It took a whole lot of grit for Stanford to win the national championship in a season when Santa Clara County protocols put in place because of COVID-19 booted the team from campus and isolated players and coaches from loved ones.

Head coach Tara VanDerveer is a famously competitive Hall of Famer, but she admitted recently that there was a time during the season when she wondered if it was worth it to keep playing.

She considered that maybe they should "pause" like some other programs had done to see if things might be easier a couple weeks down the road. The strain of being in a so-called bubble that made the team and staff each other's entire world was emotionally draining at times.

And the Cardinal were not perfect; they had a moment of rebellion against the seriousness of the situation during the summer weeks before the grind of the season started.

"In September when we first got back to campus, we all got in trouble for breaking quarantine," Williams said. "We were supposed to be in isolation for five days. On the fourth day we went to a gym off campus to play pickup. When she (VanDerveer) found out she was just so heartbroken and disappointed.

"I felt like the only way to make up for that is to win a national championship for her. Me and Alyssa (Jerome), we said from there on out we're going to be better leaders, follow the rules, follow protocol, to win this natty, to look back on that experience, having that feeling to now, I'm extremely proud of this team."

Once the Cardinal coaches, staff and players got onto the same page about the type of effort the season was going to take, and were committed to giving it a go, then quitting was never really an option.

Of course, it helped that even someone wearing a mask with fogged up glasses could see that this edition of the Cardinal had the talent to end the 29-year wait for the program's third championship. Stanford had been achingly close several times since a runner-up finish in 2008, but the depth of talent of this team might be unmatched in VanDerveer's 35 years on The Farm.

But skill was not going to be enough in a season when from game one the challenge was to survive and advance. More than anything the Cardinal faced a challenge of mental toughness.

Stanford played one home game in Maples Pavilion before the county shut down athletic events, so the Cardinal packed up and flew to Las Vegas. Their next "home" was in hotel rooms in Santa Cruz and playing in Kaiser Permanente Arena.

It was a bizarre situation that could easily have become frustrating enough to derail a normal team.

Instead, the Cardinal practiced what VanDerveer preached: they were grateful for every practice (even when the lights went out), every game and the morning walks to Starbucks together.

Stanford won 20 straight games to end the season after losing consecutive games to Colorado and UCLA. The response to those losses should not be overlooked in the story of this season. Cameron Brink was put into the starting lineup and Williams stepped up her game to put the Cardinal back on track.

When Stanford went back to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament it was like a happy homecoming. They completed the sweep of conference titles against the toughest 22-game conference schedule in the country.

Maybe some teams were disappointed that the NCAA Tournament would be played entirely in San Antonio but for Stanford they enjoyed more opportunities to be together.

When Stanford rallied to beat Louisville and earned a spot in the Final Four it was clear that the Cardinal were feeling a powerful mix of emotions as they neared the finish line of this Ironman Marathon.

Brink was emotional in a press conference Saturday about how much she is looking forward to hugging her parents after months of staying apart to minimize the chance of catching COVID-19. VanDerveer didn't get to share her national championship season with her mom in attendance. There were sacrifices made unlike any other year.

Look at the image of Brink weeping as she ran toward her teammates after the final buzzer, of VanDerveer standing on the ladder ready to take her cut of the net, of countless other moments of joy on the court, and on the boat they shared floating down the River Walk in a postgame celebration, and you will know that they believe it was worth it.