College basketball: Stanford women, Saint Mary's men both win

Hannah Jump scored 24 points, Haley Jones added 19 and Nadia Fingall had 10 points and 13 rebounds as No. 3 Stanford beat 18th-ranked Syracuse 77-59 on Friday night at the Greater Victoria Invitational in British Columbia.

Stanford (7-0) remained unbeaten on the season, while Syracuse (3-2) lost for the second time in three games overall.

Kiara Lewis led Syracuse with 19 points while Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi furnished 10.

Syracuse held the lead occasionally in the first quarter, but the Cardinal outscored the Orange 23-9 in the second quarter to take a 35-18 advantage at the half.

Stanford's ability to hold a large lead for most of the game contrasted sharply with the Cardinal's effort in the opening game of the tournament Thursday, when it led by 21 and allowed Cal Baptist to roar back and make the game close.

Stanford and Syracuse matched up well inside, staying close to each other on the rebound count at both ends of the floor. But the Cardinal's superior shooting ultimately outdid the Orange.

Stanford continues to progress well as it faces the pressure of being highly ranked and some tough conference battles loom. Syracuse, meanwhile, faces a battle to live up to some preseason hype with tough ACC opponents coming up on the schedule.

Stanford will face No. 10 Mississippi State in Saturday's final, while Syracuse will take on Green Bay in Saturday's third-place game.

ST. MARY'S MEN 81, NO. 15 UTAH STATE 73

In Moraga, Jordan Ford scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half and sparked a run of 11 straight points late in the game to lead Saint Mary's to victory over Utah State on Friday.

Ford took the game over in the second half while his teammates struggled to make shots and helped the Gaels (7-1) get their first home win over a ranked team in nearly eight years. Saint Mary's last beat a ranked team at home on Jan. 12, 2012, against No. 21 Gonzaga and hadn't beaten a top-15 team at home since upsetting Oregon in 2007.

Justin Bean scored a career-high 24 points and Sam Merrill added 23 to lead the Aggies (7-1).

It was a back-and-forth game with 13 ties and 23 lead changes that went down to the last minutes. Utah State had opened a four-point lead before Ford hit a 3-pointer. He then fed Malik Fitts for a dunk that put the Gaels up 66-65 with 3:29 to play on their first basket by someone other than Ford in more than eight minutes.

Bean answered with two free throws to put Utah State back up before back-to-back 3s from Ford and Tanner Krebs sparked the big run that put the game away.

UTAH MEN 77, UC DAVIS 73

In Salt Lake City, Timmy Allen scored 20 points to help Utah pull away from UC Davis for a victory on Friday night.

Rylan Jones added 18 points and five assists while Riley Battin chipped in 15 points and six rebounds for the Utes. Utah (5-2) won its third home game of the season after dropping two of three contests at the Myrtle Beach Invitational before Thanksgiving.

Joe Mooney scored 19 points and Elijah Pepper added 14 to lead the Aggies. UC Davis (2-7) forced 13 turnovers but ultimately trailed wire-to-wire after a slow start.

The Aggies rallied to within 66-62 on free throws from Damion Squire and Ezra Manjon. Allen kept UC Davis from getting any closer. He made a stepback jumper and a pair of free throws to put Utah up 70-62 with 1:40 remaining.