NO. 1 STANFORD OVERCOMES UCLA
Win is Cardinal’s closest of the season as it knocks off 10th-ranked Bruins
LOS ANGELES » Francesca Belibi saw the open court and no defenders in front of her. Teammate Anna Wilson told her she was good to go, so Belibi stormed the paint and dunked, delighting her Stanford teammates.
“I was going crazy,” freshman Cameron Brink said. “I had to remember I had to get on defense. She brings so much energy for us and that was a big moment.”
Belibi finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, helping No. 1 Stanford survive its closest game of the season to beat 10th-ranked UCLA 61- 49 on Monday and remain undefeated.
The Cardinal was leading by five points when Belibi dunked early in the fourth quarter, a week after becoming the first woman to do so in a collegiate game since former Baylor star Brittney Griner in 2013.
“Definitely wasn’t thinking about time and score,” Belibi said. “If I had remembered, I would have shot a layup and made sure we got the points.”
Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said: “Glad she made it because we needed that basket. Gives our team a lot of energy and it’s exciting for the fans watching.”
Brink added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinal (7- 0, 4- 0 Pac-12). Kiana Williams had 10 points and was one of four Stanford players with four assists.
Stanford cruised past its first
six opponents, winning by a whopping 48.2 points per game while scoring an average of 93.2 points.
But the Cardinal got tested against the Bruins, who took a one-point lead in the second quarter, trailed by six points in the third and didn’t fall behind by double digits until late in the fourth, when Stanford outscored UCLA 18-12.
The Cardinal scored its fewest points of the season and committed a seasonhigh 16 turnovers.
“We were within arm’s reach for most of the game,” UCLA’s Michaela Onyenwere said. “I’m proud of our fight, but I know we can learn so much from this game.”
Onyenwere had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Emily Bessoir, a freshman from Germany, added 15 points for the Bruins (52, 3-2). They shot just 27% from the floor and were 6 of 28 from 3-point range.
“Some of those 3s were not 3s in rhythm that we create as a team. They were more panic 3s,” UCLA coach Cori Close said.
UCLA got to 47- 43 in the fourth on a 3-pointer by Lindsey Corsaro. Williams made 1 of 2 free throws before Brink scored six points in a row to extend Stanford’s lead to 54- 45.
In the second quarter, the Bruins outscored the Cardinal 14- 4, including six by Onyenware, to take their first lead of the game, 26
25. The Cardinal regrouped and scored six consecutive points to lead 31-26 at halftime.
“For a long part, we played pretty well,” Bessoir said. “We just got to clean up our mistakes.”
• The itinerant Cardinal is headed back to Northern California, having finished off a key stretch. Tara VanDereer became the winningest coach in women’s basketball last Tuesday, passing the late Pat Summitt with her 1,099th victory. She picked up two more wins in Los Angeles. The team has held its first seven opponents to 40% field-goal shooting or worse while having four games either postponed or canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. Stanford will spend the holidays in a hotel because of Santa Clara County’s order about no contact sports.