Stanford women upset Oregon State; Cal falls to Oregon

Kiana Williams wanted to stay in the flow of the offense.

After hitting a couple of shots, the sophomore guard found her rhythm and sparked a run that doesn’t happen much against one of the top defensive teams in the country.

Williams scored 16 of her 18 points in the first half, leading No. 11 Stanford past visiting No. 7 Oregon State 61-44 Friday night.

“We were focused,” Williams said. “We locked in on defense and collectively did our job. That helped me get into a rhythm.”

Alanna Smith added 17 points for the Cardinal (19-3, 9-2 Pac-12), who won their 22nd consecutive home game. Smith also blocked three shots early in the game that turned the momentum.

“Her defense at the beginning helped set the tone,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. “Those blocks were big.”

Maya Dodson, in her third game back from an injury, had a career-high 10 rebounds and matched her career high with four blocks.

Destiny Slocum scored 23 points for Oregon State (19-4, 9-2), which had won four straight since losing to Arizona State.

The Beavers have lost three straight to the Cardinal.

“We stepped up to the challenge of really playing defense,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “We had to focus on getting out on their shooters. The defense was outstanding.”

After a slow start, Stanford rapidly pulled away, outscoring the Beavers 24-12 in the second quarter, and maintaining a double-digit advantage for most of the contest. The Cardinal led by as many as 23 points.

Smith blocked three shots, all in the first half, becoming the fifth Stanford player to record at least 200 blocks in a career.

Oregon State’s 10-game winning streak in road conference games came to an end.

No. 3 Oregon 105, ?Cal 82

Sabrina Ionescu scored 27 points in her return to the Bay Area to help No. 3 Oregon extend the longest active winning streak in the nation to 15 games with a victory over host Cal on Friday night.

Ionescu got the Ducks (22-1, 11-0 Pac-12) off to a fast start with nine points in the opening four minutes to take a 14-1 lead and Oregon broke open a close game late in the first half to roll to yet another victory. Ionescu, who grew up in nearby Walnut Creek, hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in a 69-66 victory in her only previous visit to Cal in 2017.

Satou Sabally led Oregon with 31 points and Maite Cazorla added 17 in her school record 131st career game to move the Ducks two games ahead of Oregon State and Stanford in the Pac-12 race.

Kristine Anigwe had 23 points and 18 rebounds to extend her streak of posting a double-double in every game this season as part of a record-setting night for the Golden Bears (14-8, 5-6).

She hit a free throw for Cal’s first point to give her 2,321 career points, breaking the mark held by Colleen Galloway for the most ever by a man or woman in school history.

She needs just two more rebounds to tie Gennifer Brandon’s school record of 1,219.

Recee Caldwell added 22 points for Cal.