Stanford’s Alanna Smith a scoring threat from the outside as well

In her first three seasons at Stanford, Alanna Smith’s 3-point-shooting percentages regressed — from 33.3 as a freshman to 31.7 as a sophomore to 30.2 as a junior.

It was not the direction that she or the coaches wanted to see from the 6-foot-4 forward from Australia.

This season, though, she has become much more effective from distance. Even after a 2-for-9 showing in an 81-80 loss to Cal on Thursday, her 46.2 percent performance is one of the best in the Pac-12.

The No. 8 Cardinal (17-3, 7-2 Pac-12) will need to beat the Bears (14-6, 5-4) in Saturday’s rematch at Maples Pavilion to avoid a rare three-game losing streak in conference play.

Normally, the 3-point shooting charts are dominated by guards and wings.