CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - An upstart Oregon State team gave Stanford one of its best tests of the Pac-12 schedule in January.
The Cardinal were determined not to let that happen again, and Nnemkadi Ogwumike made sure of it almost by herself.
Ogwumike had 27 points and nine rebounds Thursday night to lead third-ranked Stanford to a 78-45 win against Oregon State. The win clinched for Stanford a share of the inaugural Pac-12 title, the team's 12th straight conference crown.
"I try to do whatever my team needs me to do," the All-America forward said.
Chiney Ogwumike, Nnemkadi's sister, added 10 points and Joslyn Tinkle had seven points and 14 rebounds for Stanford (23-1, 14-0 Pac-12), which led by 20 at halftime and 38 in the second half.
Alyssa Martin had 11 points for Oregon State (17-8, 8-6), which had won six straight.
Nnemkadi Ogwumike was outscoring Oregon State by herself, 27-26, after her basket with 12:49 remaining. That capped a run of nine straight Stanford points she scored. She left with 10:21 left and didn't return.
"She's huge. She's not just a great player, she's a great person. She works really hard," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.
The Cardinal have won 20 straight games this season, 25 in a row against Oregon State and 71 consecutive games versus Pac-12 teams.
Stanford shot 29 of 61 (47.5 percent) from the floor, while Oregon State was 19 of 57 (33.3).
"Their defense was really good tonight. They did a great job defending us," Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. "They played us perfect to start with. Nothing was easy. Then we didn't hit a few of the shots I thought we needed to hit to get into the game and relax."
The Cardinal went 10 of 22 from the 3-point line, including three apiece by Toni Kokenis and Bonnie Samuelson. Oregon State was 2 of 16 on 3-pointers.
Both teams struggled early on offense. Stanford led 8-2 after Chiney Ogwumike's basket a little more than seven minutes into the game.
But the Cardinal soon pulled away. Lindy La Roque scored the last five points of a 15-2 run that put Stanford ahead 23-7.
Nnemkadi Ogwumike, who shot 10 of 16 overall, later scored six straight points for a 31-9 Cardinal lead.
Stanford led by as many as 22 in the first half and 36-16 at halftime, led by Nnemkadi Ogwumike's 16 points.
In the first meeting between the teams this season, Stanford came away with a 67-60 win at home on Jan. 7. Oregon State led 35-31 at halftime in that one after holding Stanford to 12-of-33 shooting.
The Beavers still had a lead with less than 11 minutes left in that game before the Cardinal went on to lead by double digits.
Stanford faced primarily a zone defense against Oregon State in that first game and prepared for it again.
"This week we really worked on getting our cuts down, flashing and hitting the posts. They were stepping up big, inside and out," Kokenis said. "They helped us move the ball in the zone and get a lot of easier shots than the first time we played."
VanDerveer, who has 697 career wins, said several factors contributed to the close contest the first time the teams played.
It was Stanford's second game in three nights, with just a day to prepare, and the Cardinal had not seen some of Oregon State's first-year players.
"They definitely had our team's attention. I also think we worked hard against the zone this week and were ready for it," VanDerveer said. "Our team knocked down perimeter shots. Our team shot the ball well. I thought our team worked extremely hard defensively."