Stanford women’s basketball won the Pac-10 regular season title outright for the eighth consecutive time with a 74-52 win over Washington State on Sunday. What does that mean for the Cardinal now? Almost nothing, beyond its contribution to securing Stanford’s place as the conference’s top seed and the scant addition to the team’s confidence and momentum.

In order to claim the Pac-10’s automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament, the Cardinal (27-3, 16-2 Pac-10) must extend its winning streak by another three games.

Stanford shifts into tournament mode with this weekend’s Pac-10 Championships just down the road in San Jose. After skating through the end of the regular season without a loss in the final 15 games, the team hopes to find similar success this weekend and throughout March.

Senior guard Candice Wiggins, the conference’s leading scorer with 19.4 points per game, said she and her teammates were looking forward to the last stretch of the season.

“We’re definitely excited,” Wiggins said. “I mean, it’s certainly bittersweet, but I think we’re playing well and we’re all excited. Especially coming off a few wins [and] the close game with Cal, we’ve got a lot of confidence going in.”

The Pac-10 Tournament begins Friday evening with match-ups between Oregon and Washington State and Oregon State (11-18, 4-14 Pac-10) and Arizona (10-19, 4-14 Pac-10). Stanford will face the winner of this second game on Saturday at 5 p.m. in HP Pavilion.

While neither the Beavers nor the Wildcats presented much of a challenge in the Cardinal’s sweeps of both teams, both have the personnel to test Stanford. Key guards Ashley Allen (Oregon State) and Ashley Whisonant (Arizona) are the scoring leaders for their respective teams.

But the Beavers and Wildcats are not without strong presences in the paint, thanks to Oregon State’s Tiffany Ducker and Arizona’s duo of Amina Njonkou and Ify Ibekwe. Stanford further acknowledges that seeds can mean very little, as the tournament stage often casts opponents in another light.

Coach Tara VanDerveer said that the team can feel the heat of the chase and by no means considers itself invulnerable.

“I think our team is very confident but not overconfident,” VanDerveer observed. “We lost to USC and UCLA, but we didn’t finish strong against Oregon State or Arizona. And we had a two-point game with [second-seeded] Cal. We know we have to play well. All season long, once we lost, we played with our backs against the wall and that’s how we’ll have to continue to play.”

VanDerveer also noted that the tournament’s one-and-done setup presents an added challenge for the Cardinal.

“It is different when you play three games in three games,” she said. “I think it really challenges your depth. We’re going to need more people to step up and help us. I think it’s going to be really important for some of our people coming off the bench . . . to really be able to contribute.”

Threats to the throne:

No. 2-seed California (24-5, 15-3 Pac-10):

As public enemy number one, the Bears pose the most obvious obstacle for Stanford. In the Feb. 23 meeting between the two, the Cardinal barely survived with a 60-58 victory. Cal forward Ashley Walker runs the show with 15.6 points per game and 9.5 rebounds, but talent runs deep to include fellow forward Devanei Hampton (13.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and guard Alexis Gray-Lawson (11.9 ppg, 80 assists). If her team advances to the finals, VanDerveer would not be surprised to face the Blue and Gold.

“Everyone’s really good and everyone’s very capable,” she said. “But you know [that with] the two best teams, ourselves and Cal, it could come down to a rematch — kind of a rubber match, with that one.”

No. 3-seed Arizona State (20-9, 14-4 Pac-10)

The Sun Devils have proven their strength throughout the season, playing Stanford to a four-point game in January. Lauren Lacey (12.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Briann January (11.0 ppg) are two key components to Arizona State’s deep roster. The Sun Devils have nine players averaging more than 16 minutes of play in at least 26 games, allowing for a balanced offense; it will also help prevent their players from becoming run down.

No. 4-seed USC (17-12, 10-8 Pac-10) and No. 5-seed UCLA (15-14, 10-8) hold the potential to make a surprise advance. Both teams rallied to beat Stanford in L.A. back in early January. The question remains if either can repeat its performance a little further from home.

Led by Nadia Parker (USC) and Lindsey Pluimer (UCLA), the Southern California rivals will get fired up early, meeting each other in the opening round of play. Though both have the talent to break into the Pac-10’s top tier, VanDerveer noted that USC will especially benefit from its style of play.

“There are some teams that have been playing a style all season long that favors them,” she said. “A team like USC that plays 10 or 11 people every game, that might be to their advantage if they’re in the third game because people won’t be as tired.”

Fatigue and skill aside, the Pac-10 Tournament will serve as a test of every team’s desire to extend its March. Wiggins, though, says the Card will be careful not to look too far into the future.

“At this point, you have a [long-term] goal in the back of your mind, but you have to focus on one game at a time because looking forward is what gets you eliminated early, like we did last year,” she said. “So you can’t look too far ahead, you have to focus on what’s in front of you, and I think our team knows that.”