NCAA Women's Tournament | Stanford pleased to play in Spokane

STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford couldn't wait to get out of town. Forget the comforts of home — they only provided added pressure for this bunch.

Now that the Cardinal has moved past the home-court hex that haunted the program twice in five years, they have much bigger plans: winning two more games in the Spokane Regional to finally get back to the Final Four.

"Being at home, you have to be perfect, in the perfect scenario," superstar senior Candice Wiggins said Wednesday. "That can be complicated, and the pressure can get to your head. Going to Spokane is going to feel like we're really in a tournament."

Last March, that very pressure hit Stanford in its shocking second-round loss to Florida State at home at Maples Pavilion, where Minnesota also upset the Cardinal in 2003.

Not this time, thanks to Wiggins and Co.

Second-seeded Stanford (32-3), on a 20-game winning streak and coming off its fifth straight Pac-10 tournament title and eighth consecutive regular-season crown, will face sixth-seeded Pittsburgh on Saturday in Spokane.

"I think in a lot of ways it helps us be a lot more relaxed," coach Tara VanDerveer said. "People might think there's this great home advantage when you play here, but in a lot of ways there's a lot more pressure on our team. I think when we get up to Spokane, it will be a great situation for our team."

The Cardinal played two great games on its home floor to reach the regional semifinals, beating Cleveland State and UTEP handily. The team stayed in a hotel last weekend, on center Jayne Appel's recommendation.

"We'll keep the same focus," Appel said. "I think it will actually be easier playing in Washington than at home. I think our team performs better when we're all focused on the same thing. It helps you to play as a team when you're eating together, sleeping at the same time.

"We are flying under the radar right now. I don't feel any outside pressure. Maybe it does have to do with us being a 2 seed instead of a 1 seed."

Stanford would love nothing more than to ride Wiggins all the way to Tampa, Fla., and the Final Four. It would be the first for the school since 1997. For a team that knocked off No. 1 Tennessee back in December and hasn't lost since being swept by UCLA and USC in Los Angeles in early January, Stanford would consider it falling short not to go to Florida.

But none of that is being discussed right now.

"We don't talk about those pressures, we just deal with them on the court," Wiggins said. "This year we've done things we haven't done in the past, and it's a different mentality."

A win Saturday and Stanford could meet up next with Maryland, which beat out the Cardinal for a No. 1 seed.

VanDerveer isn't ready to book a trip to Tampa or make any bold predictions, though she knows this team has a great opportunity.

"We haven't been to the Final Four in 11 years. We haven't won a national championship. I try to look at what we are doing," she said. "The NCAA tournament is full of surprises. I try not to get too concerned what other people think and what their expectations are. I think I set a higher expectation for our team. I think that certain things are in place for us."