Asked to remember the last time they talked on the phone before they found out they would be matched up in the NCAA tournament, both Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer and University of San Francisco coach Jennifer Azzi came up with the same answer.
"Probably just a few weeks ago," Azzi said.
"Not that long ago," VanDerveer confirmed. "We talked about some things she was dealing with."
There will be no talking this week.
In one of the best early storylines of the tournament, Azzi -- who won a national championship at Stanford with VanDerveer in 1990 and an Olympic gold medal with her in Atlanta in 1996 -- is returning to Maples Pavilion with her own team to face the fourth-seeded Cardinal on Saturday.