Even without Wiggins, Stanford prevails, 68-59
Stanford did not need its best player to complete a Southland sweep of Pacific 10 Conference opponents, rolling to a 68-59 victory over UCLA on Friday at Pauley Pavilion.
The 14th-ranked Cardinal, 7-3 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10 after victories over USC and UCLA, limited the Bruins (7-7, 1-1) to 24% shooting in the first half and built a 23-point second-half lead before UCLA rallied to make the score close.
With two-time conference player of the year Candice Wiggins again sidelined because of a sprained left hamstring, Jillian Harmon led the Cardinal with 14 points. Brooke Smith scored 13, and JJ Hones and Jayne Appel each scored 11.
Noelle Quinn scored 18 points and Lindsey Pluimer 15 for UCLA, which used a 19-2 run to cut its deficit to 61-55 before Stanford regained control.
“Against a very talented basketball team, you can’t dig yourself a hole like that,” said UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier, whose team on Wednesday made only 33.9% of its shots after overcoming a 10-point deficit in an overtime victory over California. “It takes too much out of you to try to come back from that far down.”
Said Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer: “This was a great weekend for our team, especially without Candice. UCLA is a very dangerous team.”
* BOX SCORE, D11
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