Brink has spark with Ogwumike courtside
Of course Cameron Brink had a little bit of extra motivation, wanting to perform with former Stanford post player Nneka Ogwumike watching from courtside.
“Cam’s just like, ‘I’m going to show you what I’ve got,’ ” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said.
Brink scored a career-high 25 points to go with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots, and the fourth-ranked Cardinal ran away from Pacific in the third quarter for a 91-62 win Sunday at Maples Pavilion.
Lexie Hull added 16 points and three blocks for the Cardinal (6-2). She scored nine during Stanford’s 25-point third quarter.
Dynamic freshman guard Anaya James scored 18 points and Sam Ashby added 11 points for Pacific (2-7). The young Tigers dropped their sixth straight game after losing the previous two by a combined seven points: 80-77 in overtime to Nevada on Dec. 4 and 76-72 at Oregon State on Dec. 1.
Brink, a sophomore who is friends with Warriors guard Stephen Curry, shot 12-for-16.
“Without my teammates making such great entry passes, I wouldn’t have scored nearly as much as I did,” she said. “Rebounds, I can continue to be a force on the boards. I think that’s something Tara really wants me to do, and blocking shots but not fouling.”
Pacific head coach Bradley Davis is down two injured post players, so keeping up with Brink proved even more difficult.
“They’re all having to play different roles throughout this young season, which has given us some good experience,” Davis said. “Hopefully, it’s experience we can cash in on later.”
The Cardinal, pushing the tempo and working to make the extra pass, hit 9 of their first 12 shots and used a 19-2 run to build a 24-7 lead.
After a basket by James 2:27 before halftime, Pacific didn’t score again before intermission and trailed 45-34 at the break. Ashby made all three of her 3-point tries in the first half to help keep the Tigers close.
Stanford shot 7-for-26 from 3-point range, with Hannah Jump going 3-for-10 to finish with 12 points. VanDerveer got to mix and match her rotations and capitalize on the Cardinal’s depth, getting Brink off her feet down the stretch.
“Cam was unstoppable inside,” VanDerveer said. “She had a great two weeks of practice, just playing great basketball for our team.”
Pacific center Elizabeth Elliott, another freshman, had 12 points before fouling out.
She knows playing against Brink will benefit her down the line.
“We’re really young now, but in a couple of years, this will all pay off because we’ll be in every situation,” Elliott said. “We’ve been in overtime, we’ve been in close games, we’ve been in blowouts. It’s important that we use this not just now but in the future.”