If the Stanford women's basketball team has seemed especially dominant this season, that's because it has been.
Since suffering back-to-back losses at DePaul and Tennessee, Stanford has steamrolled every opponent in its path, including UConn. The No. 4 Cardinal's 74-44 win at Oregon State on Saturday was its 12th in a row and 11th this season by at least 30 points. Stanford had only seven such blowouts all of last season.
For the season, Stanford is beating opponents by an average of 25.7 points per game. How does that scoring margin compare to some of the great Stanford teams of the past? The 1989-90 team outscored opponents by an average of 26.6 points en route to Stanford's first national championship. The second-best scoring margin is school history is +23.7 by the 1994-95 team.
Tara VanDerveer's squad has turned the dominance up a notch in conference play. In sweeping through the first half of the Pac-10 schedule, Stanford has won seven of its nine conference games by at least 30 points and boasts an absurd Pac-10 scoring margin of +35.7. The school record is +27.5 by the 1989-90 team.
The Cardinal has done it with defense and rebounding. Stanford has held opponents to 54.2 points per game, which would rank second behind the single-season record of 53.9 set by last year's team. Stanford's +12.5 rebounding margin would also rank second all-time, behind the 2008-09 team's +13.2.
Will the blowouts continue in the second half of the conference season? Would it be better if Stanford was tested before the NCAA tournament?