Brink, Jones lead No. 4 Stanford women past No. 8 Utah 74-62

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — When freshman pointguard Talana Lepolo went down in the first quarter with an ankleinjury, Stanford had to adjust in a hurry against a top conferenceopponent.

Indya Nivar, another reliable freshman, took over running theoffense and the Cardinal’s veteran post players did the rest.

Cameron Brink had 25 points, 14 rebounds and three blockedshots, Haley Jones added 25 points, 12 boards and a pair of blocks,and No. 4 Stanford bounced back from a loss at USC by beatingeighth-ranked Utah 74-62 on Friday night.

“Every disappointment is a blessing,” Hall of Fame coach TaraVanDerveer said of seeing Nivar steady the team.

Hannah Jump made her first five shots and scored 13 points.Nivar had four points and three assists in 27 minutes.

“It’s always hard seeing a teammate go down,” Nivar said. “Forme this whole season (it’s) just staying ready.”

Stanford (18-2, 6-1 Pac-12) earned its 18th straight home winagainst conference opponents. The Cardinal dropped two spots inthis week’s AP Top 25 poll after a 55-46 loss at USC on Sunday thatsnapped a 12-game winning streak, a 39-game unbeaten run againstconference foes and a 51-game winning stretch facing unrankedteams.

“I think our team had something to prove to ourselves and whatbetter opportunity than against a team like Utah,” VanDerveer said.“We have a lot of teams in the Pac-12 that are tournament teams andthey’re a tournament team.”

Alissa Pili scored 25 points and Gianna Kneepkens had 19 forUtah (15-2, 5-2), which had previously lost at Colorado on Jan. 6.Utah shot 3 for 13 from deep in the first half to fall behind41-32.

Former 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, the No. 1 draft pick in2005 out of Utah, was at Maples Pavilion cheering on the Utes.

The Utes have never beaten a top-five opponent and had beenscoring 86.8 points per game — among the best in the nation — butmanaged just 10 in the second quarter and 12 over the final 10minutes.

Stanford hasn’t allowed more than 77 points in a game since theend of the 2019-20 season, with its only other loss so far thisseason a 76-71 overtime defeat to No. 1 South Carolina on Nov.20.

“Until people knock off Stanford they’re still at the top andwe’re all chasing them,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said.

The Utes jumped ahead 10-2 and 12-5 before Stanford’s 7-0 runover a 1:15 spurt.

Stanford’s players wore No. 3 emblems on their “Human Athlete”warmup shirts in support of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, whois recovering after he went into cardiac arrest on the field in agame at Cincinnati on Jan. 2.

“It was something that was really special to our team that Ithink is important just to cross all athletes worldwide just toshow that somebody like Damar Hamlin at this instant it’s more thanplaying your sport — it’s your health, it’s your mental well-being,it’s everything,” Jones said.

LEPOLO HURT

Lepolo fell midway through the first quarter and was able towalk off the court on her own but didn’t play again. She returnedto the bench late in the period without a shoe on her left foot anda big ice bag on the ankle, then was in a walking boot afterhalftime.

BIG PICTURE

Utah: The Utes moved up two spots in this week’s poll to matchthe highest ranking in program history and their 10 straight weeksin the poll are their most ever. Utah had been 2-0 against rankedopponents, the team’s first time beating multiple ranked teams inthe same season since 2005-06. ... The Utes have scored 64 or fewerpoints in all but two meetings with Stanford since 2007. ... Theyshot 5 of 26 on 3s.

Stanford: Junior G Agnes Emma-Nnopu moved into the startinglineup in place of Kiki Iriafen. ... Brink reached 66 blocks forthe season and she has swatted at least one shot in every game. Shehad 88 as a freshman and 91 last season. ... Stanford leads theall-time series vs. Utah 31-1 including the last eight in theseries all by double digits. The Cardinal have scored at least 68points in every matchup since 2016. ... Stanford is 11-1 athome.

UP NEXT

Utah: At California on Sunday night.

Stanford: Hosts Colorado on Sunday to continue a four-gamehomestand.