| Mode: | Women's Basketball |
| Year: | 1996-97 |
| Prev Year: | 1995-96 |
| Next Year: | 1997-98 |
| Team: | Stanford Cardinal |
| Conference: | Pacific-10 Conference |
| Short Conf: | Pac-10 |
| Coachrank: | 3 |
| Aprank: | 3 |
| Record: | 34–2 |
| Conf Record: | 18–0 |
| Hc Year: | 11th |
| Asst Coach2: | Reneé Brown |
| Champion: | Pac-10 champions |
| Tourney Result: | Final Four |
The 1996–97 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team represented Stanford University as members of the Pacific-10 Conference during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cardinal were led by head coach Tara VanDerveer and played their home games at Maples Pavilion. They won the Pac-10 Championship (18–0) and reached the Final Four for the sixth time in eight seasons.
The Cardinal finished the season with a record of 34–2 with both losses coming to National runner-up Old Dominion. This season capped a 3-year run with each season ending at the Final Four, and with an overall record of 93–8 and a 53–1 record in Pac-10 games.
|-!colspan=9 style=| Regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| NCAA women's tournament[2]
See main article: 1996–97 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings.