WCC freshman of the year joins women’s team as transfer

Stanford women’s basketball finally added a transfer, and it’s someone who doesn’t have to come from far away. Junior point guard Tess Heal officially committed to Stanford on Monday after two seasons at Santa Clara.

Heal was the WCC Freshman of the Year in 2022-23 and firstteam All-WCC in both of her seasons with the Broncos. A native Melbourne, Australia, she becomes Stanford’s first undergraduate transfer since Brooke Smith from Duke after the 2002-03 season, and the second in program history.

“I couldn’t be more excited that Tess will be joining us on The Farm,” head coach Kate Paye said in a statement. “She is a perfect fit for our program culture and this university. She’s a dynamic guard and a phenomenal student, intensely competitive, and gives maximum effort in all that she does. Her production during her first two collegiate seasons speaks for itself and I can’t wait to see the impact she makes on our team.”

As a sophomore, Heal was honored as the WCC Player of the Week six times and set the program record for points in a season with 663. She scored in double digits in all 34 games. She led the Broncos with both an average of 19.5 points and 4.9 assists per game in 32 minutes. She was also fourth in the nation in free throws made (191).

Stanford lacked depth at guard last season, which affected the Cardinal in areas from shooting to defense to ball distribution. Talana Lepolo, after a strong freshman season, struggled in the second half of her sophomore season last year with a knee injury and her shooting became a nonfactor.

Heal shot 31.5% from threepoint range over her two seasons with the Broncos, and 47.2% from the floor overall. She was 29th in the nation in scoring last season.

Stanford returns just two starters in Lepolo and guard Elena Bosgana. Last season’s first player off the bench, Brooke Demetre, is a natural to fill the power-forward position, and rising sophomore Nunu Agara is the most likely option at the post. Forward Courtney Ogden also could find her way into the starting lineup in her sophomore season.

Heal likely would be the first player off the bench and give the Cardinal some options beyond Lepolo at point guard. Jzaniya Harriel profiles more as a shooting guard and Chloe Clardy was used primarily as a defensive specialist in her freshman season.

The Cardinal lost forward Kiki Iriafen, who committed to USC in her hometown for her senior season after a breakout season with the Cardinal.