Cardinal overcomes the Bruins

Forget the short bench and the lack of big players! The Bruin style is the same old aggressive in-your-face defense, and the Cardinal had to fight very hard for its 72-55 victory.

The lead changed 12 times in the first half until the Cardinal managed to gain an eight-point lead, which dwindled away to one by the end of the half.

The Bruins drew first blood after the break, and the Cardinal gave up the lead in the second half for the only time this season (except for that once in Storrs). Mikaela and Sara took care of that in short order — Mikaela with an old-fashioned three and Sara with two contemporary ones. The Bruins never cut the margin to less than six points in the remaining 17 minutes, but the victory didn't seem assured until the final buzzer sounded.

The Bruin defense clearly discombobulated the Cardinal, causing unproductive passes and 16 turnovers. But the Cardinal managed to make 53% of its shots while holding the Bruins to 33%.

Tara called on only eight players for this battle (Bonnie came in for just a few minutes). In no particular sequence, this is what they did tonight:

Sara took advantage of some lapses in the Bruins' perimeter defense to launch three shots from beyond the arc. She made all three — her high for the season. She added a soaring layup for a total of eleven points. And, as always, she was really tough on defense.

Bird had a breakout game, making the plays that have been "not-quite" until today. She scored her career-high 12 points and matched her career-high eight rebounds.

Lili scored on three driving layups in the paint, two of three shots from beyond the arc, and all three of her free throws for a total of 15 points. Plus two assists, two steals and a block and her usual fierce defense.

Amber handled the ball and the Bruin defense beautifully. She dished out eight assists and turned the ball over just once. She also scored six points directly on a drive to the basket and a couple of jumpers.

Chiney was slowed down to a 56% field goal percentage, but fought through to her customary double-double — 21 points and 15 rebounds.

Mikaela scored only three points — on a driving layup in the paint and the subsequent free throw — but that began the Cardinal turnaround in the second half. She also contributed four assists and five rebounds.

Taylor was denied the perimeter tonight, but scored four points on the inside. She also tallied three rebounds and two assists.

Karlie contributed the most egregious foul call of the season. She stood up to a charging Bruin, was thrown to the floor by an outflung elbow, and called for a blocking foul! Tara strode onto the court in protest (or, maybe, just to check that Karlie was OK), and 4,000 irate Stanford fans screamed, "No-o-o-o-o!!!" until play resumed. The Cardinal seemed energized by all the hoo-hah and proceeded to build up their brief eight-point first-half lead.

Here are game reports and commentary:

• UCLA women find lessons in loss, by Rick Eymer (Associated Press)
• UCLA Battles but Falls at No. 4 Stanford, 72-55, the UCLA Athletics game recap
• Cardinal Turns Down Upset Bid, the Stanford Athletics game recap
• Stanford women's basketball team whips UCLA by Ray Hacke (Mercury News)
• Stanford women extend win streak to 17 by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
• WBB: Stanford 72 UCLA 55 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

Stanford-UCLA postgame notes from Stanford Athletics

A postgame interview of Chiney from Pac-12 Networks,

A gallery of photos from USA Today,

A gallery of photos by Karen Ambrose Hickey (Stanford Photo),

And photos by Marcio Jose Sanchez (Associated Press):

Chiney's about to put this lob in the basket

Lili drives past Luiana Livulo

Lili has many talents

Karlie keeps her eyes on the ball

Who snags this rebound?

Nirra Fields drives through the Cardinal defense

Sara celebrates one of her 3-pointers