Laura Beeman admitted at media day last month there are times she looks at the schedule she puts together leading into a season and wonders if maybe it’s a little too much.

That’s certainly not the case this season.

With 11 letterwinners and 75 percent of the team’s scoring from a year ago back for another run, the two-time defending Big West Conference champions are, on paper, ready for the challenges this year’s tough nonconference schedule presents.

The Rainbow Wahine get right into it tonight opening the regular season at No. 15 Stanford in Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.

UH’s road trip continues on Saturday at Santa Clara before the Rainbow Wahine return home for six games, including one against Washington, which received votes in the preseason AP Top 25.

UH’s nine-game nonconference slate then ends with a game at No. 4 UCLA, giving UH two Top 15 matchups before the start of Big West play.

“I think you have to set your schedule to prepare yourself for where you’re trying to get,” Beeman said Monday before the team left for the airport. “If you get there and every year it’s something new, I think that sets you against the dime a little bit. Yeah, your schedule sometimes is really difficult and maybe we need to rethink that going into some years with some teams, but having a veteran team I think absolutely we want to put these young ladies in a position to match themselves up with the best teams in the country and see what that feels like.”

The Cardinal, who are beginning their 50th season of women’s basketball, put up 126 points in an exhibition win over Dominican last week.

Coach Tara VanDerveer, the winningest coach in women’s college basketball history, is 17 wins shy from breaking Mike Krzyzewski’s mark of 1,202 wins as the winningest college basketball coach of all-time on either the men’s or women’s side.

Stanford, which has been in the Top 15 of every AP poll since March 2018, returns four starters from last year, including preseason All-America senior Cameron Brink, who is the two-time defending Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and the nation’s active shot block leader with 297.

“Anytime you play a team like Stanford you have to minimize your self-inflicted pain,” Beeman said. “The things that we can control we have to be able to control them. There are things you can’t control against Stanford. Cameron Brink is a monster. We don’t have anything like a Cameron Brink.”

Hawaii won its exhibition game against Hawaii Hilo last week but was inconsistent after a dominant first quarter in which it built a 22-5 lead.

The Rainbow Wahine outscored the Vulcans 45-34 the rest of the way and had a couple of prolonged offensive droughts during the final three quarters.

“We have to play more consistent. In practice it was about execution on both sides of the ball,” Beeman said. “Definitely rebounding better. Definitely getting back in transition defense, but overall the energy and the consistency have to remain constant for the entire game.”

Returning All-Big West first-team selection Lily Wahinekapu, the team’s leading scorer from a season ago, said the team is very focused on getting off to a better start than last year, when they opened 1-7.

The competition doesn’t make it easy, but it’s not just wins and losses they are focused on early, but how they play against some major opponents.

“I think everyone on the team is very excited to get another shot against Stanford and prove we’re not the same team as we were last year,” Wahinekapu said Tuesday. “We know what’s expected now. Everyone has a view of what it’s like to play the best. We played against LSU in the last game of last season. We love to be competitive and play the best and we’re all excited.”

Stanford beat Hawaii 68-39 last November, with Brink putting up 15 points and nine rebounds, five blocks and three steals in 28 minutes.

Wahinekapu was the only Wahine in double figures in that game, with 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting.

UH is 0-11 all-time against the Cardinal. The game will be streamed on Pac-12.com.

Rainbow Wahine basketball

Hawaii (0-0) vs. No. 15 Stanford (0-0)

>> When: Today, 5 p.m.

>> Where: At Maples Pavilion, Stanford, Calif.

Hawaii vs. Santa Clara (1-0)

>> When: Saturday, 11 a.m.

>> Where: Leavey Center, Santa Clara, Calif.

>> TV: None

>> Radio: None