Stanford women prepare for double trouble in Oregon

After sweeping Cal, Stanford women head to Oregon for its toughest test of the Pac-12 basketball season.

BERKELEY — Now comes the hard part for the fifth-ranked Stanford women’s basketball team.

The Cardinal (15-1, 4-0 Pac-12) faces gauntlet when traveling to Oregon and Oregon State this weekend in what has been an anticipated showdown among the Pac-12’s elite schools.

The excitement has not diminished although Arizona State played the spoiler over the weekend by upending No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Oregon State.

The Cardinal should inch up the Associated Press women’s basketball rankings Monday after a topsy-turvy week that also saw top-ranked Connecticut fall to Baylor.

But Stanford might not spend much time near the top of the rankings after its northern exposure.

The road games in Oregon underscore just how good the conference is after decades of being in the shadow of schools from the Big Ten and the East. Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, the dean of Pac-12 coaches, has been begging for this kind of competition for eons.

Playing in front of loud hostile crowds in Eugene and Corvallis, Oregon, will help prepare her team for the prize she wants most: a third NCAA crown.

“We have two months of these types of games,” VanDerveer said Sunday after the Cardinal survived an aggressive Cal team for its fifth consecutive victory. “Whoever you’re playing, it doesn’t matter where they are ranked or what their preseason thing is, everyone is really good.”

Nonetheless, Stanford faces its toughest two-game challenge of the season. The Cardinal will not experience anything quite like this until its final four regular-season games when playing host to the Oregon schools before traveling to Arizona and Arizona State.

“I’m not looking forward to that trip,” VanDerveer said of going to Arizona. “You can’t just check off the W.”

Starting Friday against Oregon, Stanford will be tested by the likes of senior Sabrina Ionescu, last season’s national player of the year. Ionescu, who starred at Orinda-Miramonte High School, got her fourth triple-double of the season Sunday as the Ducks (13-2, 3-1) held off Arizona 71-64.

Oregon is not a one-woman team with center Ruthy Hebard averaging 16.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per game and Satou Sabally getting 14.5 points and 6.3 rebounds.

Oregon State’s players are not as well known as the Oregon stars but so far they have proven equal to the challenge. The Beavers (15-1, 3-1) are led by senior guard Mikayla Pivec of Lynnwood, Washington, and redshirt junior guard Destiny Slocum of Meridian, Idaho.

Oregon State should challenge Stanford’s post players with 6-foot-6 freshman Kennedy Brown and 6-4 freshman Taylor Jones. Coach Scott Rueck also has 6-7 sophomore Patricia Morris.

It’s a series where Stanford could use 6-3 junior Maya Dodson, who has not played this season and 5-11 senior Dijonai Carrington, who has missed the past 11 games with an injury. VanDerveer said she hopes to have both players back before the season ends.

For now, the Cardinal is relying on its highly regarded freshman class and sophomore twins Lexie and Lacie Hull with leadership from junior point guard Kiana Williams.

“There is a flow to Stanford basketball when they are in their comfort zone,” Cal coach Charmin Smith said Sunday.

The Golden Bears tried to make it tough for the Cardinal to play freely Sunday after losing by 33 points on Friday night at Stanford. Although Cal fell 79-65, the Bears felt better about the way they played Sunday in front of 6,724 fans at Haas Pavilion.

“We had to play through a very physical game,” VanDerveer said.

Was it the perfect way to head to Oregon?

Smith did not think so.

“She would have rather been able to rest all of her starters,” Smith said of VanDerveer. But “I’m not worried about Tara being prepared for the Oregons.”

It is difficult to predict how it might unfold when top-10 teams face off. But VanDerveer said she has no plans to make many changes in the coming days. The coaches plan to continue what has worked so far. But they also will harp about defense and rebounding as a way to neutralize the Oregon schools.

VanDerveer also acknowledged what the Cardinal is about to face: “How could it get any harder?” she asked.

The games do have a Final Four feel to them.

It will take an elevated effort from Stanford guards Haley Jones and Williams, who each scored 21 points Sunday against Cal. They zig-zagged their way through an aggressive and spirited California defense to score on layups four times each.

Jones, the national high school player of the year from Archbishop Mitty, has blossomed into one of the conference’s best freshmen.

“She should just keep doing what she is doing,” VanDerveer said. “I’m not going to micromanage her. The girl has got absolute skills.”

The lane might not open like the Red Sea in Oregon. The Ducks and Beavers have enough experienced players to stop easy drives to the basket. The Cardinal probably will need a balanced effort by containing their opponents inside while making 3-point shots.  6-5 freshman Ashten Prechtel might be asked to play more against Oregon State’s towering front line. Prechtel gave Stanford a boost Sunday with three big 3-point shots. But she also had three fouls in 8 minutes 23 seconds of action.

VanDerveer, though, likes that Stanford controls its fate. It does not mean the Cardinal will get through the Pac-12 schedule unscathed. It’s difficult to imagine either Stanford or first-place UCLA (5-0) winning out.

It is a matter of improving and staying healthy in the arc of a five-month season.

“If we were playing perfect in January, I might as well just retire or something,” VanDerveer said.

No worries about throwing a retirement party just yet.