Despite Brink tying high, ‘best ... is yet to come’
Cameron Brink turned the rematch of last season’s national championship game into her personal showcase at Maples Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
The Stanford forward tied her career high with 25 points, going 10-for-12 from the floor, and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds as the defending national champion Cardinal knocked off Arizona 75-69.
Brink, a sophomore, had a 22-point, 21-rebound performance in a 69-66 win over Indiana on Nov. 25. But considering the fact Sunday’s effort came against the team that nearly beat the Cardinal for the NCAA title in April, Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer was asked whether this was the best game of Brink’s career.
“Her best game is yet to come,” VanDerveer said. “You haven’t seen it yet.”
Foul trouble has plagued Brink on occasion. She committed three fouls Sunday.
“When she stays in that game and stays focused,” VanDerveer said, “she’s unstoppable.”
Brink even hit a 3-pointer for the first time in six tries this season.
Speaking of treys, the second-ranked Cardinal (16-3, 7-0 Pac-12) also got a career-high 18 points from sophomore guard Jana Van Gytenbeek, who went 6-for-8 from beyond the arc.
She has scored 36 points this season, including nine in a win over Arizona State on Friday night. All 36 have come on 3’s.
Van Gytenbeek discussed how she was able to produce against the Sun Devils and Wildcats after she had played so little this season.
“It’s challenging to maintain that work ethic throughout the season when you’re not playing,” Van Gytenbeek said. “But at the same time, it’s also easy because I have great teammates every single day. I want to play for them all the time.”
Said VanDerveer: “This game really helps my confidence in (Van Gytenbeek). I liked her defense. I liked how hard she was playing. She’s just going to build on it.”
The eighth-ranked Wildcats (15-3, 5-3) were led by Cate Reese, who had 17 points.
Stanford has won eight in a row.
The Cardinal slipped past Arizona 54-53 in the national championship game last season. The Cardinal also won the two regular-season meetings with the Wildcats by much wider margins, 81-54 in Tucson and 62-48 at Maples.
If Stanford and Arizona are to face each other again this season, it will have to come in either the Pac-12 tournament or the NCAA Tournament. The teams will not meet in Tucson.
Stanford led 43-33 early in the third quarter before Arizona went on a 9-0 run. More specifically, Reese went on a 9-0 run.
The 6-foot-2 forward buried three 3’s in the span of 1:37. Just like that, the Wildcats had cut their deficit to one.
Arizona couldn’t tie it or go ahead, though. Stanford was up 68-63 with less than 21⁄2 minutes remaining. Brink knocked down a short jumper to bump the Cardinal’s lead to seven.
Haley Jones then grabbed the rebound off an Arizona miss and drove for a layup to make it 72-63. The Wildcats got no closer than five the rest of the way.
“Our team showed, I thought, great resilience,” VanDerveer said.
Briefly: Stanford guard Hannah Jump missed her second straight game. She is in health and safety protocols. … Jones, the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four last season, had one of the roughest games of her career. The junior guard from Mitty was held to four points as she went 2-for-12 from the field. She did have seven rebounds and six assists, but also committed six turnovers . ... Arizona hasn’t won at Maples since a 68-65 decision Jan. 6, 2001.