Candice Wiggins set Stanford and Pac-12 scoring records and took home the Wade Trophy. Jayne Appel put up the best career marks in school history in both boards and blocks. Kayla Pedersen stole the rebound crown from Appel a year later and was one of the Cardinal’s three leading scorers for the fourth straight season. Jeanette Pohlen set a Stanford record for most three-pointers in a season in 2010-11 and engineered the Cardinal’s 71-59 win over UConn to break the Huskies’ 90-game win streak.

 

All four were top-10 WNBA Draft picks. They combined for 12 Final Four appearances. And none of them could win a national title at Stanford.

 

So with the No. 2 Stanford (31-1) women’s basketball team approaching the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed for the third straight year, are we just weeks away from adding Nnemkadi Ogwumike’s name to that list?

 

On paper, the case for Stanford as this year’s NCAA champion — after the Cardinal has come up short for four straight years — doesn’t seem all that convincing at first. This is the first season since 2005-06 that Stanford doesn’t have three players averaging in double figures in scoring, and the squad looked outmatched earlier this season against perennial contender Connecticut, which kept the Cardinal from a title in the championship game two seasons ago. Stanford also sunk its fewest three-pointers in four years this season, falling well short of its average during the last four Final Four seasons.

 

Instead, the Cardinal is led by a pair of double-double machines down low in the Ogwumike sisters, Nneka and sophomore sister Chiney Ogwumike. Each has scored and rebounded in double figures 17 times, with both sisters posting double-doubles in the same game on nine occasions and Chiney accomplishing the feat in all three Pac-12 tournament games.

 

Even though strong rebounding is hardly strange for a team coached by Tara VanDerveer, the Ogwumikes’ dominance at the post defines Stanford’s offense this year. The Cardinal has been getting to the line consistently and is shooting free throws at a .767 clip, its highest percentage since 2003-04 and 10 percent better than its rate just three seasons ago.

 

Stanford’s turnover numbers have improved as well; the Cardinal gives the ball up fewer than 13 times a game, a statistic that reached as high as 15 three years ago. Two giveaways might not seem like much, but last year’s 63-62 Final Four loss to Texas A&M — in which Stanford turned the ball over 22 times to the Aggies’ 12 — made the importance of avoiding turnovers readily apparent. The Ogwumikes have set an example in this area as well, combining for just 131 turnovers in 32 games played; by contrast, Pohlen alone gave the ball up 111 times as the 2011 Pac-10 Player of the Year.

 

But as steadily as the Ogwumike sisters have played, it’s the Stanford bench that will likely make the biggest difference this postseason. Neither Chiney nor Nneka averages over 30 minutes per game, while each of the past four Final Four teams had at least two players who did so. This year’s team relies more on its depth, which could be key in winning six games in two weeks en route to the championship. A strong supporting cast is useful in and of itself, but getting the Ogwumike sisters off the floor for a periodic breather keeps them energized and makes them that much more dangerous for opponents.

 

Nobody’s expecting an early exit for Stanford this year, and rightfully so, as the squad steamrolled the rest of the weak Pac-12 with yet another perfect conference season. It’s all about what happens when the Cardinal makes it to the late rounds. And even without a Wiggins, an Appel, a Pedersen or a Pohlen on its side, Stanford has all it needs to finally bring home its third national title in women’s basketball: two Ogwumikes.

 

Joseph Beyda feels more confident about the Ogwumike sisters than even his own soon-to-be-perfect March Madness bracket. Send him your picks at jbeyda “at” stanford.edu.