For one night only, Stanford is going pro.

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Freshman forward Kayla Pedersen has been a big part of the Cardinal’s early season success. Pedersen and the rest of her teammates will need a spirited effort when they take the court tonight against the USA Basketball team. #gallery http://daily.stanford.org/image/full/8209
Alex Oppenheimer

Freshman forward Kayla Pedersen has been a big part of the Cardinal’s early season success. Pedersen and the rest of her teammates will need a spirited effort when they take the court tonight against the USA Basketball team.

The No. 5 Cardinal will face off against the USA Basketball Senior Women’s National Team in an exhibition game tonight.

Maples Pavilion is the last stop on an eight-game college tour for USA Basketball. The team, comprised entirely of WNBA players, is undefeated on their trip. They’ve beaten five top-25 teams, including the top three teams in the country: No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Connecticut and No. 3 Maryland.

For one of the few times this year, Stanford will be the underdog, facing perhaps the best professional women’s squad in the world.

Team USA is anchored by center Lisa Leslie, arguably the best female basketball player, ever. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and has led Team USA throughout its eight-game tour against the best collegiate teams in the country. A USC alumna, she has been the MVP of the WNBA three times.

However, Leslie missed the entire 2007 WNBA season due to pregnancy, and her participation in the college tour was in doubt until just a few days before its start. With the 2008 Beijing Olympics quickly approaching, Leslie needed a way to shake off the dust that comes with a long absence from the game; this college trip has provided that.

“I am excited to get back on the court,” Leslie told USABasketball.com. “I feel I have a long way to go to get ready for the Olympics but this will give me a chance to get moving in that direction.”

Leslie is joined in the starting lineup by former Connecticut star Diana Taurasi. In her first four WNBA seasons, Taurasi has already established herself as one of the premier guards in the league. An elite scorer, Taurasi had a game-high 28 points against top-ranked Tennessee on Nov. 4.

Rounding out the USA Basketball starting lineup are guard Sue Bird — Taurasi’s teammate at Connecticut — and forwards Taj McWilliams-Franklin, an excellent defender and shot blocker, and Seimone Augustus, another efficient scorer.

Jamie Carey, a former Cardinal, is a reserve for Team USA. Carey was the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 1999, but injuries derailed her career shortly after. She sat out two seasons, before transferring to Texas, where she revived her career.

While injured, Carey became a fan favorite for her constant support of her teammates. Carey told USABasketball.com, “It’s always fun to go to Stanford. It’s where my heart first was and I’ll always feel like I’m a part of the Cardinal family.”

Stanford will certainly have its hands full with Carey and her teammates. But while the USA Basketball lineup is daunting, it is not invincible — the team needed a comeback to beat unranked USC, and the Trojans aren’t nearly as talented as the Cardinal.

Senior guard Candice Wiggins, a preseason All-American and member of the 2007-2008 USA Basketball National Team, will lead Stanford. She — along with sophomore forward Jayne Appel and freshman forward Kayla Pedersen — was instrumental in the Cardinal’s 60-58 victory over then-No. 3 Rutgers on Sunday. The Cardinal star contributed 19 points, including two game-sealing free throws with under a second left.

Both Pedersen and Appel had double-doubles against the Scarlet Knights: in just her third college game, Pedersen posted 15 points and 16 rebounds, and Appel went for 18 and 13.

These impressive statistics are in part a result of Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer’s insistence on free throw shooting and rebounding in practice. Oddly enough, the first time Stanford and USA Basketball met, in 1995, VanDerveer was on leave from the Cardinal while coaching Team USA.

In order to keep pace with USA Basketball, the Cardinal will have to control the boards and score at an above-average rate, in addition to playing tough defense. Pedersen and Appel will be tasked with covering Leslie, a daunting prospect for the freshman, who has yet to make defense one of her strong suits. The sophomore forward will be severely tested by Leslie’s athleticism and skill.

But Stanford has a good base to work off of: they held a talented Rutgers team to 28.6 percent shooting in the second half on Sunday, and, last Friday, held Yale scoreless for the first four minutes of their game.