Having come off an overtime win against its top Pacific-10 Conference competition, Arizona State, the No. 8 Stanford women’s basketball team now heads outside of the conference to UC-Santa Barbara. Tonight’s time out should give the Cardinal an attainable win before it returns home to face the Pac-10’s third-ranked No. 21 California.

The Gauchos (11-9, 5-2 Big West) had a rough start to the season, going 1-5, but have won seven of their last eight games. Tonight, however, their roll should turn for the worse against Stanford (18-3, 11-0 Pac-10), looking for its 17th straight win.

Averaging 67.8 points per game and 41.2 percent shooting from the field, UC-Santa Barbara will have to contend with a Cardinal team that has limited its past 16 opponents to just 55.6 points per game and 33.6 percent shooting from the field.

The Gauchos will be looking for the strongest efforts yet from juniors Jenna Green (15.5 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game), Jessica Wilson (13.4 points per game) and Chisa Ononiwu (13.3 points per game, 50 percent three-point shooting). All three were around last season for Stanford’s lopsided 81-47 win.

The Cardinal’s tougher competition will be waiting at Maples Pavilion this Saturday. A consistent top-25 team, the Golden Bears (16-5, 7-4) will be looking for a rematch in their favor. They suffered a disappointing 69-44 loss back at Haas Pavilion in early January.

“We know that with a team we play the second time, especially after winning the first time, it’s going to be a tough game,” head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “We’re working very hard to get ready for it.”

Since the Jan. 6 loss, Cal has won five of its six games, with the only loss coming to then-No. 10 Arizona State (66-54) last week. The Bears have yet to experience back-to-back losses and are shooting 46.8 percent from the field, while holding opponents to 36.8 percent from the field.

“They’re playing very well and with a lot of confidence,” VanDerveer said. “They’re a very talented team, and a very well-coached team, so we know we have to play well.”

Cal is missing one major talent, though: sophomore guard and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Alexis Gray-Lawson. In last season’s first Stanford-Cal match-up, she led the Bears with 30 points in the 87-75 Cal loss. In the nine games she started this season, Gray-Lawson averaged 10.6 points and had made 28 assists. That came to an end, however, when Gray-Lawson tore her ACL against Kansas on Dec. 10.

Since then, Cal has been readjusting. Head coach Joanne Boyle believes her team has risen to the challenge.

“[Our team is] really good at being in the moment, and I feel that we’ve got just enough to get by, and they all believe in what we can do with that,” Boyle said.

VanDerveer agreed, taking note of the perimeter players and others who have stepped up for Cal.

“The loss of Alexis Gray-Lawson was tough early on, but now they’re used to it,” VanDerveer said.

Boyle added that the team will be looking toward its guards to step up both offensively and defensively. More players will need to contribute as the Bears already have enough power in the post.

“Cal has similar strengths to ours in terms of their post players,” VanDerveer said. “Devanei Hampton and Ashley Walker are both having great sophomore years.”

Walker leads the Bears in scoring (17.8 points per game) and rebounding (8.7 rebounds per game — the best in the Pac-10). Hampton is second in both stats (14.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game). Together, they have made up for Gray-Lawson’s missing presence.

Stanford, on the other hand, has its own returning presence — that of junior guard Candice Wiggins. Wiggins had a season-high 30 points against the Sun Devils this past weekend, 10 of them in overtime for the win.

Wigginsm, who was out due to injuries just a few weeks ago, has recovered. VanDerveer said that though Wiggins’ hamstring is now good, her ankle remains tender. VanDerveer did add that Wiggins “is getting there.”

With Wiggins revamping, the rest of the Cardinal is “getting there” as well, climbing the ranks back toward its No. 4 preseason slot. Two wins at Maples Pavilion — tonight at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. — will help in the run toward the NCAA tournament.