RIVERIA MAYA, Mexico – Up eight with two minutes remaining in the third quarter, No. 11 Stanford went on a 19-1 run and beat Northeastern 74-45 in its first game at the Cancun Challenge on Thursday morning.
Erica McCall was 11-of-14 from the floor and tied a career high with 27 points, Karlie Samuelson was 6-of-13 from behind the arc and Alanna Smith, starting in place of an injured Kaylee Johnson, added seven points along with career highs in both rebounds (9) and blocks (4).
Stanford (4-1) led 45-37 with 2:11 to go in the third quarter when McCall converted a layup off a feed from Samuelson. The Cardinal missed 3-pointers on its next two possessions, but would nail three in the period's final minute. McCall came down, received a pass from DiJonai Carrington and sank one from the wing and then Samuelson buried back-to-back triples off Marta Sniezek assists to give Stanford a 56-38 lead heading into the fourth.
The Cardinal, which was 2-of-14 from deep in the first half, went 6-of-12 in the third quarter and didn't need to attempt one in the final period. Samuelson tied her career with six 3-point makes exactly two years after she first did it. As a sophomore, she scored 23 points and went 6-of-12 from distance in a 70-65 win at New Mexico on Nov. 24, 2014.
McCall twice, Brittany McPhee and Nadia Fingall each finished in the paint to begin the fourth and put Stanford up 26 with 6:45 left, 64-38.
The Huskies had a stretch where they made 7-of-8 from the floor to pull within eight late in that third quarter, but they'd miss their next eight shots and finished the final 12 minutes by going 3-of-16 (.188).
Stanford had 19 assists on its 27 made baskets against just nine turnovers. Marta Snizek led the Cardinal with five assists and zero turnovers in 20 minutes.
Carrington came off the bench and chipped in six points and a career-high nine rebounds. Shannon Coffee scored seven and is 5-of-6 from the field in her past two games.
Stanford won its sixth straight game outside the 50 U.S. states and moved to 52-13 (.800) at neutral sites the last 10 years.
The Cardinal continues its challenge tomorrow morning when it plays Wichita State (1-2) at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT.