Cardinal sent packing after Wolfpack’s second-half rally

Team blows 10-point halftime lead, Brink fouls out as season comes to close

PORTLAND, Ore. — Just a minute into the fourth quarter, North Carolina State’s Aziaha James loaded up for an NBA-length 3-pointer, fired and flashed three fingers to the crowd before it even landed in the net.

That was when No. 3 seed N.C. State took the air out of No. 2 Stanford for good, less than a minute before Cameron Brink fouled out of her last college game, and nine minutes before the Wolfpack sent Stanford packing with a 77-67 Sweet 16 defeat on Friday night.

N.C. State (30-6) won the third quarter 28-10, and Brink — who had no fouls at halftime — committed four in that period. James got hot and finished with 28 points after an abysmal first half, and none of Stanford’s shooters could step up with Brink and Kiki Iriafen in foul trouble.

So Stanford’s season, which went a step further than last year’s nightmare second-round defeat on its home court, ended without the Cardinal’s first-team All-American on the floor. It ended with six consecutive missed shots. And the collegiate careers of Brink and Hannah Jump ended on the heels of perhaps the worst quarter the Cardinal (30-6) played all season.

Problems that Stanford encountered at various points this season seemed to all surface at once, bringing to life the worst version of itself at the worst time. Guards tearing apart their defense, no Brink, Iriafen limited, and absolutely no secondary scoring. For months, Stanford made up for it by having the best post duo in the country.

But on Friday that duo couldn’t help from the bench, and unlike in the second round when Brooke Demetre’s clutch 3-pointer saved the Cardinal, no one stepped up to bail them out.

Iriafen played just seven minutes in the first half but made her presence known with eight points. She finished with 26 points, almost 40% of the team’s total points, following up her monster 41-point game on Sunday to

beat Iowa State.

Stanford started the game 1for-8 and Brink was 1-for-5 in that span. N.C. State also struggled early, shooting 5-for-18 in the first quarter and didn’t make any 3’s. The run-and-gun transition play the Wolfpack prefer also worked to Stanford’s advantage, who used the space to get Jump open running down the court.

Brink had five blocks in the first quarter alone and avoided getting whistled in the first half, but that would change — drastically — as would Stanford’s 37-27 halftime advantage.

Brink quickly got called for her first foul in the third quarter, five minutes later upped her total to three, and committed a fourth before the final frame. N.C. State stormed back as its 3-pointers started to hit and James got hot. The Wolfpack entered the fourth quarter up 55-47.

Elena Bosgana had eight points, all in the first half, and Jump had 13, but it was another example of Stanford not having enough beyond their stars. Talana Lepolo shot 0-for-6, and it was the third game in her last five that she was shut out entirely. Last week’s hero, Demetre, shot just 2for-6. None of the freshmen scored. The Cardinal went 5for-25 from 3-point range overall.

Brink finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Stanford’s Cameron Brink reacts after she fouled out in the fourth quarter of Friday’s Sweet 16 matchup against North Carolina State. Brink finished with 13 points and seven blocks, but the No. 3-seed Wolfpack outscored the second-seeded Cardinal 28-10 in the third quarter en route to the win.

Photos by Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Stanford forward Cameron Brink was forced to cheer from the bench after she was fouled out during the fourth quarter. Brink, a first-team All-American this season, played her last collegiate game. Brink had five of her seven blocks in the first quarter.

Stanford senior guard Hannah Jump, who played her last collegiate game, walks off the floor with freshman forward Nunu Agara after Friday’s loss. Jump finished with 13 points for the Cardinal.