Cardinal closes out another perfect conference season

The Cardinal over-powered and out-shot the Bears in their lair 86-61 for their third consecutive perfect conference season.

Cardinal fans were worried for the first couple of minutes as Cal's tough defense forced three missed shots and a turnover. But that didn't last long. At 17:53, Jos dropped back and sank the first of the Cardinal's eight three-pointers. With two free throws by Nneka a minute later, the Cardinal took the lead and never relinquished it.

Recent concerns about Toni's dings and slump can be laid to rest (although she did get another ding – a bloody nose). She played for 36 minutes and led all scorers with 23 points, including three of six three-pointers. She also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists.

Nneka came next in the scoring column with 22 points — plus nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.

Jos scored 16 points (including two of three three-pointers), blocked five shots, and had four rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Chiney led all rebounders with 12 (half of them O-boards) and scored 12 points for the only double-double of the evening. Eight of her points came from eight free throw attempts. Her free throw funk is definitely ended! She also blocked three shots.

Bonnie came in to challenge the Bears' zone defense. She succeeded by sinking three of six three-point attempts.

Up to the last few minutes, the Cardinal used just seven players for this victory — the starting five, Lindy and Bonnie (Sarah and Taylor were in uniform, but did not play).

Here are game reports:

• No. 2 Cardinal Cap Regular Season With 86-61 Win Over Cal by Janie McCauley (Associated Press)
• Stanford women rout Cal to cap 18-0 Pac-12 regular season by Elliott Almond (Mercury News), with photos by D. Ross Cameron
• Stanford women rout Cal at home, 86-61 by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle), with photos by Carlos Avila Gonzalez
• No. 2 Stanford women's basketball team routs Cal in rival rematch by Paul Gackle (San Francisco Examiner)
• Cardinal cap perfect 18-0 Pac-12 season by Michelle Smith (espnW)
• WBB: Stanford 86 Ca.l 61 from The CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

Postgame quotes from Lindsay Gottlieb and Eliza Pierre,

A gallery of photos by Michael Pimentel (Stanford Photo),

A gallery of photos from Golden Bear Photos,

And photos by Marco Jose Sanchez (Associated Press):

Chiney grabs a rebound Nneka robs Layshia Clarendon (who did not land on her head) Layshia Clarendon drives past Nneka Jos beats everyone to the basket Chiney soars and scores Nneka on defense Toni launches a long one Nneka and Genifer Brandon vie for a rebound Wow! Cheers for the reserves