On Thursday, #6 Stanford women’s basketball defeated #17 Arizona 84-60 on the road in Tucson. Stanford junior forward Cameron Brink (18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, & 1 steal) and senior guard Haley Jones (18 points, 12 rebounds, & 6 assists) led the way for the Cardinal while freshman center Lauren Betts had 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Arizona forwards Esmery Martinez and Cate Reese along with guard Paris Clark each scored 10 points for the Wildcats. Stanford improves to 23-3 overall and 11-2 in the Pac-12 while Arizona falls to 18-6 overall and 8-5 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: #6 Stanford at #17 Arizona
Stanford got off to a strong start, leading 5-0 with 6:52 to go in the 1st quarter. Talana Lepolo and Haley Jones each had a jumper while Kiki Iriafen had a foul shot. It would soon become a 10-2 lead with 5:11 to go in the quarter after Hannah Jump made a 3-pointer followed by a bucket inside by Cameron Brink.
Stanford would keep applying the pressure, leading 21-11 at the end of the 1st quarter. Jones was leading the Cardinal with 6 points and 3 rebounds. Stanford was shooting 9-17 from the field while Arizona was shooting 5-17.
Stanford would maintain their cushion, leading 30-19 with 4:45 to go until halftime as Betts was up to 4 points after a bucket inside. Arizona was doing a good job of not allowing Stanford to greatly expand their lead but at the same time was having a tough time making any sort of real comeback.
At halftime, Stanford led 38-27. Brink (8 points & 7 rebounds) and Jones (8 points & 5 rebounds) led the Cardinal. Martinez was pacing the Wildcats with 10 points. Stanford was in a good position, but Arizona still had some life.
The 3rd quarter is where the Cardinal really blew things open, outscoring the Wildcats 24-10. Brink went wild with 10 points in the 3rd quarter and was up to 18 points at the end of the quarter while Betts had 4 points in the quarter, upping her game total to 10 points.
As a result, Stanford led 62-37 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Rather than making it a single digit game, Arizona instead found themselves in a massive hole with only one quarter to go. They were getting dominated on their home floor.
The 4th quarter was pretty much garbage time as Arizona won the quarter by just one point (23-22). Brink only played one minute in the 4th as the game was pretty much all wrapped up. Jones did play 7 minutes and scored 8 points, upping her total to 18 points as well. In front of a packed home crowd, Arizona was not having the kind of night they were hoping to have.
In the end, Stanford cruised to an 84-60 victory. Stanford came out and took care of business from the opening tip, really doing their damage in the 1st and 3rd quarters. Jones and Brink led the way while Betts, Jump (9 points), and Indya Nivar (8 points) had solid outings as well. It was truly an all-around team effort to win in this manner.
For Arizona, this loss is really disappointing. When you are a ranked team like they are and you are playing in front of your home crowd against a top ten team, you do not want to get embarrassed like this. This was a bad showing for Arizona and one that has to make them reassess their aspirations for the season.
As for Stanford, this win is huge. Not just that they won, but the way that they did it. They looked like a top four team in this game, dominating a ranked team on the road wire to wire. After a difficult loss at Washington, to win like this has to feel good.
Up next for Stanford is a road game at Arizona State on Sunday. That will tip-off at 11:00 AM PT on Pac-12 Networks and Varsity Network radio.
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