STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford could wind up staying put in California for its first four NCAA Tournament games if the Cardinal last that long.
Tara VanDerveer's team received a No. 2 seed Monday night in the Fresno Regional and the Cardinal already are hosting the first and second rounds at Maples Pavilion on Saturday and Monday.
Stanford (28-4), ranked fifth in the final poll after winning the Pac-10 Tournament and a school-record seventh straight conference title, opens against Big Sky Tournament champion and 15th-seeded Idaho State (17-13) on Saturday afternoon.
"I personally was hoping for the Fresno Region for our fans," VanDerveer said. "We can play anywhere and we can play against anybody, but when you're in the West ... the last three years in a row people could not drive if we advanced. They couldn't drive to Oklahoma or San Antonio. This gives, if the seeds hold, our fans an opportunity to come over. They did respect geographical considerations. It's good for the tournament, not just good for Stanford."
Not that the Cardinal are looking past their first-round game. The last time they hosted the tournament, in 2003, No. 3 seed Stanford lost its second-round game 68-56 to sixth-seeded Minnesota, which made school history by advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time.
The Golden Gophers also dealt the Cardinal their first home loss all year that ended Stanford's 26-game unbeaten run on its home floor.
In the three NCAA Tournaments since then, Stanford has traveled to Norman, Okla., Kansas City and San Antonio for the regional rounds. And the Cardinal's seedings haven't been as high as they would have liked either.
Now, Stanford is headed to its 20th straight NCAA Tournament with some nice momentum: riding a nine-game winning streak following a win over Arizona State in the Pac-10 Tournament final March 5. The Cardinal have their sights on reaching the program's first Final Four in 10 years.
"It's definitely a sense of urgency. We do want to make the experience last," post Brooke Smith said. "That's still the goal. But we know we can't talk about the Final Four."
It's been since 1996-97 that the Cardinal have reached the Final Four. After that run, there were back-to-back first-round losses, followed by consecutive second-round defeats.
Last season, Stanford lost 62-59 to top-seeded LSU to miss a trip to the Final Four. The Cardinal also came up just short of advancing to the Final Four during the 2003-04 season, when Nicole Powell took her team within a basket of advancing as a senior before losing to top-seeded Tennessee, 62-60.
If the Cardinal win their first two rounds, they will travel to California's Central Valley to play at Fresno State's Save Mart Center.
That could feature a rematch with LSU in the semifinals followed by a potential date with top-seeded Connecticut, which was eliminated by Stanford in the round of 16 two years ago -- ending the Huskies' three-year run as NCAA champions.
"It's going to be a tough bracket," VanDerveer said. "It doesn't matter where you're playing, you have to play well. We're not going to win because we have Stanford on our jersey. We're not going to win because we're playing at Maples. We're going to win because we do the right things. Those things include playing great defense, rebounding, executing offensively, and people playing hard for and with each other. ... I think the best scenario is people being healthy."
Stanford star Candice Wiggins, a junior and two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year, is healthy and unconcerned about a tender left hamstring that held her out of the final two conference games and a troublesome right ankle. She scored 65 points and shot 14-for-25 on 3-pointers in Stanford's three wins in the Pac-10 Tournament -- including a career-best and tournament-record eight 3s in a semifinal win against Southern California. The performances earned her MVP honors.
"I always feel 100 percent, even if I'm not," Wiggins said with a smile Monday. "The hamstring feels good. I'm starting to get my strength back with that. My ankle is just great now. The swelling's gone down, the pain's gone down. Everything else feels great. The feeling of winning the Pac-10 Tournament was so great, I wasn't in pain. I was tired, maybe, because I hadn't played a lot."
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