Brittany McPhee got Stanford going in the first quarter and the Cardinal never looked back as they sprinted away from Utah Friday night for a fifth straight win. Nadia Fingall provided 10 points off the bench in the 70-49 victory.

"Overall, I thought we played really well defensively," said head coach Tara VanDerveer. "We out-rebounded them, maybe not as much as we wanted to, and we have to keep working on the things that are working for us -- taking care of the ball and being aggressive defensively."

Stanford led by as much as 29 and held Utah to 15 first half points. McPhee outscored the Utes on her own in the first 20 minutes with 16 points. She scored nine straight for Stanford to open an 11-4 lead.

Two Marta Sniezek threes helped put the Cardinal up 11 at the first break. Fingall also had two threes in the first half and leads the team by percentage from beyond the arc. The forward put in a lot of work in the offseason to improve her shot, but don't expect to see her chucking it up every chance she gets.

"I think the thing about our offense is letting things flow and come to you," she said. "I won't be asking for it more, but if the ball does come my way I will take the shot."

During her freshman season the only threes Fingall took were of the desperation variety and not as part of the offense: "I might have forced a couple," she laughed.

But the changes to the offense required stretch fours on the court, so Fingall put in the effort to evolve her game. She is consistently one of the first players on the court before the game to put in extra shots.

Fingall ended the game with 10 points, six rebounds, two blocks, two steals and one taken charge call. Her work ethic hasn't gone unnoticed by VanDerveer.

"She is a very intelligent player," VanDerveer said. "She has a big, strong body and ... she has a beautiful perimeter shot. She is posting up and scored on the block, too. I think her versatility, her IQ and her determination is really helping our team a lot."

Fingall is the first post off the bench and a big reason why, according to VanDerveer, is her ability to play with any of the other three -- Kaylee Johnson (eight points and five rebounds), Alanna Smith (eight points and four rebounds) and Maya Dodson (six points and three rebounds).

Stanford's bigs faced the challenge of a formidable Utah frontcourt. Emily potter is 6-foot-6 and the Cardinal held her to 12 points.

Utah shot only 18 percent in the first half and 33 percent for the game. Stanford also had eight steals and blocked five shots.

"I think our defensive intensity, and attention to detail on defense, and our rebounding as well," Fingall said to explain Stanford's five-game win streak. "(Without) our focus and intensity with those two factors I don't think we would have grown as much as we have."

Stanford faces Colorado next, which narrowly lost to Cal 78-76.

The versatility of Stanford's bigs on defense: "I think being able to have really long players on defense -- Alanna guarding threes who are maybe 5-10, 5-11 and she's 6-4. Having us be able to guard people on the perimeter is a big strength of ours because we can get deflections and steals. I think one thing we do really well is switching."

Turnovers: Stanford had 10 and forced 14 to once again win the turnover battle, which was once a rarity this season and has been the norm during the five game win streak.

Kiana Williams: For the second straight game the freshman guard played without a turnover. "Let's not jinx her," VanDerveer said. Her last turnover was with 5:03 in the first quarter against Oregon State, which is a run of 94 minutes.

Williams scored seven points and six rebounds and five assists -- all while wearing a mask to protect the her nose after being injured in the Oregon game.

"She's a smart player ... and she's tough. She makes some big plays. She hit some key shots when we needed them. Kiana takes pride in her defense and I like that."

Maya Dodson on the attack: "She had some really nice moves," VanDerveer. "I think playing at game pace she looked a little winded a couple times. I asked if she needed a sub and she needed one. I think she has to play more for us. She is really doing well. She has to not be a freshman anymore."