The Cardinal offense is clicking at the right time, and the key seems to be the floor leadership of the guards — their increasing ability to create opportunities for themselves and others has led to good results.

Senior Candice Wiggins, the undisputed Cardinal leader, has 68 assists, and sophomore point guard JJ Hones, who has started the past three games, has 51. Reserve freshman guard Jeanette Pohlen has totaled 50 assists off the bench, and sophomore point guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, usually the Cardinal’s starter at that position, has 47.

After Saturday’s 75-62 win over UCLA, Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer praised Hones’s ability. In a rough game in which she was often double-teamed, Hones was able to feed Wiggins and the post players effectively.

“JJ had some nice passes,” said VanDerveer.

Sophomore center Jayne Appel has been a valuable passer down low — against UCLA, she showed a deft touch in her tosses to freshman forward Kayla Pedersen, many of which were in heavy traffic.

All have contributed to an offense that leads the Pac-10 both in scoring and assists.

The Cardinal’s potent attack matches up well against Santa Clara, but, while Stanford has little to gain beyond a win, the Broncos could define their season with a victory tonight.

Santa Clara’s loss to Gonzaga was particularly crippling — it drops them to three games behind the Bulldogs in the WCC. Due to a competitive field and a poor loss to Alaska-Anchorage in November, Santa Clara will likely need to win the WCC in order to secure a NCAA Tournament berth.

But they can place themselves right back on the bubble with a win over the highly ranked Cardinal tonight.