Stanford women on the rebound in NCAAs after stinging end to Pac-12 Tournament

STANFORD — Maybe Stanford needed to be taken down a peg. Or perhaps success in the NCAA Tournament will hinge on something more physical and basic.

Either way, the Cardinal (28-5) opens play at 7 p.m. Friday at Maples Pavilion against upstart Norfolk State (27-5) in the Portland 4 Region. The winner takes on either Iowa State (20-11) or Maryland (19-13) Sunday for the right to advance to Portland and a chance for Stanford to play in its 16th Final Four and seek its fourth NCAA championship under coach Tara VanDerveer.

For whatever reason, the Cardinal got off to slow starts in all three of its games in the Pac-12 Tournament, which resulted in wins over Cal and Oregon State before getting pushed around to a surprising degree in a 71-64 title game loss to USC in Las Vegas.

The loss dropped Stanford to a No. 2 seed behind Texas (30-4)  in the Portland 4 Region. Even more painful was coming up short in the last dance for the Pac-12, which saw 10 of its 12 teams jump to other conferences for no other reason than it suited football. The degree to which Pac-12 teams are kindred spirits was apparent on Selection Sunday, when Stanford players, coaches and fans in attendance reacted with applause every time one of the conference’s teams was announced in the tournament field.

Rather than the intense infighting that typified the regular season and the Pac-12 tournament, Stanford and six other teams carry the Pac-12 mantle to the NCAA Tournament in hopes of honoring a place of residence that for Stanford began in 1985-86 in the Women’s Pacific West Conference before joining the Pac-10 the following season. The conference expanded to 12 teams in 2011-12.

The loss to USC means Stanford had to be satisfied with being the last Pac-12 regular season champ at 15-3, if not the tournament champ.

“I think we back the Pac every opportunity we can,” Stanford guard Hannah Jump said. “We’re excited for all those teams and to show the rest of the conferences that the Pac-12 is really competitive. I think we’ve done this last season here justice. We’re excited for them to see how they’ll do as well.”

Looking at the postseason through Cardinal-colored glasses, VanDerveer said the loss to USC could be seen as a “blessing.” While she considers the seeding far less important than team health and being placed in the Portland region, VanDerveer conceded, “Being a No. 2 seed can get under your skin too. We really have something to prove.”

Cameron Brink, the Pac-12 Player of the Year as well as Defensive Player of the Year, isn’t concerned about what could be considered a seeding snub.

“I love it,” Brink said. “I don’t care what seed we are. Doesn’t matter. It’s (about) how long you can survive.”

VanDerveer, who became college basketball’s all-time winningest coach this season (1,214-270) believes her team will be the better for the way things went in Las Vegas, particularly if Stanford can play the way it played in its last Pac-12 regular season before starting play in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024-25.

“We’ve made a lot of progress since the last game,” VanDerveer said. “We’ll be ready . . . I think the Pac-12 has really prepared us for the NCAA Tournament.  We’ve played great competition in the Pac-12. They’ve gotten us ready and we’ve gotten them ready.”

The biggest surprise in the title game loss to USC was the way Stanford was dominated on the boards. USC had a 48-28 advantage, including an 18-6 advantage on the offensive glass against a Cardinal team that ranked third in the NCAA in rebound differential at plus-12.8 per game. That trailed only UCLA (plus-13.8) and LSU (plus-13.6), and Stanford decisively outrebounded UCLA 92-60 in two conference wins.

Brink was the third-leading rebounder in the NCAA at 12 per game, with forward Kiki Ireafen 10th at 11 rebounds per game.

In 34 games, Stanford was outrebounded just twice all season, 31-29 against Gonzaga in a nonconference game and against USC In the Pac-12 final. Stanford lost both times. They were tied in rebounding three times and lost two of those games, once against Arizona and in the first meeting against USC in which JuJu Watkins scored 51 points. In the conference final, the Cardinal, Elena Bosgana in particular, kept Watson in check with a season-low nine points but other USC players stepped up in terms of scoring and rebounding.

Norfolk State, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champion, has an explosive scorer of its own that Stanford will have to deal with in 5-foot-5 point guard Diamond Johnson, a North Carolina State transfer who averaged 20.3 points per game.

Should Stanford win twice at Maples, Brink will play in her hometown of Portland attempting to earn a Final Four berth in what will be her last season. The 6-foot-4 forward announced last week she would forgo her final year of eligibility and declare for the WNBA Draft.

However, the Cardinal is just one year removed from seeing its season end at Maples. The top seed in its region last year, Stanford blew out Sacred Heart 92-49 in its first game but then was stunned 54-49 by eighth-seeded Mississippi in the second round to finish the season 29-6 — a game in which the Cardinal was outrebounded 44-39.

“We’ve got to focus on coming out, playing well one game at a time,” Jump said. “We do have last year on the back of our minds, but we know if we play Stanford basketball like we have all season, we’re going to be successful.”