After demolishing the Oregon schools by a combined 70 points last week, Stanford women’s basketball takes to the road for meetings with Arizona and Arizona State this weekend.

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Alex Oppenheimer

Senior guard Cissy Pierce and the No. 7 Cardinal have come roaring back after their disappointing pair of losses in Los Angeles.

The No. 7 Cardinal (14-3, 4-2 Pac-10) first battles Arizona tonight at 6 p.m., though the game will likely be a one-sided affair. The Wildcats (6-10, 0-5) are tied for last in the conference. The closest Arizona has come to a victory was in a double-overtime loss to Oregon State — when only two Wildcat players remained on the floor at the end of the game.

Sophomore guard J.J. Hones believes that the Arizona’s ability to stay close in that contest showed the tenacity Stanford can expect from their opponents in Tucson this weekend.

“Arizona has a really good team; they’re really scrappy,” she said. “[After their game with] Oregon State, we know that no matter what happens they’re going to keep fighting. We need to make sure that we come out and play [as well as] we can.”

For the Cardinal, that means getting out to an early lead and then maintaining it with solid defense. This season Arizona has struggled to bounce back after falling behind, going 3-9 in games in which they trailed at halftime.

“In every game it’s important for us to get out to a quick start,” Hones said. “But teams can always come back, so we just have to play hard the whole time.”

Stanford’s ability to control the game’s opening minutes may also give coach Tara VanDerveer the opportunity to rest players like sophomore center Jayne Appel (15.6 ppg, 8.3 rebounds per game) and senior guard Candice Wiggins (17.5 ppg), allowing for a little extra recovery before the Cardinal meets fellow Pac-10 power No. 25 Arizona State on Sunday.

Appel said the decision about who will stay on the floor will not be made until after the first few minutes of play.

“I think however we come out will set the tone for the rest of the game,” she added. “But we’d like to get everyone out and play.”

Allowing more minutes from the bench would also expose Stanford’s players to the strong inside-out combination that the Wildcats boast: senior guard Ashley Whisonant and junior forward Amina Njonkou. In Arizona’s 75-65 loss to Arizona State last week, Whisonant (16.1 ppg, 4.56 assists per game) added 20 points to Njonkou’s career-high 25, as the pair together produced nearly 70 percent of the Wildcats’ offense.

Njonkou, who averages 13.2 ppg and 7.2 rebounds per game, will force the Cardinal’s forwards to play tougher defense than they did against Oregon and Oregon State. But Appel said the bigs are ready.

“Defense will really have to be a bigger focus against Arizona and Arizona State,” she said. “But this year we’ve faced some great posts already with Rutgers and Tennessee. It won’t be a big adjustment for us [playing against Njonkou], but it’ll definitely be something we focus on.”

Likewise, the backcourt will look to silence Whisonant and freshman guard Tasha Dickey (7.3 ppg). Hones, though, is confident that the team is “really prepared” for the duo. Additionally, Stanford will be able to play aggressively against the Wildcats in an effort to force Arizona to shoot free throws. The ‘Cats are shooting only 64 percent from the charity stripe on the season.

Regardless of the contest’s seeming lopsidedness, Appel says Stanford will use this game as a learning opportunity and another stride toward Pac-10 success.

“I think the Arizona road trip has really been taken seriously in recent years because of the caliber of teams,” Appel said. “So, I think that we’ll come out with that same attitude: they’re just one more step in getting to where we want to be. [The Arizona game] will really set our momentum for how we’ll be playing in the next couple of games.”