STANFORD, Calif. – Amber Orrange came up big when the Cardinal needed it most. Stanford's senior captain scored 16 of her career-high 26 points in the second half, Lili Thompson added 17 of her own and the No. 15 Stanford women's basketball team opened up its Pac-12 schedule with a 62-55 victory over Colorado in Maples Pavilion on Saturday night.
Stanford (9-4, 1-0) led by as many as 11 in the first half, but a 12-0 Colorado (7-5, 0-1) run midway through the second earned the Buffaloes their first lead since the game's opening minutes, 43-42. Brecca Thomas' 3-pointer from the top of the circle, Colorado's one and only make from distance, inched CU out in front for the first time since it was 5-4.
On the very next trip down, Bonnie Samuelson answered with a corner triple of her own to put the Cardinal back up two, 45-43, with 10:02 remaining. Stanford and Orrange would never look back.
Orrange scored 12 of Stanford's final 17 points in the final 10 minutes to ensure the Cardinal its 15th consecutive win in a conference opener. It was rinse and repeat for the senior on back-to-back possessions to put Stanford up 10 late, 57-47.
Driving left at the top, Orrange stopped on a dime, stepped back and calmly sank a free-throw line pull-up with 4:42 on the clock. A Stanford defensive stand mere seconds later and Orrange again took over, utilizing the same exact move to grow the Cardinal lead back to double digits with 4:01 to go.
Colorado cut its deficit down to four on a Jen Reese fade-away jumper before Orrange answered the bell yet again, throwing one high off the glass with English with 47 seconds left. Swan hit two free throws for the Buffs, but Orrange made 1-of-2 at the line and Samuelson connected on both of her freebies to secure the win for Stanford.
The much ballyhooed Cardinal backcourt of Orrange and Thompson combined for 43 points on 17-of-28 shooting, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc. Another guard, Briana Roberson, added seven off the bench in 12 minutes. Bonnie Samuelson chipped in seven and bodied up Colorado's sizeable posts in the paint as the Cardinal upped its win streak over the Buffaloes to eight.
It was a big bounce-back effort from Orrange, who entered conference play with 18 combined points in Stanford's last four games and seven makes on 31 attempts from the floor. Her 26 points surpassed the 22 she put up at Connecticut on Nov. 11, 2013 and were her fifth career game of 20 or more. Orrange moved past Joslyn Tinkle (1,091) and Jillian Harmon (1,096) on Stanford's all-time scoring list and with 1,110 career points became the 30th player in school history to surpass 1,100.
Erica Payne subbed in for the first time after Samuelson's big 3-pointer provided Stanford with a big spark off the bench. She played all but 20 seconds of the game's final 9:30, securing Stanford numerous key possessions down the stretch with a block and four rebounds.
Stanford returns to the court on Monday night at 5 p.m. when it hosts Utah (6-6, 0-1) on the Pac-12 Networks.