Greg Hansen: 22 years ago, Arizona beat Stanford and shocked the world of women's hoops. Can it happen again Friday?

The first time Adia Barnes coached against Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, the numbers didn’t match up.

“I think I had four wins and she had 800,” Barnes says now, laughing at the memory of that New Year’s Day 2017 game. “I don’t like coaching against her, really.”

The actual number was an even bigger split: Barnes 8, VanDerveer 982.

Stanford won, 77-55. Nothing to see here. Move along.

But there was this: the last time Barnes played against VanDerveer’s powerhouse team in Tucson — Jan. 13, 1998, at McKale Center — the numbers were even more daunting. Is that possible?

The Cardinal arrived at McKale with a ridiculous 48-game win streak against all Pac-10 opponents, including 22 straight against Arizona. Stanford’s women’s basketball team of the ’90s was something like the Duke men’s basketball team of the ’90s, except better.

In the ’90s, VanDerveer was the Mike Krzyzewski of women’s hoops and then some, with two national championships, two additional Final Fouls and, in her spare time, a 1996 Olympic women’s basketball gold medal.

So it bordered on audacity when Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini gathered her team in the McKale Center locker room before the ’98 game and outlined the protocol the Wildcats would follow after beating Stanford.

Reminded of that nervy approach this week, Bonvicini chuckled. “I wanted the players to envision themselves winning the game,” she remembered. “I wanted them to act like they had done it before.”

Except they hadn’t. Not even close. Stanford’s 22-0 streak against Arizona included 21 wins by at least 15 points.

With eight seconds left in the game, Barnes, then a senior— the soon-to-be named Pac-10 Player of the Year — got the ball with Stanford leading 90-89. She was boxed in by two Cardinal defensive players. The clock was ticking.

What came next would be historic.

“I was just dying,” Barnes said after the game. “I didn’t know if there was enough time.”

Barnes passed out of the double-team to sophomore guard Reshea Bristol, who stood 20 feet from the basket.

“When I looked at the clock, it was at 1.8 seconds,” Bristol said.

She launched a 20-footer. Swish.

Arizona chopped down the Pac-10’s women’s basketball giant, 91-90.

“We were going to be cool, calm and shake their hands,” Bonvicini said. “But it was just too much.”

The entire UA team, including Bonvicini, did a baseball-type dogpile at mid-court. Bristol was buried at the bottom.

A few minutes later, once she had gathered herself, Bonvicini said “without question, this is the biggest win in the program’s history.” It wasn’t just a one night stand; the Wildcats of ’97-98 kept winning, reaching the Sweet 16.

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It remains the highest achievement in UA women’s basketball history.

Barnes and Bonvicini will be together at McKale again Friday night. VanDerveer is still on the Stanford bench. The stakes will be much the same as they were 22 years ago. Stanford is ranked No. 4; Arizona No. 13.

“To me, if Arizona were to win this game, it would be a program-changing win just like that ’98 game,” says Bonvicini, who will be Friday’s analyst on the Pac-12 Networks. “It would set (Arizona) up not just for the Pac-12 Tournament, but obviously for hosting the NCAA Tournament.”

Barnes’ young UA team has already beaten then-No. 8 UCLA and then- No. 9 Oregon State.

Beating Stanford would go a step beyond. Here’s some perspective on how difficult it is to beat VanDerveer and the Cardinal:

• VanDerveer has coached 511 Pac-10/12 victories
• Arizona State’s Charli Turner Thorne, who played at Stanford for VanDerveer, is next with 240
• Bonvicini is third with 152

It’s a little bit like 1920, when Babe Ruth led the American League with 59 home runs and the next guy, George Sisler, hit 19.

In women’s college basketball, only UConn and Tennessee have a brand to match that of Stanford. VanDerveer’s teams have won 22 conference championships, reached the Final Four 12 times. Incredibly, VanDerveer has been the Pac-10/12 Coach of the Year 15 times.

When VanDerveer retires — she is 66 — they should name the trophy after her.

Both Barnes and Bonvicini know what it is to play a VanDerveer team in a so-called Big Game.

“She’s been on top for 30 years,” says Barnes. “She’s got a brilliant basketball mind; she’s a pioneer for women’s basketball. She has nothing to prove to anybody.”

Arizona is 13-69 against Stanford, and that’s not a stand-alone, freakish statistic. Washington State is 0-67. Cal is 21-73. Arizona State is 16-64. It puts a perspective on what Arizona is attempting to do Friday.

Bonvicini finished her UA coaching career 5-29 against VanDerveer, and that was during a bountiful period in which the Wildcats reached seven NCAA Tournaments, and even won the 2004 Pac-10 championship.

Bitter feelings? None.

“I’ve got great respect for Tara and everything she’s done,” says Bonvicini. “The best part about her is that she’s just classy. You don’t hear her bitching and moaning like others. She’s a real ambassador for the game, a role model.”

After Barnes scored 22 points to help Arizona stun the Cardinal in 1998, she lingered around McKale for almost two hours. As I was leaving the press room that night, I saw her standing near the scorer’s table.

I asked why she was still in the arena.

“I like this place,” she said, showcasing her trademark smile. “You just don’t know how hard it is to beat them.”

We do now.