Cardinal beats the Bruins

The Bruins brought their 'A' game to Maples today and kept the Cardinal struggling to keep up all through the first half. The Cardinal played a little harder, a little faster, a little better after halftime, as Cardinal teams are wont to do, and took control in the second half. At the postgame behind-the-bench session, TV commentator Mary Murphy likened it to watching an approaching storm in the Midwest, "You can feel it in the air. You know it's coming." Final: Stanford 82 UCLA 59.

Nneka led the scoring with 25 points. She also had eight rebounds, three assists, a block and three steals. One of her steals came as she was tearing back down the court on defense. She turned, saw the ball coming, leaped impossibly high in the air and intercepted a long Bruin pass.

Chiney had only two rebounds today, but scored 19 points on seven-of-seven field goals and five-of-seven free throws. She also had four assists and two blocks.

Toni scored twelve points, including one three-pointer, against what may be her favorite opponent. She also had three rebounds and an assist.

Joslyn had a big game. She grabbed the most rebounds (nine) and scored 10 points, including a three-pointer. She added an assist, a block and a steal.

Amber got a lot of good experience today. She led the offense for 28 minutes during with she had four points, four rebounds, three assists and two turnovers.

Taylor sank two from beyond the arc. She's become our most reliable long-range shooter. She makes on average 38.1% of her three-point attempts — fourth-best in the Pac-12.

Lindy didn't score today, but she was the best ball-handler. She dished out five assists and had just three turnovers.

Here are game reports:

• No. 4 Stanford Pulls Away From UCLA, 82-59 by Janie McCauley (Associated Press
• Stanford women cruise to 82-59 win over UCLA by Elliott Almond (Mercury News)
• WBB: Stanford 82 UCLA 59 from The CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

The game highlights video,

A gallery of photos by Bob Drebin (Stanford Photo),

And photo by Paul Sakuma (Associated Press):

Toni caught in a Bruin sandwich Lindy looks for a way out Joslyn works against Markel Walker Waiting for the rebound Cardinal defense lets one get away A perfect block Foul! Mutual appreciation?