Jones, Brink lead No. 2 Stanford women past No. 8 UCLA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Haley Jones scored 16points, Cameron Brink added 12 and second-ranked Stanford scoredthe first 15 points of the fourth quarter to pull away for a 72-59victory over No. 8 UCLA on Friday night.

Jones also had 12 rebounds and six assists to help the Cardinal(17-1, 5-0 Pac-12) extend their winning streak over conferenceopponents to 38 games. Brink added 11 rebounds.

“At halftime I was disappointed with some of our shots,”Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I thought people were rushingshots, not running our offense and turning the ball over. And thenI think we settled down in the second half.”

It is third straight season the Cardinal have opened conferenceplay 5-0. It is also their fourth straight win against a Pac-12team ranked in the top 10.

Stanford led 51-49 going into the fourth quarter when Brink tookover. The junior scored six points, grabbed eight rebounds andblocked six shots in the quarter as the Cardinal jumped out to a66-49 advantage.

Agnes Emma-Nnopu was another factor with all of her season-highnine points coming in the final 10 minutes.

“I think we’re just scratching the surface of how good we canbe. We’re just figuring out how to play people and who to playtogether,” VanderVeer said.

UCLA (14-3, 3-2) missed 12 shots and committed four turnoversbefore Gina Conti hit a 3-pointer with 1:53 remaining for theBruins first points.

Charisma Osborne and Conti scored 13 points apiece and EmilyBessoir had 10 for UCLA.

The loss was frustrating for Bruins coach Cori Close, who sawher team play one of the nation’s best tough for three quartersbefore falling apart in the fourth.

UCLA was tied at 47 at top-ranked South Carolina on Nov. 29before losing 73-64. The 13-point defeat to the Cardinal was theBruins’ biggest loss of the season.

“To get out toughed and outrebounded in the second half reallystings,” Close said. “We didn’t take care of the things under ourcontrol. We had too many mental errors.”

BLOCK PARTY

Brink, who came into the game second in the nation in blockedshots, finished with a career-high seven blocks. It was her fifthgame this season with at least five blocked shots.

MILESTONE

Osborne is the 20th player in UCLA history to reach 1,500 pointswith a layup late in the third quarter. The senior has 1,501points.

THE TAKEAWAY

Stanford: The Cardinal have held their last 19 conferenceopponents under 69 points.

UCLA: The Bruins have a six-game losing streak against teamsranked in the top 10. Three of those losses have been againstStanford.

UP NEXT

Stanford: At Southern California on Sunday.

UCLA: Hosts California on Sunday.