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STANFORD — Coach Tara VanDerveer likes to downplay the long-term prospects of her top-ranked Stanford women’s basketball team.
After a sweeping 78-51 victory Wednesday night against No. 23 Tennessee, VanDerveer, a basketball Hall of Fame coach, offered a caveat.
“We’ve got a ways to go before we’re there,” she said.
VanDerveer, however, understands that she is managing a jump-shooting gold mine with three consecutive impressive recruiting classes, counting next season’s incoming freshmen.
“We’re sitting in water that is really rich,” VanDerveer said of what Stanford has to offer.
The Cardinal is sitting on top of the women’s basketball world with the rough-and-tumble Pac-12 Conference opening Jan. 3 at Maples Pavilion against Washington State.
It is difficult to see the team (10-0) escaping the conference schedule unscathed because the league’s depth matches that of the Stanford roster. But for now, Stanford deserves its No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll after dismantling Tennessee (8-2).
It is not because of a single player, either. It’s doubtful the Cardinal players will have a prominent place in the national awards selections at the season’s end. Instead, VanDerveer has a rotation that looks like a rapid-shuttle service. Ten players had substantial minutes against Tennessee, which is regrouping under first-year coach Kellie Harper.
Junior Kiana Williams led the Cardinal with 19 points and seven assists but she had help from sophomore Lexie Hull (11 points and eight rebounds) and 6-foot-5 freshman Ashten Prechtel (10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks).
VanDerveer said she loved how the players responded in the storied series against Tennessee, once the standard of women’s basketball under legendary coach Pat Summitt. It was the schools’ 37th meeting and put VanDerveer one victory closer to passing Summitt as the winningest coach in college women’s basketball history. VanDerveer now stands 22 victories short of Summitt’s record of 1,098 wins.
But who is counting individual records — or even rankings — when almost everything is going so smoothly?
“Our team stepped up to the challenge,” VanDerveer said. “We took care of the ball better. We had everyone contribute. We were able to play tag-team. But Ki (Williams) was the key.”
Williams, a 5-8 point guard, has taken over the leadership of the team while senior Dijonai Carrington has been out since Nov. 24 because of a sore left knee. Carrington’s absence underscores the Cardinal’s strength: it does not rely on a singular presence to win.
Also out is Maya Dodson, a 6-1 junior who has not played this season with an undisclosed injury. The powerful post player missed 10 games last season with a left foot injury.
No season falls into place perfectly. But if Carrington and/or Dodson are healthy for the NCAA tournament in March, the Cardinal has a real chance to win its first national championship since 1992.
But Stanford continues to prosper even without the two strong upperclasswomen. The 6-foot Hull, all arms and legs, leads the team in scoring with 14.2 points per game average. She had a slow start as a freshman because of an injury but already is playing better than expected.
The same could be said about everyone. The players are fast and fluid. They are strong and dogged. They are morale-deflating accurate from the outside and look poised in the ball movement offense.
Then there is the defense.
“We weren’t getting a lot of easy looks even when we made those,” Harper said. “I think their defense is probably a little underrated.”
Tennessee, whose starting five are all 6-feet or taller, were outrebounded 50-44. The Volunteers left too many Cardinal open for three-point shots. When they defended the perimeter, Stanford players went to the basket like a Sunday drive.
A moment that symbolized Stanford’s strength came within the first minute of the fourth quarter when the Cardinal had three blocks in one possession to force the Volunteers into a shot clock violation.
No question Stanford has jumped the rankings thanks to freshman class as good as advertised. Haley Jones of Santa Cruz, the national high school player of the year, has stepped into the starting lineup for Carrington with ease.
Francesca Belibi and Hannah Jump seem to grow with each game. Then there is Prechtel, who gives Stanford a seamless replacement for 6-4 Alanna Smith, the eighth overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft.
“All of our freshmen are beyond their years,” VanDerveer said. “They all have a very high basketball IQ. You don’t have to start from ground zero. Ashten runs the floor well. And she is fearless. Doesn’t matter who she is playing. She has confidence and that’s a great thing.”
VanDerveer said the strong recruiting has been boosted by the dramatic rise in Pac-12 basketball. More players are interested in staying on the West Coast with Oregon, Oregon State and UCLA also are ranked in the top 10 and Arizona at No. 18.
Williams said no one in her locker room is talking about rankings.
“We try not to get locked in that we’re No. 1 and we can’t lose,” she said.
Because the reality is, they can and probably will lose. Stanford travels Sunday to Texas, which also defeated Tennessee. But the trip women’s basketball aficionados are circling is Jan. 16-19 against No. 3 Oregon and No. 4 Oregon State.
Survive that and then watch out.
