• STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- That missed chance in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals cost Tara VanDerveer's Stanford team a top seed in the NCAA tournament.
• And a short flight -- and that's what hurts most for VanDerveer considering fewer Cardinal fans will make the Midwest trek.
• "I'm part Irish but I don't feel lucky," VanDerveer said.
• Sixth-ranked Stanford (29-3) earned a No. 2 seed and will face 15th-seeded South Dakota (19-13) in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday -- rather than staying close in its own time zone and fly to either Seattle or Los Angeles, with VanDerveer saying, "the people who are punished the most by this are our fans."
• South Carolina captured the top seed in the regional. Still, Stanford had the NCAA's third-highest RPI rating based on strength of schedule and results.
• "I think it will be good for our team. The 1 seed didn't help us last year," VanDerveer said. "The seeding doesn't really matter to me honestly. We've got to play well. If this is a slap in the face that you won the Pac-12 but you didn't win the tournament ... let it be a chip on people's shoulder. I think it can all be good for us."
• Stanford -- which enters the tournament with a second seed for the first time since 2009 -- could face host school and seventh seed Iowa State in the second round, with a chance for Stanford to return to its home floor at Maples Pavilion in the regional from March 30-April 1.
• The Cardinal lost 72-68 to USC in the conference tournament semifinals, the first time the program hadn't reached the championship game in the event's 13-year history.
• "If things continue to go according to plan, it will be us on our home court the next round. That's how the tournament works," senior Chiney Ogwumike said. "Losses are definitely a slap in the face. You re-evaluate yourself. Losing in the Pac-12 tournament has really taught us a lot. It made things more real."
• VanDerveer insists that rare early exit inspired an impressive week of practice

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