SEATTLE, Wash. – Lili Thompson scored seven of Stanford's final 13 points and banked in a desperation 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining to lead the No. 15 Cardinal to its fifth-straight victory on Friday night, a 60-56 come-from-behind win over Washington in Seattle.
Thompson and Amber Orrange saved their best for last. Stanford's sophomore scored 13 of her team-high 15 and its senior 12 of her 14 in the second half. In a game which featured seven ties and eight lead changes, the Cardinal had been trailing for nearly 10 minutes when Thompson put her head down and barreled her way to the rim to inch her team in front, 49-48, with 4:25 left.
Washington's Talia Walton nudged the Huskies back on top with a basket of her own on the next possession, but Thompson answered the bell with a jumper at 3:39 to give Stanford (11-4, 3-0) the lead for good.
Kaylee Johnson split a pair at the line and Bonnie Samuelson hit one of her four 3-pointers to give the Cardinal a 55-50 advantage (2:39). Washington baskets from Jazmine Davis and Kelsey Plum sandwiched an Orrange jumper and set up Thompson's heroics with Stanford up 57-55 with under a minute to go.
Stanford called timeout with 38.8 left and less than 10 seconds on the shot clock. With time winding down, Thompson had no choice but to heave a shot from NBA distance near the top of the circle. As the buzzer sounded, her attempt kissed the glass and fell through the net with 27 ticks on the game clock to make it a two-possession affair and give Stanford some breathing room.
The Huskies (12-3, 1-2) failed to get a good look from there and Stanford clawed its way to its 45th-ever victory over Washington.
Stanford, which trailed at the half for the sixth time this season, earned just its second victory in those circumstances. After closing the final 12 minutes of the opening frame going 3-of-21 from the field, the Cardinal found itself down 24-22 at the break.
The Cardinal burst out of the locker room and opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take its largest lead, 31-24, with 16:32 to go. But a later 12-1 spurt for UW gave the Huskies their biggest edge, 41-34 at 11:32 and set the stage for Stanford's comeback. Stanford shot just 22.9 percent in the first half, but upped that to 45.5 percent in the second.
Kaylee Johnson had her seventh double-digit rebound game of the season, grabbing 13, and Brittany McPhee pulled down six in just 12 minutes to help Stanford continue its month-long stretch of stingy defense.
The Cardinal held the Pac-12's top scoring offense to just 56 points, 24 below its season average, on 34.5 percent shooting. In the last nine games, Stanford's opponents are averaging 49.9 points on 32.1 percent shooting. In its first six games this season, its opponents scored 70.6 per game and shot 40.6 percent. The Huskies' 32 second-half points snapped the Cardinal's streak of nine consecutive halves holding its opponent to 30 points or less.
Stanford's bench outscored Washington's 12-0. The Cardinal earned 20 points in the paint to the Huskies' 12 and nabbed 19 second-chance points while holding UW to just two.
Bonnie Samuelson scored all 12 of her points from behind the arc and now is ninth in Stanford history in 3-point makes with 180 in her career. The senior passed Molly Goodenbour (178) and Kate Starbird (179) on Friday. Amber Orrange, who added six rebounds and five assists with her 14 points moved into a tie for 28th on Stanford's all-time scoring list with Kami Anderson (1,141).
The Cardinal closes out its first Pac-12 road trip of the season at Washington State on Sunday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m. in a game televised on the Pac-12 Networks.