The last time Stanford received a top seed in the NCAA tournament, it fell victim to Harvard in one of the biggest upsets in women’s basketball history.
The monumental defeat in 1998 wasn’t forgotten Monday when the second-ranked Cardinal got the No. 1 seed in the Sacramento Regional.
“We all know what happened the last time we were No. 1,” coach Tara VanDerveer said of the 71-67 defeat.
Stanford (31-1) will try to avoid all road blocks when it opens the tournament Saturday against No. 16 UC Riverside at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal has a clear path to its third consecutive Final Four, in San Antonio on April 4-6.
Stanford has two potential games at Maples, where it has won 44 in a row, and then would advance to the regional final in Sacramento with an expected showdown against second-seeded Texas A&M in the Elite Eight.
But the route to the Alamo almost seems perfunctory in a season where the story line is simple: top-ranked Connecticut vs. second-ranked Stanford. The Cardinal’s past two defeats have been to the undefeated Huskies, the top seed in the Dayton Regional. The powerhouses wouldn’t meet until the championship game.
Although Cardinal players are careful not to look beyond Riverside, they welcome another game against Maya Moore and Co.
“Of course,” junior forward Kayla Pedersen said. “I think everybody wants another chance at them.”
The Cardinal is the last team to defeat Connecticut, which has won 72 in a row after falling to Stanford in the national semifinals in 2008. The Huskies avenged that loss in the Final Four last season, then defeated Stanford 80-68 in December in Hartford, Conn.
Sophomore Nneka Ogwumike, the Pac-10 Conference player of the year, didn’t shy away from the Connecticut story line Monday.
“It’s not something people don’t know,” she said. But “I don’t think people should underestimate us.”
Citing the Cardinal’s three consecutive victories in the Pac-10 tournament over the weekend, Ogwumike added: “We’ve been very focused on what is coming up next. At the same time we know what it takes for us to get as far as we need to go.”
The road to a probable matchup against UConn (33-0) could include a national semifinal game against No. 1 seed Nebraska or No. 2 seed Notre Dame. The Huskies could face No. 1 seed Tennessee or No. 2 seed Duke in their semifinal bracket.
VanDerveer’s biggest concern is the ankle of All-America center Jayne Appel, who isn’t close to 100 percent although she played a pivotal role in helping Stanford win the Pac-10 tournament. VanDerveer wasn’t sure if the 6-foot-4 player from Pleasant Hill would practice Wednesday.
But teammates are counting on their star.
“When she came in, everybody felt her presence,” point guard Jeanette Pohlen said of Appel’s play last weekend. “When she is on the floor, you have to pay attention.”
Backup guard JJ Hones also is hurting, having been unable to practice much this season while recuperating from knee surgery last year.
Contact Elliott Almond at 408-920-5865 and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/elliottalmond.
