How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?

The No. 8 Cal women's basketball team will face a similar dilemma come 1 p.m. Saturday at Haas Pavilion, where it hosts No. 7 Stanford.

If the` Bears (23-3, 14-1 in the Pac-10) miss for the second time this season-reliving the 72-52 debacle at Maples Pavilion on Jan. 26-they will still control their own destiny for a share of the conference title, due to the Cardinal's two-loss weekend in Los Angeles in January.

But guard Alexis Gray-Lawson seemed to understand there's more at stake.

The junior said she came across an ESPN.com poll asking fans whether Cal was an elite team in December. She admittedly clicked "yes," but the ensuing page revealed a crude result.

"Seventy-five percent of the people who had voted said, 'no,'" Gray-Lawson said. "That really crushed me because I was like, we did all this stuff ... for what? Nobody's paying attention."

Take what you may from an online poll, but despite having one of the best statistical seasons in program history, the Bears have undoubtedly missed the mark in one crucial category-wins over top-10 opponents.

In addition to getting trounced by Stanford (24-3, 13-2) earlier in the season, Cal has also dropped contests against No. 5 Rutgers and No. 9 Baylor. Granted, the losses came on the road and the nonconference schedule featured either an absence of or a very limited Devanei Hampton.

With double-doubles in four of the last five games, Hampton appears to have put to bed questions regarding her health. And for icing on the cake, guard Natasha Vital has emerged as a reliable fourth option for the Bears, posting 10.3 points and 5.5 assists per contest since the loss to the Cardinal.

If Cal submits an 0-4 transcript against top-10 foes, the NCAA selection committee will have an easier time not awarding the Bears a No. 2 seed and the ESPN.com pollsters will remain vindicated.

"I think there's been a lot of anticipation about this game," coach Joanne Boyle said. "Both teams have taken care of business to get to this point. I'm just trying to prepare ... and perform obviously better than we did last time and put on a good show."

Unless Cal can force Stanford to an anomaly of a shooting night-which it did on Feb. 4, 2007, when the Cardinal converted just 26.6 percent from the field in losing to the Bears-the home side will likely have to carve into both sides of Stanford's 19-point scoring margin.

That endeavor starts in the paint, Boyle implied.

"I would expect double teams again," Boyle said. "It's just, where are the kick outs? How do you put them in position not to get double-teamed as much? I don't think we did a good job of just catch and shoot ... It was a good game for us, what we learned from it, and (we) are just trying to get better this time."

Boyle isn't the only one who recalled the guards' tentative stroke four weeks ago. Gray-Lawson, who went 0-for-2 from the field during the first half, didn't seem to be in the mood for a repeat performance.

"I definitely think (the guards) will be more aggressive," Gray-Lawson said. "We are the ones that have to get our post players the ball, make smart decisions and shoot the ball when we know we're capable of doing so."

On defense, Gray-Lawson and running mate Vital will also assume the responsibility of limiting guard Candice Wiggins, who leads the Pac-10 in scoring with 19.4 points per game.

Stanford's All-American guard helped herself to 28 points, the bulk of which came on her 14-for-14 barrage from the stripe, the last time Cal and the Cardinal met.

When asked what to do differently this time against the swingwoman, Gray-Lawson answered tersely.

"Play defense," the junior said.

Tags: PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIP, NCAA TOURNAMENT