STANFORD, Calif. – Courtney Ogden scored a career-high 25 points and Stanford started ACC play with a 78-69 victory over rival Cal on Sunday afternoon.
Ogden scored her 25 on 10-of-12 shooting, while also adding seven rebounds, two assists and a block. Lara Somfai put together her fourth double-double of the year with 12 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high three blocks.
In a game that featured six ties and seven lead changes, the Cardinal (9-2, 1-0 ACC) won it with a stellar fourth, outscoring Cal (8-4, 0-1 ACC) 26-14 in the quarter, shooting 61.5 percent, and holding the Golden Bears to 25.0 percent.
Cal’s Puff Morris made a driving layup to open the period and put her team up five, 57-52, before the Cardinal responded with a 12-0 run over the next 4:31 to take control. When Talana Lepolo banked in a 3-pointer to end the spurt with 4:46 to go, it was 64-57 Stanford.
The Bears would get within four on a 3-point play from Sakima Walker with just over three minutes remaining, but Chloe Clardy knocked down a triple on the next trip down, Somfai blocked Walker in the post and then Ogden sank a layup while being bumped by Morris and nailed the free throw to push the lead to 10 with 1:44 left.
Stanford made seven of its final eight shots in the game to put it away and its defense held Cal to a 5-of-20 clip from the floor in the fourth, including 11 consecutive misses over a five-minute stretch.
The Cardinal had 13 assists and just six turnovers, including a career-high five assists from Nunu Agara, three of which came in the final period. Agara totaled 12 points, nine boards and five assists.
Clardy had 13 points off the bench and made 3-of-4 from behind the arc. She had a steal and coast-to-coast layup during the game-defining 12-0 run that put Stanford ahead 58-57 and was the game’s final lead change.
Stanford will have three more nonconference games before beginning ACC action in earnest in January, beginning with Friday night against No. 20 Washington at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.