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No. 4 Stanford women improve to 53-0 against Cougars

WSU guard Jordan Kelley, center, is closely guarded by Stanford’s Toni Kokenis and Joslyn Tinkle. (Associated Press)
Associated Press
WSU guard Jordan Kelley, center, is closely guarded by Stanford’s Toni Kokenis and Joslyn Tinkle. (Associated Press)

For nearly 18 minutes, Washington State women’s basketball coach June Daugherty saw just about everything she wanted to from her team.

The Cougars took everything No. 4 Stanford (16-1, 7-0 Pac-12) threw at them and even built an early lead against the Cardinal before it all fell apart in the second half. That’s when Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer switched defenses and WSU failed to adjust, losing 75-41 on Thursday at Stanford, Calif.

“I thought we really were on point as far as running our game plan (early),” Daugherty said. “We mixed up the defenses quite a bit and then offensively … when we didn’t have good shots, we spaced the floor, moved to cut a lot better and tried to force Stanford to play into the shot clock a little bit.”

It’s the second time in their last five games that the Cougars (9-9, 3-3 Pac-12) have put together a quick start, only to see it go to waste in the second half.

Washington State didn’t have a player in double figures, shot just 27.7 percent for the game and remained winless in 53 meetings against Stanford.

“I just thought they came out and were really aggressive,” VanDerveer said of the Cougars. “I don’t think the score indicates how well they played. I just think they got a little discouraged and we turned it up in the second half.”

Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 22 points and 10 rebounds, Chiney Ogwumike added 19 points and 12 rebounds while Joslyn Tinkle had nine points, eight rebounds and four assists as the Cardinal extended their school-record home winning streak to 72.

California 71, Washington 47: California held Regina Rogers, the nation’s leader in field-goal percentage, to her worst shooting night of the season and the Bears picked apart the Huskies’ conference-leading defense in a commanding win at Berkeley, Calif.

Reshanda Gray and Talia Caldwell had 16 points apiece for the Bears (14-5, 5-2) while point guard Brittany Boyd added 14 points, eight assists and three steals. California, which has won five in a row, remained in third place in the Pac-12 standings.

Rogers, who missed the Huskies’ (10-6, 2-4) last game against Washington State with a hamstring contusion, led Washington with 13 points and eight rebounds, but was just 5 of 15 from the field. She entered the game converting shots at a 65 percent clip this season.