Top-ranked UConn rolls past Cal
Huskies get past Bears despite injury to top player; Stanford gets win
Crystal Dangerfield, Kia Nurse and Napheesa Collier all scored 14 points to help top-ranked UConn rout No. 20 Cal 82-47 on Friday night.
The Huskies trailed 4-3 early before scoring 23 of the next 25 points to take command of the game in Storrs, Connecticut.
Kristine Anigwe scored 14 points to lead the Golden Bears, who will play UConn the next three years.
“This will help us in so many different ways,” Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “We talked about it that it exposes what our weaknesses are and shows a lot of good things about us. Right now there’s UConn and then everybody else. If we can get close to the top of the pack of everyone else, that’s what we want.”
Gabby Williams got the run started with consecutive layups. Later in the burst she made a layup while falling that gave UConn a 22-6 advantage. Sara Anastasieska hit a 3-pointer with 1:41 left in the opening period to end a string of 17 consecutive points scored by the Huskies.
UConn (2-0) led 30-11 after one quarter and wasn’t really challenged by Cal (1-1) the rest of the way.
The Huskies had a brief scare though in the second quarter when Katie Lou Samuelson went down under the basket and injured her left foot. She walked off the court with a limp and headed straight to the locker room. She was icing the foot during the second half on the bench.
“According to Janelle (the trainer), it’s something called a mid-foot sprain, whatever that is,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.
Samuelson, who scored 12 points before she got hurt, was wearing a walking boot on her left foot after the game.
Cal had won 17 straight nonconference games, including going 12-0 last season.
Cal will play at Brown on Sunday in a homecoming game for Gottlieb who played at the Ivy League school.
STANFORD 53, UC RIVERSIDE 43 >> DiJonai Carrington had 13 points and a career-high 22 rebounds in her first career start, and the No. 14 Cardinal (1-2) got its first win of the season.
Alanna Smith added 11 points for the Cardinal, which built a 20-6 lead after the first quarter and kept the margin in double digits the rest of the way. Stanford opened the season ranked 10th and started with losses against then-No. 5 Ohio State and No. 1 UConn.
USC 64, SANTA CLARA 43 >> Morgan McGwire led the host Broncos (1-2) in the loss to the Trojans (3-0). Santa Clara was held to 32 percent shooting from the field. SAN JOSE STATE 67, UC RIVERSIDE 57 >> Myzhanique Ladd and Taylor Turney combined for a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, breaking 50-50 game and propelling the Spartans (1-1) to their first win in The Event Center. Turney led all scorers with 15 points.
Men
STANFORD 73, NORTHEASTERN 59 >> Michael Humphrey had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Isaac White added 17 points to lead the host Cardinal. Reid Travis scored 16 points for Stanford (3-1), which hosts defending national champion North Carolina on Monday night. Stanford scored 11 unanswered points to open a 54-35 lead at the midpoint of the second half. The schedule gets decidedly more difficult for Stanford with North Carolina and Florida the next two games. UCLA 96, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 68 >> Jaylen Hands scored 22 points to lead three freshmen in double figures, and the No. 23 Bruins won their third straight. UCLA (3-0) is playing with an eight-man roster since freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley were indefinitely suspended after shoplifting in China. USF 69, SACRAMENTO STATE 56 >> Chase Foster scored 19 points to lead the Dons (2-1) over the Hornets (1-2).