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Stanford cruised to a 73-48 victory over Utah on Sunday to earn its 15th Pac-12 tournament title in 19 appearances -- and that could be just the tip of the iceberg for the defending national champs. "I actually think they're better than they were last year, and last year they won the national championship," Utah coach Lynne Roberts said after the game. "I do think they're the best team in the country." The Cardinal own the longest active win streak in the nation at 20 games, last losing to top-ranked South Carolina on Dec. 21. The Gamecocks had been winners of 17 straight before they were stunned by seventh-seeded Kentucky in the SEC championship game earlier Sunday. During its win streak, Stanford went undefeated in league play, both in the regular season (16-0) and then to win the conference tournament. This season marks the 12th time the Cardinal won at least a share of the regular-season conference crown and the tournament title in the same season, and they've now achieved that feat in back-to-back years. "Personally, I leave the seeding and all the bracketology to other people, and just really focus on our team and improving and staying healthy and being happy playing with each other," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said when asked if the Cardinal should now be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament and top in the polls following South Carolina's loss. "To me, it's irrelevant. "I do hope we go to Spokane, however, being in that regional. Just because for [Spokane natives] Lexie and Lacie [Hull]. I bet they'll be going through their kneepads to get there." Stanford was led Sunday by reigning Final Four Most Outstanding Player Haley Jones, who finished with 19 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists, while sophomore Cameron Brink chipped in 16 points. Utah hung around in the first half and even tied the game early in the third quarter before Stanford ultimately outscored the Utes 41-18 in the final 20 minutes. "If Brink and Jones are both going, they'll cut down the nets in Minneapolis again," Roberts said. "Alone, they're a matchup nightmare. But when they're both going, there's not much you can do." Stanford went 29 years without winning a national title before taking home the trophy in San Antonio this past spring, and then returned all its players aside from point guard Kiana Williams. The Cardinal lost three of their first 11 games (to Texas, South Florida and South Carolina) as they adjusted to life without her. "There was a lot of talk about them losing Kiana Williams, and I think in the first half of the season we saw some effects of that, they were trying to figure that out," Roberts said. "But never count out Tara and her staff figuring it out. And I think they're actually more balanced this season because they're not relying on one player to kind of 'OK, go make it happen.' As an opposing coach, that's really hard." If Stanford gets it done in Minneapolis, the Cardinal would become just the fourth program ever to repeat as NCAA champions, joining Tennessee, UConn and USC. "Having that target on our back all season has led to really competitive practices, scrimmages, being ultracompetitive in games, being gritty," Jones said. "We know what it takes to get there, but we're going to have to work twice as hard because everybody's coming after us." The Cardinal won the conference championship just days after Stanford women's soccer player Katie Meyer, a friend and supporter of the women's basketball team, died by suicide. "Katie was an incredible person in every way," Lexie Hull said. "To be able to win, I know she would've been one of the biggest [supporters]. "For women's sports, she was enthusiastic, she was so positive, so loving, so outgoing, so compassionate in everything that she did," Jones added of Meyer. "Going into this tournament, we had very heavy hearts ... but we tried to embody that spirit. We tried to be competitive, be gritty. She's one of the most enthusiastic players I've ever seen. "Being able to win and bring this home and be with our Stanford family when we get back is going to be really special. But I think we did a really good job of embodying that for her and for each other."
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