Stanford rallied from a 12-point deficit to defeat UCLA 86-80 Sunday afternoon in the first game since starter Nadia Fingall suffered a torn ACL Friday versus USC. The win over the Trojans left the Cardinal bruised physically and down emotionally with the news that Fingall is out for the season.

The No. 6 Cardinal were listless in the first quarter and UCLA -- winners of six straight before Sunday -- took advantage by delivering the first punch. The Bruins sprinted to a 17-8 lead, but DiJonai Carrington came out of the huddle after a media timeout to take over. She scored 12 points in the final 3:48 of the quarter and scored 21 in the first half to keep the Cardinal within reach.

On a stormy day in the Bay Area Stanford weathered a rough shooting first half from Alanna Smith long enough to see the Aussie wake up in a big way in the second half. She scored 11 straight points, including three three-pointers, to spark a run that gave Stanford a 56-50 lead. Stanford led by as much as 11.

Stanford's "Big Three" carried the offensive load for the day. Carrington scored nine more in the second half for 30 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. Smith scored 21 in the second half for a total of 24, grabbed 11 rebounds and swatted five shots. Kiana Williams had her first double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 assists.

Stanford isn't only missing Fingall. Maya Dodson remains out with a left foot injury and the sophomore's rising star has briefly been halted. Without Fingall and Dodson the Cardinal were missing a lot of rebounding and athleticism on the inside.

Alyssa Jerome started and scored six points with a three-pointer in the first minute of the game and a crucial dagger delivered to the side of the Bruins in the last minute of the game. Lacie Hull scored five points for the only other points by someone other than Carrington, Smith and Williams. Hull also dished out six assists.

Lexie Hull played eight minutes in her first game action in six weeks and the rust showed with her shooting and dribbling. But she flew through the air for an impressive offensive rebound that offered a reminder of how she can impact the game in a number of ways. She averaged better than 10 points and seven rebounds in the first three games of the season. VanDerveer emphasized after the game that Lexie didn't practiced before the game.

The Cardinal faced two hard-charging, talented teams and gritted out tough wins despite adversity. That will need to happen again in a conference that's shaping up to be the best in the country.

VanDerveer doesn't expect Dodson to play Friday at Arizona State, which is a program renowned for its physicality. But Lexie may be able to be more involved by then.

Tara VanDerveer Opening Statement

"First of all, I want to compliment Cori Close and the job she is doing (at UCLA). Losing two first-round draft picks, their team is doing really well and today they shot lights out. It took everything that we had to guard them and pull out the win.

"We were able to do that because, first of all, Alanna (Smith) and Di (DiJonai Carrington) really came to play. They scored, they played defense, they rebounded, they led the way for everybody. They're two captains and they're doing a great job of being leaders by their example on the floor. And for the most part played the whole game.

"Alanna did a great job guarding (Michaela Onyenwere), who is a terrific player. She stayed out of foul trouble until the end. We had to battle. We got up, got down, got up, got down and ... I think it was a win we can build on."

How will the loss of Nadia affect things going forward?

"It affects us a lot. It affects our rotation. She was playing really well. She was rebounding and scoring. She was making great passes. It hurts us a lot. But there is nothing I can do about it. There is nothing our team can do about it and I think the best thing they did was say, 'We're going to play hard for you.' And they did. Alyssa (Jerome) came in and made a couple big baskets for us and got some rebounds. I think she'll get better and better. Shannon (Coffee) will get more time and then we'll get Lexie back, too. Maya (Dodson) will be back shortly."

What was the message at halftime?

"It was play defense. They were shooting lights out. Let's tighten up our defense. We switched up some of our matchups and our transition defense was bad. It was one of those games where we had to be punched in the face before we started fighting. Honestly, we can't play that way. We have to come out of the gates better."

Alanna, how confident you'll learn the lessons from a win rather than just remember it's a win?

Smith: "I'm pretty confident in that. We had that tough loss against Gonzaga and we don't like losing. So, we're going to do what we can to win and that means going over things that we did wrong. Winning is great, but you have to improve. You can't be the same the next game. I think Tara and the rest of the coaching staff do a really good job making us aware of that. You have to improve."

DiJonai, was there a conscious flip of the switch to step up while others were struggling?

Carrington: "Obviously when teams are aggressive and out in the passing lanes I think that's where I thrive. As we know, shots weren't falling in the first half but I know Alanna's shot is going to fall at some point. No one can guard her. I know Kiana's shot is going to fall. I'm not worried about that. Until that started happening I felt someone else needed to step up and pick up the lag at that point. At no point did I think we were going to lose. At no point did I think they were going to be able to hold her (Smith), Kiana or anyone else scoreless or under their average."

Coach, you've talked about the all-around play of the Hull sisters before. Today Lacie didn't make the shots she would like but had six assists. Lexie is rusty but flies in for an O-board. What are they able to contribute beyond points?

VanDerveer: "They have good instincts. And it's a really tough situation to throw Lexie into where she hasn't played for six weeks and really didn't even practice, but she was cleared for 10 minutes and I needed to get her in and maybe give someone else a rest. Both twins have really good instincts and make really good plays. The pass Lacie made to Di was a great pass. Lexie did get in there (for a rebound) and maybe didn't understand how big they were going to be to try to take that O-board up. They're really easy to work with because they focus really hard and I think they'll really help us down the stretch. It's a tough situation for Lexie."

It seems there will be a lot of grind it out games in the Pac-12:

VanDerveer: "Every game. There's not a bad team. Maybe in the old days you could say we don't have to worry about this team because we'll be up 30 at halftime. Those days are over. Everyone says, 'Isn't it great.' I'm like, 'I'm not so sure.' (Laughter). It's great. It's great. We'll have our work cut out for us every game. Washington State was leading Oregon State in the fourth quarter. Washington gave Oregon a great game. There are no easy games. That's what they came here for. They want to play in great games, play in a great conference."