Stanford Regional 2nd Round Preview: The Cardinal and Florida State do battle

There's a stigma to the untrained eye of being a lower seed in the Women's NCAA Tournament.

Everyone's already penciled in your competitor before the game even started.

29 percent of ESPN's brackets gave the Florida State Seminoles a chance. That's the attitude the Seminoles will carry into the second round match up with the 2nd-seeded Stanford Cardinal.

I mean, they've done it once. Why can't they do it again? In 2007, Florida State knocked of then 2nd-seeded Stanford 68-61 in Palo Alto, Calif. to advance to their first ever Sweet 16 appearance. If they could do it again, they would advance to their third sweet 16 (2007 and 2010).

Everyone knows that Stanford is loaded at all positions and are ripe to head to the Final Four, despite their #2 seed. They're led by Chiney Ogwumike (26.7 ppg, 12.2 rpg). Ogwumike, the overwhelming favorite to be the first pick taken in the upcoming WNBA Draft, has been on a tear this season and will have her hands full with Florida State's Natasha Howard. She picked up her school-record 41st double-double in the Seminoles' upset over 7th-seeded Iowa State Cyclones.

Stanford looked very impressive in their win over 15th seed South Dakota Coyotes. They led from start to finish and never really let the Coyotes get within striking distance. The 19-point final differential was the closest since early in the first half. The Cardinal out scored the Coyotes in the paint 46-14. Then the bench was great, outscoring South Dakota 31-13.

With Florida State already the under dog, may have to rely on their tenacity on defense. Florida State forces 19 turnovers per game, on 10 steals per game. Stanford doesn't turn it over nearly at all. That's where Florida State can add extra possessions and extra points.

"We know that Monday is going to be a good battle and we're excited for the challenge." Florida State head coach Sue Semrau. "Stanford poses a lot of problems for any team but we feel our zone defense can create problems as well and hopefully it will do that on Monday."

Florida State and Stanford have a small history of playing each other. Their last meeting was the aformentioned above, and then they played in 1983, a 'Noles' victory and in 2006, a Stanford win.

Game will tip off at 6:30 CST on ESPN's networks. Check your local listings or catch it on WATCHESPN.

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