Stanford women reach top of standings with win

STANFORD — Brittany McPhee scored 12 of her 26 points in the third quarter, helping No. 8 Stanford rally past Colorado 64-51 on Friday night.

The Cardinal (21-4, 11-2 Pac-12) moved into a three-way tie for first place in the conference after No. 9 Oregon State lost at home to USC. Stanford, Washington and OSU all are 11-2 in Pac-12 play.

Erica McCall shot just 4 for 13, but contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds for Stanford. McPhee, whose point total was just two shy of her personal best, added a career-high 11 rebounds.

Mckenzie Ellis scored 14 points for the Buffaloes (13-11, 3-10), who shot 32 percent for the game.

McPhee scored 12 points in a span of 4:10 in the third quarter to help give Stanford its first lead since the first quarter. Kennedy Leonard answered with five points and Colorado was up 44-43 with just 9 seconds left in the period.

But McCall, who had made just six of 24 shots over two games, swished a 3-pointer as the horn sounded, sending the Cardinal into the fourth quarter with a 46-44 lead.

Stanford trailed 27-24 at halftime after shooting 4 for 15 in the opening quarter and committing 11 turnovers before intermission. The Cardinal turned the ball over just once in the second half until the final 15 seconds.

BIG PICTURE

Colorado, alone in 11th place in the conference standings, remains winless in 12 games against Stanford since joining the Pac-12 and fell to 0-9 all-time in games at Maples Pavilion.

Stanford positioned itself to play Oregon State with the Pac-12 title possibly at stake on Feb. 24 at Corvallis, Oregon.

UP NEXT

Colorado: play Sunday at Cal, which beat the Buffaloes 65-53 at Boulder last month.

Stanford: remains at home Sunday for a date with Utah, which the Cardinal beat 77-58 last month in Salt Lake City.