Stanford Flattens UCLA

Stanford, already the Pacific 10 Conference regular-season champion, has reached that rarified zone where it doesn’t have to play its best to win.

That was evident Sunday, when the initially sluggish Cardinal turned back a determined UCLA squad, 81-68, in front of a national television audience and 2,175 at Pauley Pavilion.

It was the 15th consecutive victory for Stanford (24-2, 15-1) and its 13th consecutive victory over the Bruins (16-10, 10-7). The last UCLA victory in the series was on March 3, 2000.

Although there were moments when Candace Wiggins looked and acted like a freshman -- forcing shots when surrounded by two or more players and chirping constantly to the officials about fouls -- the precocious talent from San Diego finished with 24 points and 16 rebounds.

“She has, honestly, never looked like a freshman,” Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer said of Wiggins, who had two busloads of friends and other fans come from San Diego for the game. “She was playing against one of the great point guards in the country, and she defended her as best she could. We rely on her to rebound and score for us. She is an emotional leader. Honestly, I don’t know what else we could ask her to do.”

Wiggins was assigned to cover UCLA’s leader, Nikki Blue, who had 24 points -- the sixth consecutive game she has scored 20 or more -- and seven rebounds. Lisa Willis struggled with three-for-17 shooting but scored 15 points for UCLA.

But the Bruins needed more than a two-person show to upset Stanford, and they had to shoot better than 31.4% (22 for 70), including two for 16 on three-point shots.

Stanford is good enough “to be No. 1 in the country,” UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier said. “They have a great inside game, great three-point shooters. And when you play one of the best teams in the country, you don’t have a great margin for error.”

Having clinched the Pac-10 title two days before, Stanford looked flat early and trailed UCLA by as many as eight points in the first 15 minutes. But in the next five minutes the Cardinal went on a 23-4 run, including the half’s final 12 points, to go ahead, 43-31.

“Those last three minutes of the first half really hurt us,” Olivier said. “So we talked about playing them straight up, making them earn every shot.”

In the second half, UCLA never stopped trying to cut into the Cardinal lead, driving to the basket repeatedly to draw fouls and playing defense as physically as the referees would allow. But the Bruins never got closer than nine points.

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Mike Terry

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USC 103, California 69 -- The Trojans’ victory over the Bears at the Sports Arena was USC’s highest-scoring game since a 105-67 victory over Arizona State on Feb. 18, 1994.

It was also the first time USC had broken 100 since a 101-59 victory over Washington State on March 6, 1997. USC, which had shot 34.8% in a loss to Stanford on Friday, came back with 59.7% shooting against Cal (9-16, 3-13).

“The law of averages caught up with us,” USC Coach Mark Trakh said of his team’s shooting. “Who would’ve thought that on Feb. 20 we’d have a legitimate shot at the NCAA tournament? I couldn’t ask for anything more from this team.”

The Trojans (17-9, 11-6) moved into sole possession of third place, half a game behind second-place Oregon. USC’s 17 victories are the team’s most since 1997, when the Trojans were 20-9, which is also the last time USC played in the NCAA tournament.

Brynn Cameron’s 19 points led five USC players in double figures, and she tied her career high of five three-point baskets. She also broke the school record for three-pointers in a season with 61, passing the mark of 56 set by Tammy Story in 1991.

USC’s Rachel Woodward had 16 points, making all eight of her shots.