RIVERIA MAYA, Mexico – Karlie Samuelson nailed six 3-pointers, Erica McCall had a double-double, Brittany McPhee led the Cardinal with 22 points and No. 11 Stanford won the Cancun Challenge with a 78-69 win over Purdue on Saturday afternoon.
Stanford (6-1) was up two, 61-59, late in the fourth quarter before it reeled off a quick 7-0 run to go up nine with 5:41 left. The Boilermakers (3-4) responded with six straight in a 49-second stretch to pull back within three, but the Cardinal closed the game on a 10-4 spurt and held Purdue without a field goal in the game's final four minutes.
McCall, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds against Purdue, averaged 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the three games and was named the tournament's most valuable player. Samuelson also earned a spot on the all-tournament team after averaging 15.2 points and going 13-of-22 (.591) on 3-pointers. She drilled six on Saturday and scored 20, her third career 20-point performance.
Karl ?? All-Tournament Team@_mediumE ?? Tournament MVP#GoStanford ???????? pic.twitter.com/y35Dyff7b4
— Stanford WBB (@StanfordWBB) November 26, 2016
One year after Purdue pushed Stanford to overtime at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida, Saturday's game featured seven ties and 11 lead changes. The Cardinal took its first lead of the second half, 52-51, late in the third quarter when Marta Sniezek picked Purdue's Tiara Murphy and pushed it ahead to McPhee for two.
Purdue nudged back in front on an Ashley Morrissette layup, but Samuelson came back down and nailed her fifth 3-pointer. The Boilermakers tied it at 55 on their next possession before Briana Roberson hit a 3-pointer from the corner to give Stanford a 58-55 advantage with 1:24 to go in the third, the game's final lead change.
The Cardinal, which entered the afternoon as the country's 10th most efficient team from the floor, shot 50 percent (28-of-56) for the fourth time this season.
Sniezek led Stanford with five assists and had 15 assists against just one turnover in the tournament. Roberson had 11 and scored in double figures for the second time this season.
Bridget Perry scored 11 of Purdue's first 23 points, but was held largely in check in the final three quarters. She finished with 16. Morrissette led all scorers with 23 and was 10-of-11 at the line.
Stanford held Purdue to 3-of-14 shooting in the fourth quarter (.214) and made six of its final eight free throws in that final 10-4 run to secure the win.
The Cardinal will head back to the states early Sunday morning and ready for a game at CSU Bakersfield on Thursday night at 7 p.m.