NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Stanford Close to Home in Fresno Regional

The 2012 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship is in full swing.

The Stanford Cardinal are set to face the South Carolina Gamecocks at 8:32 p.m. PST in a Sweet 16 matchup at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Stanford is in the Sweet 16 for the 19th time in school history.

Stanford breezed through the first two rounds of the tournament, beating No. 16 seed Hampton, 73-51 and No. 8 seed West Virginia, 72-55.

Stanford's head coach Tara VanDerveer doesn't care how well her team has played in the past. 

"What we did last week won't be good enough," said the coach.

Home Sweet Home

This is the second time this season that the Cardinal has been to Fresno.  Stanford beat the Fresno State Bulldogs, 93-59 in early December. So does Stanford have an advantage on that front? Coach VanDerveer seems to think so. 

"I think it is advantage. We're staying in the same hotel, this is kind of our second home, and we want to come out and play really well here," said VanDerveer.

Miles and Miles

Compared to the three other teams in the NCAA Fresno Regional, which includes, Duke, St. John's and South Carolina, the Stanford Cardinal's trip must have seemed like a trip around the block.

Not that the No. 1 seed Cardinal need any extra help, but the extra miles traveled by those teams could be a factor when the Fresno Regional is completed and one of the teams heads to Denver for the Final Four.

The short travel time, and the fact that Stanford plays in the late game on Saturday, could give them an edge.

"You know it's probably not ideal. People are going to be so excited to be playing, I don't see that really being a factor," said VanDeveer on the team playing later. "I think we are going to see a great game from all four teams."

We Make it Tough!

Throwing the intangibles out the window, coach VanDerveer thinks the Fresno Regional is going to be tough.  "It's the one were in," said the coach answering a question on why Fresno will be a tough regional.

Stanford is led by the Ogwumike sisters, Chiney and Nnemkadi.  The latter brings a gaudy 21.8 points per game along with 10.3 rebounds.

Gean May is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.