Arizona Wildcats at Stanford Cardinal

No. 6 Stanford finds groove, controls Arizona

Coach Tara VanDerveer got to rest her regulars for long stretches, too.

Bonnie Samuelson knocked down five 3-pointers on the way to 17 points, all scored in the first half, and No. 6 Stanford beat Arizona 74-48 on Sunday to move closer to a 14th straight conference regular-season crown.

The Cardinal seem to be back in sync after an 87-82 loss at Washington last Sunday.

"We looked a step slow when we played last week in both games at Washington State and Washington," VanDerveer said. "I thought we had a better effort this week. Last week we weren't sharp, we weren't focused. We kind of got into a little malaise. You can't just show up and play. You've got to play."

Chiney Ogwumike scored 11 of her 15 points during a decisive run late in the first half that put the game away for the Cardinal (24-2, 12-2 Pac-12), who clinched a bye into the quarterfinals of next month's conference tournament in Seattle. They earned their 24th consecutive victory against the short-handed Wildcats.

"Catch and shoot is their best thing, If they catch and shoot and get those kinds of shots, they're hardly going to miss those shots," Arizona coach Niya Butts said.

Amber Orrange dished out nine assists to go with nine points and five rebounds in 24 minutes, and VanDerveer rested her regulars given the lopsided result.

LaBrittney Jones scored 11 points for Arizona (5-20, 1-13), which went cold in the first half and couldn't recover against the dominant play of Stanford on both ends of the floor.

Jones was the only player to reach double figures in Stanford's games against Arizona and No. 15 Arizona State, which lost 61-35 at Maples Pavilion on Friday night.

Ogwumike shot 7 for 12 and grabbed nine rebounds in 22 minutes, getting a nice break for the second straight game. It was only the second game all season she didn't lead the team in scoring.

Stanford found its shooting touch again against Arizona and held a 42-28 rebounding edge in the teams' second meeting of the season. The Cardinal won 96-52 behind a season-high 15 3s last month on the Wildcats' home floor in Tucson.

Injury-plagued Arizona had only six healthy players after senior guard Carissa Crutchfield sprained an ankle in a 63-49 loss at California on Friday night and hobbled in a walking boot.

"Bonnie's been working really hard, and it was great to see her come in and get 17 points in 16 minutes," VanDerveer said. "That's pretty (darn) good."

Stanford added three quick 3s early in the second half, by Orrange, Taylor Greenfield and Lili Thompson, and Arizona called timeout down 61-21 with 15:50 remaining.

"This week we've had a really good mindset, especially after last weekend," Samuelson said. "People have very high confidence in their shots, and I think it showed this game. It was really good to get everybody going."

Arizona made 5 of its initial 7 shots to keep things close early before a long drought did the Wildcats in for good. Trailing 11-8, Thompson scored four straight points followed by four in a row from Ogwumike as Stanford got rolling with a 28-2 run to go ahead 36-13. The Wildcats missed 15 straight shots during that 10½-minute stretch before Candice Warthen's basket at 4:24.

Samuelson hit four straight 3s late in the first half. and the Cardinal led 48-19 at intermission behind 51.4 percent shooting (18 for 35) with 10 3-pointers.

"My shot was feeling pretty good. My teammates did a really good job of finding me," Samuelson said. "I enjoy shooting 3s, I like it. Tara gives me a lot of confidence in my shot and I know what my job is. Every game I want to come out there and do what I'm supposed to do."

Arizona made only seven field goals in the first half and shot 31.5 percent overall, missing all five of its 3-point tries.

Stanford freshman Karlie Samuelson sat out with a foot injury as a precaution. She got stepped on during a game at Washington State on Feb. 7.

How can I watch Wildcats vs. Cardinal?

• TV Channel: Wildcats vs Cardinal 2021 College Basketball, week 15, is broadcasted on .
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Location: Stanford, CA
Attendance: 3,957 | Capacity: