Fresh off a disturbing loss to Berkeley andwith only six games to go in the regular season, the No. 11 Stanford women’s basketball team will take on Washington State and Washington at Maples Pavilion before the week’s end.

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Alvin Chow

Senior guard Clare Bodensteiner has shot 50 percent from the field in seven career games against Washington State. She also has seven three-pointers total when playing the Cougars.

Last Sunday, No. 20 California disrupted the Cardinal’s 17-game win streak, handing Stanford its first conference loss. The Cardinal (19-4, 11-1 Pacific-10 Conference) hopes to begin a new string of victories tonight with a strong home appearance against the Cougars (5-18, 1-12 Pac-10).

The numbers are in the Card’s favor, as Stanford owns a 43-0 all-time series record, and Washington State has not won any of its past 12 outings. But the Cardinal will make the most of the match-up, incorporating lessons from the Cal defeat into its game strategy. Freshman guard Melanie Murphy acknowledged the importance of this, given the similarities in the Golden Bears’ and Cougars’ styles of play.

“Washington State will probably play sagging in, just like Cal did, so it’ll be good to see how we recover and make that transition,” Murphy said. “It should just be a good challenge for the team overall.”

The challenge, however, could extend beyond merely improving upon past mistakes. Washington State has suffered seven of its 12 conference defeats with a margin of 10 points or fewer. In a Jan. 13 game, the Cardinal fit this trend, winning by only eight points. Freshman guard JJ Hones then led Stanford in scoring with 17 points, and senior forward Brooke Smith had a near triple-double.

Such an arrangement is impossible this time around, as Hones went down less than a minute into the Cal meeting and tore her ACL. The Cardinal must maintain its composure if it is to have a successful weekend. Murphy, though, is optimistic, noting the offensive balance found throughout the season.

“[What happened to Hones] is very unfortunate,” Murphy said. “The whole team is upset about it, but at the same time, more people are going to get the opportunity to show what they can do.”

The biggest Cougar threat is freshman forward Marisa Stotler, who averages 10.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Senior forward Kate Benz, who is only 20 boards short of becoming Washington State’s all-time leading rebounder, also poses a menace. But junior guard Cissy Pierce voiced the team’s confidence in its ability to dominate inside with the deep rotation of Smith, senior center Kristen Newlin, sophomore forward Jillian Harmon and freshman center Jayne Appel.

“Our team goal this week is to get the ball into the post,” Pierce said. “Hopefully, we’ll fill in the void of assists. [Hones had 90 assists on the season.] But if we get the ball into the posts, it’s pretty much an automatic two.”

Saturday’s 1 p.m. match up should prove more difficult for Stanford, particularly for its guards. The Huskies (14-10, 7-6 Pac-10) are led by one of the Pac-10’s top point guards: Cameo Hicks. As the conference’s third-leading scorer (17.6 points per game), she will be a tough offensive force to guard for whoever is playing the point.

In Hones’ absence, the team will rely even more on a collection of backcourt players, including Pierce and Murphy, to bring the necessary defensive pressure and to continue protecting the ball. The team feels that it is ready for that challenge.

“[Head coach Tara VanDerveer] has been saying everyday after practice that we can’t change [what happened to Hones],” Pierce said. “It’s something that we have no control over, so we should just push on and move on.

“Our goal is just to come out and blast Washington State,” Pierce continued. “We didn’t play well up there, so we just want to come out this weekend and prove that we’re still a great team, and although it hurt us to lose our starting point guard, we can still win.”