SPOKANE, Wash. – Stanford’s juniors combined for 54 points and the Cardinal methodically erased an early 12-point deficit to beat Gonzaga in Spokane on Sunday, 65-52.
Chloe Clardy came off the bench to score 20 on 6-of-13 shooting and made Stanford’s only two 3-pointers on the afternoon, while Nunu Agara put together her 10th career double-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Courtney Ogden had 14 points and six rebounds and Mary Ashley Stevenson scored four, including Stanford’s final bucket, to go with six rebounds and three assists.
Stanford (5-0) was down 12 late in the first quarter, 18-6, but didn’t wilt on the road. Gonzaga (2-2) made 53.3 percent of its field goals in the first 10 minutes but was limited to 13-of-41 (.317) the rest of the way.
The Cardinal won the second quarter 18-11 and finished the half on a 10-2 run over the final 4:27, punctuated by a Clardy 3-pointer off a feed from Hailee Swain to pull within two, 33-31. Swain led Stanford with four assists.
Clardy had seven and Agara six in a third quarter that saw Stanford’s lead grow to six, 48-42. The Cardinal hit 50.0 from the floor in the second half.
An offensive rebound and putback by Agara gave Stanford its first double-digit lead at the 7:09 mark in the fourth, 52-42, but Gonzaga answered with a 6-0 run to be down four with five minutes to play.
The Cardinal dominated the final 5:14. Stanford scored nine straight points after the Bulldogs pulled within four to go up 61-48 with 2:07 remaining. Swain hit two free throws, Clardy made a midrange jumper, Ogden made a driving layup after a Gonzaga shot clock violation and Clardy sealed it with three free throws after getting fouled taking a 3-pointer in front of Stanford’s bench.
Gonzaga only had two field goal attempts during the run, as Stanford forced two turnovers during the game-defining 3:34.
Stanford moved to 5-0 with the win and 2-0 on its first road trip of the season, matching its road win total from all last year.
The Cardinal is back in action at home on Thursday, Nov. 20 when it hosts UC Davis at 7 p.m. on ACCNX.