With final exams over, it was time for the women’s basketball team to get back down to business. The holiday season may have been a nice, relaxing break for most students, but it was far from that for this team, with six grueling fixtures over three weeks.

“I’ve never played a stretch of games like these games,” said senior Rosalyn Gold-Onwude. “I like the way [Head Coach] Tara [VanDeveer] puts it…it’s like the [NCAA] Tournament in December.”

Half of the Cardinal’s games were against top-10 teams. Stanford went 5-1 over the stretch, losing only to No. 1 Connecticut.

To kick off their “break,” Stanford faced the DePaul Blue Demons, followed by the No. 7/8 Duke Blue Devils. These ominously hellish-sounding teams could not, however, break the Cardinal’s unbeaten 8-0 run this season, losing 96-60 and 71-55 respectively.

The Cardinal continued with a tough stretch against Tennessee (67-52 win), Connecticut (80-68 loss), and a non-conference season finish at Fresno State (68-46 win). It then began Pacific-10 Conference play against rival California (79-58 win).

The first two games were physical challenges for Stanford, with DePaul and Duke recording 20 and 23 team fouls, respectively the team had to battle for possession all over the court.

The DePaul game saw senior Jayne Appel pass the 1,000 rebound mark, becoming only the third Stanford player to do so. With 22 games left in the regular season, she is well on target to break the 1,143 record, but it’s not what she, or the team, really cares about.

“I think it’s cool, but I’d rather win a national championship,” Appel said. “[This statistic] doesn’t really have any big reference, kinda in and out of my head.”

The Cardinal continued its solid play against Duke. It was not a flawless performance, and though both teams had periods where they seemed to be gaining the momentum and outplaying their opposition, the Cardinal grinded out the win.

“[We] just stayed with things,” said Coach Tara VanDerveer, “even though sometimes it wasn’t pretty. To me it was a heavyweight fight and I’m really proud of how our team did.”

The Blue Devils were nothing if not physical<\p>–<\p>perhaps too physical. One player fouled out, and several others came close.

But at times this aggression seemed to be having the desired effect on Stanford, forcing careless mistakes.

“I really have higher expectations for our guard play,” VanDerveer said. “We broke their press and then we would throw shots up that looked like they were gonna break the backboard.”

Stanford’s next two opponents, like Duke, were top-10 teams that intended to serve intense competition. The Cardinal faced No. 3 Tennessee on the 19th, and undefeated No. 1 Connecticut just four days later. Stanford fended off a talented Lady Vol squad en route to a 67-52 victory, but then faded late against the Huskies as it fell 80-68 in a rematch of last year’s national semifinals.

The Cardinal’s game against Tennessee started off with a bang, as both teams exchanged the lead amid alternating offensive spurts.

The Lady Vols put the Cardinal down 11-4 in the first eight minutes, thanks to scoring drives led by redshirt sophomore Kelley Cain and junior Angie Bjorklund. Stanford would respond, however, with a big run of its own.

Over a dominant eight-minute stretch, the Cardinal outscored Tennessee by 18-4. Seven different Stanford players scored during the outburst, and the Cardinal would not surrender the lead for the rest of the game.

The run ended emphatically on a three-point basket by Gold-Onwude. The Stanford guard found the hoop with another shot from beyond the arc soon afterward, and added a layup to give the Cardinal a 30-18 lead at halftime.

“I’m really proud of how Ros came in and really helped us,” VanDerveer said. “She had some big shots and played really hard defensively.”

The Cardinal went on to beat the Vols 67-52, handing Tennessee its first loss of the season. Junior Kayla Pedersen led both teams with 16 points, while sophomore Nnemkadi Ogwumike added 14 of her own.

“They exposed their game to all of women’s basketball today, and it wasn’t pretty,” said Tennessee Head Coach Pat Summitt. “They were the best team today in all aspects of the game. We’ve got to get a whole lot better. We fell apart. Sometimes that happens.”

After besting Tennessee, the Cardinal headed north for a much-anticipated matchup with Connecticut. Going into the contest, Coach Geno Auriemma’s No. 1 Huskies were undefeated after nine games and hadn’t lost in their last 48 contests.

For the second time in as many games, the opening 20 minutes were characterized by alternating bursts of strong offense. Connecticut took off to a quick 19-10 lead, led by reigning Player of the junior Year Maya Moore.

As in the Tennessee game before it, however, Stanford was able to respond. Pedersen and Ogwumike led a 15-2 run, scoring a combined 11 points as the Cardinal seemed to take control of the game. Stanford led 25-21 at the end of the spurt, posting the biggest lead that any team has held over UConn this season, and went on to lead 40-38 at the half.

The Huskies were completely dominant in the second frame, at one point going on a 30-6 run. Despite making only one three-pointer and shooting 50 percent from the field, Connecticut managed to take advantage of Cardinal turnovers and run away with the game.

“They came out and were more aggressive definitely [in the second half],” said Ogwumike. “What it felt like for me is that we were kind of slow to react to what was going on, and they just went after it. It is hard to compensate for such aggressive play and I think that is what really got us.”

Stanford, meanwhile, posted less than half as many points as they did in their impressive first half. They were outrebounded 43-29 and outshot 73-56 from the field, and gave up 17 turnovers during the game before losing 80-68.

“They didn’t care if you got in the way or not – they are just going in there,” VanDerveer said. “We need people to step up and take charges in that situation. They are definitely head and shoulders above us, and they just play at a different pace than anybody. They are moving the ball and their players are moving and screening. They played very well together.”

Stanford was quick to bounce back, however, with a dominant 68-46 victory at Fresno State. Appel led both teams with 20 points and 18 rebounds, while Pedersen added 14 points of her own. The Cardinal’s push to victory, though, was kickstarted by a Gold-Onwude three-pointer four minutes in. They were the first points of the game.

Stanford had another slow start before it bested rival Cal 79-58 to begin its conference season. The Cardinal missed 21 of its first 25 shots.

“In the first half, we weren’t hitting layups and were really lethargic and slow,” Ogwumike said.

Ogwumike would go on to lead her team to an explosive second half, scoring 24 points and posting 16 rebounds, a career high. Pedersen posted a double-double as well, with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

With the 5-1 break, Stanford improves to 11-1 and maintains its No. 2 national ranking. The Cardinal continues its season this weekend in Los Angeles, playing USC on Friday at 7 p.m. and UCLA on Sunday at 2 p.m.