STANFORD, Calif. — Jayne Appel rolled past the eucalyptus trees and up to Maples Pavilion on her shiny red bicycle, reclining her 6-foot-4 frame in the seat. The Stanford center wore a T-shirt with three huge words: “Biggest. Upset. Ever.”
The shirt is a souvenir of Stanford’s astonishing football victory over USC in 2007, but it’s no stretch to see its significance in Appel’s next endeavor with her Cardinal teammates: They’re headed to the Final Four in St. Louis this weekend to face mighty Connecticut, which is prohibitively favored to cap its undefeated season with an NCAA title.
Appel scored a school- record 46 points in the Cardinal’s 20th straight victory Monday, yet Stanford (33-4) knows it’s just as much of an underdog as anybody who tangles with the high-scoring Huskies (37-0), who haven’t even allowed an opponent to finish within 10 points of them.
“But last year, they were the team that was supposed to win it as well,” Appel said. “As (coach) Tara (VanDerveer) says, that’s why we play the games.”
After surviving a rugged Berkeley Regional to reach back- to-back Final Fours for the first time this decade, the Cardinal seem pretty much finished feeling pressure for the year. They team’s enjoying a few relaxing days on campus before heading off to a game in which the mighty Huskies will shoulder all the expectations.
Stanford, which finished the season ranked No. 2, is the last team to beat UConn, winning 82-73 in the semifinals at last season’s Final Four.
“We ended their season last year, so they’re highly motivated to play us,” senior Jillian Harmon said. “You can tell. They’ve been talking about us for a few weeks now. … We have to play well, (but) we don’t have to play a perfect game. We didn’t play the perfect game last year, and it’ll probably be a little tougher this year, but we’ll have a chance.”
