LOS ANGELES (AP) - Tara VanDerveer and Stanford are having a much better time in Los Angeles this season.
Kayla Pedersen had 20 points, Jeanette Pohlen added 19 and Stanford (No. 2 ESPN/USA Today, No. 3 AP) beat UCLA 69-58 on Friday night to remain tied for first in the Pac-10.
Jillian Harmon scored 12 points to pass 1,000 for her career for Stanford (23-4, 14-1), which has won 10 straight. The Cardinal were swept by UCLA and Southern California in Los Angeles last season, adding to the significance of the victory for VanDerveer.
"This is a big win for us," VanDerveer said. "We didn't win last year and we needed this game. They have some very talented players."
California also won Friday night, squeaking by USC 66-64 to move to 14-1 in the Pac-10. Stanford faces USC on Sunday.
Harmon, who entered with 992 career points, reached 1,000 with a jumper off the glass 3 minutes into the second half.
"I was aware of it, but it didn't occur to me during the game, I was caught up in the moment of playing," Harmon said. "It's an honor, but I'm just glad the team is playing well and hopefully we can get our team back to the Final Four so individual stuff doesn't matter much right now."
The Cardinal led 33-28 at the break and opened the second half by making all five field-goal attempts, including three 3-pointers, during a 14-5 run. Stanford connected on nine of its first 11 shots of the half to build a 55-41 lead.
"We looked more comfortable," VanDerveer said. "We want to be aggressive and attack and when we did that we looked really good."
Darxia Morris scored 10 of her season-high 18 points in the first half for UCLA (16-10, 7-8).
Tied at 19, Stanford went on a 10-1 run capped by Pohlen's 3-pointer, but UCLA stormed right back with six unanswered points to cut it to 29-23.
"They're a very aggressive team and they're good at pressing and trapping and they're very good at it," VanDerveer said.
Pedersen also had seven rebounds for Stanford.
Notes
- With Friday's victory, Stanford now leads the all-time series against UCLA, 42-22
- Friday's victory extended Stanford's season-best winning streak to 10
- Jillian Harmon became the 29th player in Stanford history to reach the 1,000-point mark when she banked in a jumper with 17:22 to play in the contest. Harmon's 12 points in the game puts her at 1,004 career points
- Stanford's eight three-pointers in the contest was the team's most since hitting 11 against Washington State on Jan. 10
- Jeanette Pohlen matched her career high with four three-pointers in the game, marking the seventh time in her career that she has hit that many triples in a contest
- Kayla Pedersen blocked a season-high three shots in the contest, just one behind her career high of four
- Kayla Pedersen matched her career high with three three-pointers in the contest, marking the fourth time she has achieved the feat
- Stanford's 50.0-percent showing from behind the arc marked the second time this season the team made at least half of its three-point attempts. The previous occasion was a 14-for-25 effort (56.0 percent) against Washington on Jan. 8, 2009
- Stanford's 53.2-percent effort (25-for-47) from the floor marked the fifth time in the last six games, and 13th time this season that it had made at least half of its field-goal attempts in a game
- Friday's victory was Stanford's first at UCLA since a 68-59 victory on Dec. 22, 2006
- Jayne Appel's 10 points increased her career total to 1,427, and she remains 15th on Stanford's all-time scoring list
- Jayne Appel's three blocked shots increased her career total to 200, just one behind Val Whiting's school-record 201 blocks