Close is only good in horseshoes, hand grenades and basketball teams on the bubble.

When the Arizona women's basketball team heads to Stanford today, it will not necessarily need a win, but the Wildcats will need to have a good showing if they want to keep their tournament hopes alive.

The Wildcats (18-7 overall, 9-7 in the Pacific 10 conference) are one of the teams on the edge of receiving an NCAA Tournament berth. Stanford (23-2, 16-0) has already locked up the conference title and will most likely receive the No. 1 seed in the West Region when the pairings are announced on Sunday. But Arizona, which has a must-win game against California on Saturday, cannot overlook the Cardinal.

"This is a huge weekend for us, and obviously, we have to at least get a split," Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "But we aren't conceding anything. We are going into Stanford with the objective of winning. If we play the way we are capable of playing, we can come out with a victory."

The Wildcats are coming off of a 78-63 victory over Washington in Tucson on Saturday. The win gave Arizona sole possession of third place in the Pac-10, which is usually good enough to earn an NCAA berth, but the Wildcats need to make sure that they keep that position because the Pac-10 is considered weak this season.

"Usually four or five teams get in from the Pac," Bonvicini said. "This season it may be only three."

UA will have a tall task ahead if they hope to cut down the Cardinal. Stanford is guided by junior All-America candidate Kate Starbird, who is averaging 19.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. She scored 27 points in a 77-55 Cardinal win Jan. 6.