Feb. 4, 2007
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Devanei Hampton had a big second half to finish with 22 points and 14 rebounds and No. 21 California ended a 14-game losing streak to rival Stanford, beating the eighth-ranked Cardinal 72-57 Sunday.
Stanford had its 17-game winning streak snapped in its first Pac-10 defeat. It was the team's longest unbeaten run since getting 23 in a row two years ago - and Stanford also saw its 50-game home conference winning streak end.
Now, Cal's resurgent program can decidedly say this is a legitimate Bay Area rivalry after the Bears (18-5, 8-4 Pac-10) spent years being embarrassed by the Cardinal. The victory was Cal's first over Stanford in six years.
Candice Wiggins scored 17 points and Brooke Smith added 16 points but shot 0-for-4 from 3-point range, where Stanford was a dismal 6-of-35. Of the Cardinal's 64 field-goal tries, almost half were 3s - the Bears' post presence in the paint made it that tough for Stanford to establish an inside game. Stanford shot a school-record low 26.6 percent from the field and was 0-for-16 from long range in the second half.
Overall, Stanford shot just 26.6-percent from the field, a program low. The last time the Cardinal finished under 30-percent overall in a game was back on Feb. 7, 2004, making 29-percent (18-62) in a 73-53 loss at Arizona State.
Smith and Wiggins each fouled out late.
Cal shot 46 percent and pounded the ball inside in the second half to win its third straight and seventh in eight. Hampton scored 15 of her points after halftime.
The Cardinal (19-4, 11-1) lost to Cal for the first time since Feb. 16, 2001, an 82-73 Bears' win at Maples Pavilion. Stanford was held below 30 percent from the floor for the first time since shooting 29 percent on Feb. 7, 2004, in a 73-53 loss at Arizona State.
Stanford, 23-6 all-time in the series in games played on The Farm, lost freshman point guard JJ Hones just 45 seconds into the game when she sprained her left knee driving to the basket. She clutched her knee and was helped off the court by the team's trainers. Hones was to be re-evaluated later Sunday, but the injury appeared serious and she returned to the court after halftime on crutches.
Freshman Natasha Vital added a season-best 19 points with six assists and six rebounds, and Lauren Greif had 15 points and six rebounds for Cal, which missed 12 free throws over the final 2:48.
The teams went about 4 1/2 minutes with neither scoring midway through the second half until Cal got back-to-back baskets by Hampton, the first score coming at the 6:50 mark.
Both schools played non-conference games last week before their second matchup of the season, with Stanford winning at Santa Barbara on Thursday and Cal beating UC Riverside at home Wednesday night.
Last month in Berkeley, Wiggins hit a season-high six 3-pointers and finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Stanford's 69-44 victory.
Cal missed its first eight shots against Stanford's tough man-to-man defense before Greif's 12-footer at 16:13 got the Bears on the board. The Cardinal were also slow starting, going 3-for-13 in the opening 7 minutes. They attempted 14 3-pointers in their first 23 shots.
Jillian Harmon's late 3 put Stanford ahead 31-30 at the break.
NOTES: Sunday's crowd of 4,049 was the largest of the season at Maples Pavilion ... Stanford students were admitted free to Sunday's game, with the first 100 treated to a pizza party ... Stanford's 17 field goals matched a program low for makes in a game ... The Cardinal was outrebounded 46-39, representing just the fourth time this year an opponent has held the edge in that category ... California made 23-39 free throw attempts compared to Stanford' 17-24 rate ... Three of California's five starters played at least 38 minutes ... Stanford continues its homestand later this week against Washington State (Feb. 8 at 7 p.m.) and Washington (Feb. 10 at 1 p.m.).