The Cardinal women’s basketball team starts its second conference road trip of the season tonight against Oregon State at the Gil Coliseum in Corvallis.

Stanford (15-1, 5-0 Pacific-10) comes into this match riding the heat of a six game winning streak, whereas the Beavers (9-6, 1-4 Pac-10) have dropped their last four, sinking to ninth in the conference after a very promising beginning to the season.

On its best start since the 2002-03 season, the No. 2 Cardinal has only lost one game — to No. 1 Connecticut, last year’s NCAA champions and the team that has kept Stanford off the top spot. Statistically, at least, it enters tonight’s contest as the favorite, but perhaps that is not always the best place to be.

Every team that faces the Card hopes that they will be the one to take the prized scalp of one of the best programs in the country and perhaps this pressure is starting to show. Since the second half of the Connecticut game, in which the Huskies overturned Stanford’s narrow lead with a crushing 30-6 run, the team seems to have struggled to play its best.

Injuries to key personnel are taking their toll on the Card, as guards junior Jeanette Pohlen and redshirt juniors J.J. Hones and Melanie Murphy have all been sidelined in some recent games.

“We count on Jeanette to push the ball for us, we count on Mel [Murphy] to come in for us and JJ, they are our three most experienced and up until now most productive guards,” said Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer.

While there is a chance that Pohlen and Hones might be fit enough for tonight’s game, their absence could provide opportunities for other players to step up and play themselves into contention.

“We’ve got to have other people ready,” VanDerveer said. “Our plan is to be ready with [sophomore guard] Lindy [La Rocque] and [redshirt junior forward] Michelle [Harrison]. [Junior forward] Ashley [Cimino]’s been playing well, we’re just trying to move people around a little bit more.

“It is a challenge for our team. I’m hoping that, obviously we want to get Jeanette, Mel and J.J. back in some capacity and I really think and hope that this is something that will help us in the long run, but is painful in the short run.”

If all goes to according plan and the Cardinal get another shot at Connecticut in March, then the current difficulties could turn out to be crucial in developing a good rotation of players that will be robust enough to handle the odd injury or off game. But before any of that can happen there are a lot of minutes to be played on court, a lot of points to be scored, rebounds to be caught and games to be won.

The good news for Stanford in tonight’s game is that four members of the usual starting lineup should be ready. Sophomore forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike leads the Pac-10 in both points per game and field goal percentage, with 19.3 percent and 64.1 percent respectively and is second on rebounds with 10.0 per game. Closely behind her in the stats comes junior forward Kayla Pedersen, third in points per game and fifth in rebounds per game and senior center Jayne Appel, fourth in both points per game and rebounds per game.

In comparison, the highest Oregon State players in the rankings are junior forward El Sara Greer, first in offensive rebounds and junior guard Talisa Rhea, fourth in points per game. Greer’s ability to pick up rebounds could prove crucial tonight, given the fact that the Cardinal has conceded so many in its last two games.

Having started every game this year, redshirt senior Rosalyn Gold-Onwude is also turning into a crucial piece of the Stanford jigsaw. Gold-Onwude has scored in double figures in the last three contests, perhaps justifying remaining in her place on the starting lineup even if and when the other guards return.

“Ros is doing what we always wanted and hoped that Ros would do,” VanDerveer said. “Today in practice she was running our offense, our zone offense, talking and she is playing great. Maybe this is something really good to come out of our guard problem — she is playing great.”

“One thing that she has to do is eliminate turnovers,” VanDerveer added. “If she can eliminate those turnovers, then we’re talking about being a championship-type guard.”

Stanford looks to extend its 19-game winning streak against Oregon State tonight at 7 p.m.