No. 17 UCLA women see upset bid denied by No. 3 Stanford

By JANIE McCAULEY AP Sports Writer

STANFORD — UCLA kept it close until the end this time, but another upset bid against the best team in the Pac-12 fell short.

Cameron Brink scored 25 points and made all 15 of her free throws, the last of which put Stanford ahead for good, and the third-ranked Cardinal outlasted No. 17 UCLA, 71-66, on Monday night in their final regular-season home game.

Brink swatted two more shots to give her 102 blocks for the season, and her 15 free throws were the most without a miss by a Stanford player since at least 1999. Haley Jones added 18 points and converted a layup with 1:22 remaining to put the Cardinal ahead by three.

“There were a lot of different moments tonight we had to change our mentality,” Jones said. “We’re trying to win a Pac-12 championship and this game was necessary to do that. We had to be the aggressor.”

Stanford (26-3 overall, 14-2 Pac-12) has won four straight and is closing in on a third straight Pac-12 regular-season title with games remaining this week at No. 21 Colorado and No. 8 Utah.

Jones hit a go-ahead jumper with 2:45 to play before Lina Sontag answered with a 3-pointer moments later to put UCLA ahead 65-64. Brink’s final two free throws made it 66-65 with 1:53 left.

Londynn Jones scored 14 points for the Bruins (21-7, 10-6), who dropped one spot in the AP Top 25 this week and had their four-game winning streak snapped. Senior Charisma Osborne added 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and a career-best six steals for UCLA, which pounded the boards for a 36-33 advantage, getting 17 on the offensive glass.

“They’re a good team and they’re on a mission,” VanDerveer said of the Bruins.

Brink also converted a go-ahead three-point play with 8:55 remaining. The 6-foot-4 junior reached 100 blocks for the first time in her stellar career and set the all-time Stanford record during Friday’s 50-47 victory over USC – and she still has another collegiate season left to play. Brink has 280 blocks, having topped Jayne Appel’s mark of 273 set from 2006-10.

Stanford won the first meeting, 72-59, on Jan. 13 after the teams were tied through three quarters before the Cardinal dominated the fourth quarter. UCLA made it interesting until the end this time.

“Really proud of our team’s response in the second half,” Bruins coach Cori Close said, “their fight, their togetherness, their belief.”

The cold-shooting Bruins began 3 for 11 from the field and went 5:39 without a basket in the second quarter, missing 10 straight shots as the Cardinal went on a 6-0 run. Christeen Iwuala’s putback with 3:36 left in the quarter ended a nearly six-minute stretch without a field goal by UCLA.

But the Bruins came out energized after halftime, using a 25-point third quarter – they had just 26 points at halftime – while holding Stanford to just four field goals in the period to take a 51-50 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer asked the crowd to give a standing ovation to her four seniors, and hundreds of fans who stuck around well past the final buzzer for a postgame ceremony jumped to their feet.

VanDerveer thanked the players’ parents while making something perfectly clear: The Cardinal have plenty of great basketball still to be played with March approaching. Stanford’s seniors have already won 116 games during their careers.

“They call themselves the Funky Four, I call them the Final Four or the Fabulous Four,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “Let’s keep it rolling.”

CURRY’S SUPPORT

Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry attended his second straight Stanford game. He has been a regular this season at women’s games on The Farm and also at Cal in Berkeley. He sat on the baseline with Brink’s parents, Michelle and Greg.

The reigning NBA Finals MVP’s family is close with the Brinks.