Haley Jones, Fran Belibi and Cameron Brink led the Stanford Cardinal past the UCLA Bruins.
Three Stanford Cardinal nearly had double-doubles in their 61-49 win over the UCLA Bruins on Monday afternoon in Los Angeles. Fran Belibi had 15 points and seven rebounds, Cameron Brink had 10 and nine and Haley Jones had eight and 15 as the No. 1 Cardinal defeated the No. 11 Bruins in a defensive battle.
And Belibi, who dunked in a college game for the first time on Dec. 13, threw down another one to increase Stanford’s lead to seven with 8:56 to go.
Are you me @fran_belibi1?!
Too good #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/RoFafh2LaI
— Stanford Women’s Basketball (@StanfordWBB) December 21, 2020
Stanford ran off to a 21-12 lead after the first quarter, but UCLA took a brief one-point lead on an Emily Bessoir 3-pointer with 3:01 to go in the second and hung around until late in the fourth.
The closest the Bruins got in the final frame was within three with 6:56 to go. They also trailed by just seven points after a Michaela Onyenwere layup with 3:01 left, so the game was far from out of reach at that point. However, that was the last basket that UCLA would make in the contest. A Belibi jumper in the paint at the 2:19-minute mark and a Lacie Hull triple with 1:47 to go put the game away for the Cardinal, whose biggest lead was the final margin (12).
Brink also played a key role in the fourth.
Put the team on your back @cameronbrink22‼️
The freshman has seven points in the fourth quarter to stymie the Bruin run!#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/7eLrAIMyWm
— Stanford Women’s Basketball (@StanfordWBB) December 21, 2020
The Cardinal met expectations by defeating the No. 11 team in the nation by double digits and remaining unbeaten (7-0, 4-0 Pac-12). They entered the game as one of the best offensive teams in the country and had scored at least 80 points in all of their games. Yet, they found a way to win a low-scoring contest.
Jones’ 15 boards marked a new career high and the most by a Stanford player since Kaylee Johnson had 18 on Dec. 18, 2017. The Cardinal outrebounded the Bruins 51-37.
In addition, Jones, Belibi and Brink each had three blocks to help limit UCLA to 27.5 percent shooting from the field.
Onyenwere scored a game-high 19 points for the Bruins (5-2, 3-2 Pac-12) to go along with seven rebounds. Bessoir added 15 and five, while sophomore star Charisma Osborne was held to just seven points.
Kiana Williams added 10 points and four assists to the winning cause and Lexie Hull notched five points, nine rebounds and four helpers.
Next up
Stanford: TBD on Friday, Jan. 1 at No. 6 Arizona Wildcats
UCLA: TBD on Friday, Jan. 1 at Oregon State Beavers