SEATTLE, Wash. (AP) – After watching a seven-point lead disappear in the final minutes of regulation, Cameron Brink and No. 6 Stanford responded with a dominant effort in overtime.
It was the kind of test Brink felt the Cardinal needed with March on the horizon.
Brink scored seven of her 22 points in overtime, Courtney Ogden added 11 points, and Stanford held on to beat Washington 63-59 on Friday night.
"We just we said that it's our game, we just got to come out there and want it more than than they did," Brink said. "I think they were more aggressive than us at times. So we just kind of took that on our chin and we were like this game is ours."
The Cardinal (21-3, 10-2 Pac-12) remained tied for the lead in the conference but it wasn't easy. Stanford led by 15 in the first half as Washington struggled to make any shots, then watched the Huskies chip away over the final 2½ quarters to send the game to overtime.
Washington pulled even at 31-all in the third but Stanford led 50-43 after Talana Lepolo's 3-pointer with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Washington scored the final seven points of regulation, including Lauren Schwartz's banked 3-pointer with 15 seconds left after Stanford's 17th turnover of the game on the inbound pass. Kiki Iriafen had a good look at a 10-footer at the buzzer, but it hit the back of the rim and stayed out.
Brink started overtime by finishing a three-point play. Iriafen scored in the key, Brink hit a driving layup and a jumper by Iriafen gave the Cardinal a 59-52 lead.
This time the lead stood up.
"To be down seven and come back when they did in the regulation, give them a lot of credit. But Cam was a warrior out there and I thought she did a great job," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.
Brink made 8 of 15 shots, grabbed nine rebounds and had six blocks. But most of the night was an offensive struggle for the Cardinal. Stanford shot 42%, its 22 first-half points were a season-low and the Cardinal finished with 18 turnovers.
Hannah Stines led Washington (13-9, 3-8) with 17 points, while Schwartz and Sayvia Sellers both finished with 11 points. Sellers hit a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left in overtime to pull Washington to 61-59, but Stanford gathered the offensive rebound on Brink's miss and — after an officials review — Ogden scored on the inbound pass.
Washington missed 19 of its first 21 shots to start the game and trailed 20-5 when Schwartz banked a 3-pointer with 3:30 left in the second quarter. That sparked an 11-2 run to close the half by Washington and led to a competitive second half when a blowout appeared likely.
"Really proud of our team's fight tonight," Washington coach Tina Langley said. "I thought we came out and battled and showed a lot of improvement from our last game."
BIG PICTURE
Stanford: VanDerveer was honored before the game by Washington for becoming the winningest coach in college basketball. The presentation also included former Stanford player and current Washington professor Kate Starbird presenting VanDerveer with a gift.
Washington: The Huskies brutal recent schedule should start to ease beginning with Sunday's game against California. The matchup with the Cardinal ended a streak of five straight games against ranked opponents.
