UCLA women pull upset

The UCLA women’s basketball team came of age Friday night.

With three freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup, the Bruins knocked off No. 2 Stanford, 69-56, in a Pacific 10 Conference game at Pauley Pavilion. It was the program’s first victory over such a highly ranked team.

Darxia Morris, a freshman guard, scored a team-high 20 points and Lindsey Pluimer, the only senior on the team, had 13 as UCLA was in control from start to finish.

“I think our nonconference schedule prepared us for a team like Stanford,” Coach Kathy Olivier said. “Our team is fearless.”

Earlier this season, the Bruins (7-7, 2-1 in the Pac-10) had blown a 16-point lead with 6 1/2 minutes remaining against No. 3 Maryland and lost by 12 points to top-ranked Tennessee after leading late in the first half.

This time, there would be no lapses.

The Cardinal (12-2, 2-1) scored on its first possession of the game, but that would be its last lead as the Bruins jumped out to a 17-6 advantage on a driving layup by Morris with 11 minutes 45 seconds remaining in the opening half.

Stanford senior guard Candice Wiggins and sophomore center Jayne Appel combined for 29 of their team’s 34 first-half points, but the Cardinal still trailed by four at the half.

The Bruins scored the first 12 points of the second half to take their biggest lead, 50-34. Stanford whittled the deficit to seven with 4:40 remaining, but did not make a field goal the rest of the way. Wiggins, who came in averaging 17.5 points, scored 29, but missed her final three field-goal attempts before she was removed from the game with under a minute to play.

“We didn’t have the energy as a team,” said Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer. “We missed an incredible number of point-blank shots.”

Stanford forward Kayla Pedersen, who came in averaging 13 points, was 0 for 8 from the field and scored two points. The team’s other forward, Jillian Harmon, missed all four field-goal attempts and went scoreless.

“Kayla has played a lot better than that,” VanDerveer said.

VanDerveer did have plenty of praise for Morris, a 5-foot-8 shooting guard who came in averaging 8.8 points. Morris had 11 at the half, but her biggest points came during the last four minutes, when she sank a jump shot and made three of four free throws to prevent the Cardinal from forging a comeback.

“We talked before the game how hard we needed to play,” Morris said. “It doesn’t matter how they play.”

Stanford was also hampered by turnovers and poor free-throw shooting. The Cardinal came in averaging 14 turnovers, but committed 10 by halftime and finished with 18. From the line, they were just eight of 16, compared with 17 of 23 for the Bruins.

Wiggins sought medical treatment after the game after she was hit in the jaw during the first half, VanDerveer said. Appel, a 6-4 sophomore who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, said it wasn’t so much what UCLA accomplished to win the game, but what Stanford failed to execute.

The Cardinal had moved up to No. 2 in the nation ago after upsetting top-ranked Tennessee two weeks ago.

“I think it was just the mental focus,” Appel said. “We should have come out in warm-ups and got focused.”

UCLA won’t have much time to enjoy the victory. The Bruins play host to No. 10 California on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

dan.arritt@latimes.com