Is Maples still magic for Azzi?

It’s not quite as momentous as Michelangelo returning to the Sistine Chapel to examine the ceiling, but Jennifer Azzi said coming back to Maples Pavilion on Friday was “surreal.”

She didn’t want her story to overshadow that of her Cinderella USF basketball team, which pulled three last- minute upsets to win the WCC tournament. That put it in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997.

Now the Dons have to stage an even bigger upset to beat Stanford, the No. 4 seed in the Lexington Regional, at 6 p. m. Saturday. Miami, the fifth seed, plays 12 seed South Dakota State at 3: 30 p. m.

After losing three senior starters, the Dons were just 9- 9 in the WCC this season and a modest 18- 11 overall going into the conference tournament. Then they caught fire.

“It was our defensive intensity,” senior guard

Zhané Dikes said. “We were nitty- gritty after every loose ball. That’s definitely what got us back in those games.”

In that respect, they drew their cues from their intense coach, who was national Player of the Year in 1989- 90 in leading the Cardinal to their first national title.

“Jennifer put Stanford women’s basketball on the map,” Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “She was to women’s basketball in the Bay Area what Steph Curry is to men’s professional basketball.”

In the NCAA Tournament that year, the Cardinal struggled to beat Ole Miss, and VanDerveer was livid. “If we play like this,” she told the team, “there’s no way we can go to the Final Four.”

Before the regional championship game, VanDerveer was handed a note that Azzi had written. “This one’s for you,” she said. Stanford crushed Arkansas 114- 87 in what VanDerveer said was “probably the best game our team has ever played at Maples.”

Recalling the note, Azzi said, “At some point players have a responsibility. It can’t just be a