true guardian of our sport.”
Playing without star forward Cameron Brink, who suffered a knee injury in a win against Oregon on Friday, the Cardinal (17-2, 6-1 Pac-12) put aside a slow start to ensure VanDerveer would break the record in front of a home crowd.
Roughly 30 of VanDerveer’s former players — including Jayne Appel, Jennifer Azzi, Ros Gold-Onwude and Chiney Ogwumike — were among the 7,022 fans in attendance to celebrate the achievement. Former Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was also on hand.
After falling behind 29-28 early in the third quarter, Stanford closed the quarter on a 22-14 run to take control going into the fourth. Oregon State (15-3, 4-3) didn’t seriously threaten the rest of the way.
Junior Kiki Iriafen had a dominant performance for the Cardinal, finishing with a career-high 36 points and 12 rebounds, while Talana Lepolo added 14 points.
VanDerveer, 70, is in her 38th season on the Farm after previous stints as the head coach at Idaho (1978-80) and Ohio State (1980-1985). The five-time national coach of the year has led Stanford to three national titles (1990, 1992, 2021), 14 Final Fours, 25 Pac-12 regular-season titles and 34 trips to the NCAA tournament.
A 2011 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, VanDerveer has accumulated more wins than 355 of the 360 NCAA Division I women’s programs.
In 1996, VanDerveer took a year off from coaching at Stanford to lead the U.S. women’s national team to a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics, which helped paved the way for the launch of the WNBA in 1997.
She has coached two Naismith Player of the Year winners, 36 first-team All-Americans and 19 Pac-12 Players of the Year, while nearly 40 of her players went to play for USA Basketball.
It remains to seen how long VanDerveer will hold the record. UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma, 69, the third-winningest NCAA basketball coach, trails her by seven wins (1,196). Whoever ends up with the record will likely come down to which of the two keeps coaching longer.
