Brink comes up big as Cardinal prevail

NO. 7 STANFORD WOMEN 69, NO. 4 INDIANA 66

NASSAU, Bahamas — Cameron Brink was the difference in an early-season matchup between two of the top teams in the country.

Brink had 21 points, 22 rebounds and five blocks to help seventh-ranked Stanford edge

No. 4 Indiana 69-66 on Thursday at the Pink Flamingo Championship tournament.

“Cam is a great weapon inside, drives well from the high post. She’s a complete package who can score,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “She’s very quick.”

Brink, who set a career high on the boards, also added five assists for the Cardinal (4-1) and made one of two free-throw tries with 6.8 seconds left to make it a three-point game.

Indiana had one last chance, but Ali Patberg’s 3-pointer was off the mark.

With the Cardinal leading 61-59 with 4:33 left, Brink scored to start a 6-0 run that gave the Cardinal an eight-point advantage with 2:19 to go. The Hoosiers (4-1) had gone without a field goal for 5:19 before Aleksa Gulbe swished a 3-pointer from the wing with 37.5 seconds remaining that made it 68-66.

Indiana got a stop when Brink committed a turnover with 13.2 seconds to go, but the

Hoosiers’ Grace Berger missed both free-throw attempts with 8.7 seconds left after she was fouled.

Brink could have sealed it a few seconds later but made only one of two foul shots, setting up the Hoosiers’ final chance.

Patberg had 19 points to lead Indiana, which was outrebounded by Stanford 59-38.

“Rebounding was the bugaboo today for us,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. “We told the kids that was the No. 1 key. They are so much bigger than we are. That was going to be a big key if we were going to win the game.”

Briefly: It took Stanford about 19 hours to get from Spokane, Wash., where it played against Gonzaga, to the Bahamas because of travel delays. Stanford went from Spokane to Phoenix, then took a flight for Miami that had to divert to Fort Myers, Fla., because of fog. Finally, after sitting on the plane for a few hours, the team was able to get to the Bahamas . ... Haley Jones returned to Stanford’s lineup after missing the Cardinal’s win over Gonzaga for an undisclosed illness. She played 22 minutes and finished with eight points . ... VanDerveer is an Indiana alum.