No. 11/16 Stanford Rallies to Defeat UCLA, 79-70

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LOS ANGELES – Stanford's 3-point shooting has bailed the Cardinal out time and again this season.

It was especially good in the second half against UCLA.

Briana Roberson scored a career-high 21 points in her first start of the season and No. 11 Stanford rallied in the second half to win 79-70 for the Cardinal's 19th straight win against the Bruins.

Bonnie Samuelson added 21 points, including four 3-pointers, and Amber Orrange had 20 points before fouling out late for the Cardinal (14-5, 6-1 Pac-12). Roberson, a sophomore from nearby Fullerton, came in averaging 5.8 points. Kaylee Johnson had 10 points and a career-best 17 rebounds.

Stanford shot 58 percent from long-range in the second half, making seven 3-pointers. Five of them came in a big run that started the half.

Nirra Fields scored 22 points for the Bruins (8-10, 3-3), who fell to 0-7 against ranked teams this season and 0-14 against Top 25 teams since beating No. 10 Oklahoma last season. Jordin Canada added 14 points.

"In the second half they asserted their aggression," UCLA coach Cori Close said about the Cardinal. "They came out incredibly focused in the second half. They knew exactly what they were looking for."

Stanford was coming off a 60-57 loss to No. 13 Arizona State last weekend that ended its seven-game winning streak. The Cardinal have struggled early in games recently and the same thing happened against the Bruins, who led the entire first half.

That all changed in the second half, when Stanford improved its shooting to 52 percent.

The Cardinal had five 3-pointers in a 21-6 run that opened the half and gave Stanford a 58-46 lead. Orrange hit two treys in a row and Bonnie Samuelson added another before her sister Karlie Samuelson made two straight 3s to close the spurt.

UCLA played catch-up the rest of the way. The Bruins closed within six on four straight points by Canada with 2:16 to play. But they were forced to foul down the stretch, when the Cardinal made 7 of 8 free throws to end the game.

"It was very physical," said Canada, a freshman playing Stanford for the first time. "We were hustling for every possession, we just didn't come up with it."

The Cardinal were held to 39 percent shooting and made just 4 of 14 3-pointers in the first half. UCLA scored the game's first eight points before Stanford tied it up. The Bruins responded with an 18-5 run, including 10 points by Fields, to take their largest lead, 26-13.

The Cardinal closed their deficit to 31-27 with a 14-5 run. UCLA went 3 of 7 from the free throw line over the final 4:11 of the half while Roberson scored seven of Stanford's final 10 points to trail 40-37 at the break.

TIP-INS
Stanford: Leading scorer Lili Thompson, who averages 15.2 points, was held to one point after going 0 for 6 from the floor ... Roberson started in place of Karlie Samuelson ... It's the first time since 2009 that Stanford doesn't have at least a share of first place in the Pac-12 ... That was also the last time that the Cardinal fell out of the top 10 in the AP rankings. 

UCLA: Half of the Bruins' active players are freshmen ... Recee' Caldwell was on crutches after injuring her knee in practice on Jan. 22. She has loose bodies in her knee and willl have surgery in the near future and be out at least two months.

BATTLE ON THE BOARDS
The Cardinal controlled the boards, 43-36, led by Johnson, who had 15 on the defensive glass.

"I'm disappointed in our ability to rebound the ball and come up with loose balls," Close said. "They were quicker to the ball. If you want to upset a good team like Stanford you have to control those things. We were late to the ball."

Stanford turned things around from the loss to Arizona State, when the Cardinal got outrebounded by 22 and by 15 on the offensive glass.

UP NEXT
Stanford: At Southern California on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 5:00 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.
UCLA: Hosts California on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 3:00 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.

Women’s basketball season tickets are on sale at the UCLA Central Ticket Office (310-UCLA-WIN). For more ticket information, or to buy tickets now, click here.