Thursday night was all business for No. 13 Stanford, which jumped ahead early against Oregon and never looked back en route to a 79-58 win.
Playing at The Farm proved just as difficult for Oregon this year as in past seasons dating back to 1987. That was the last time the Ducks beat the Cardinal on the road. Stanford shot a blistering 48.1 percent from the field to start the game.
Center Brooke Smith had a hand in much of the Cardinal’s scoring. The junior from San Anselmo, Calif., finished with a game-high 19 points along with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Smith’s teammate Candice Wiggins scored 15 points. The defending Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year converted 48.2 percent of her shots from the field and grabbed eight rebounds, two short of a double-double. In Stanford’s last meeting with Oregon, the sophomore phenom ended with a career-high 37 points.
The victory is Stanford’s seventh straight at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal has not lost a conference home game since 2001.
Road woes continue for Oregon (13-8 overall, 4-7 Pac-10), which is still in search of its first conference win away from McArthur Court. The Ducks icy shooting could not keep pace with the conference front-runner. The Cardinal hustled for boards, holding a 44-29 edge in rebounds.
Freshman Rosalyn Gold-Onwude of Stanford made three from beyond the arc for nine points and finished with seven rebounds. She also had four assists, aiding Stanford in its third-straight win over the Ducks. Oregon has lost nine of its last 11 meetings with the Cardinal. Krista Rappahahn also sank a trio of threes for Stanford.
For Oregon, senior Brandi Davis came off the bench to lead her team in scoring. Davis finished with 15 points, all from three-pointers. Gabrielle Richards added 10 and had eight rebounds. Davis sank a trio of threes in the first half helping Oregon close the score to 19-14, but Stanford countered with a 13-0 run. From there, the Cardinal stretched its lead to 20 putting the game out of reach for Oregon.
Stanford helped its cause early with four steals in the first 10 minutes of play. Going into the half, the Cardinal outrebounded the Ducks 24-13 and held a 38-20 lead.
The win strengthened Stanford’s grip on first place in the conference. With four games left to play at home, where the Cardinal has won 43 straight conference games, Stanford (15-5, 10-2) is poised to repeat as Pac-10 champion. The win moves Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer one away from notching her 650th career victory. She is three wins away from her 500th since coming to Stanford 20 years ago.
The Ducks continue road play Saturday against California. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Haas Pavilion.
In their last meeting, Oregon coasted to a 70-41 home win.
Oregon State upset Cal (14-8, 6-6) at home Thursday 63-55. Ashley Walker and Jene Morris led the Golden Bears in scoring with 15 points apiece. Freshman center Devanei Hampton and forward Alexis Gray-Lawson both ended with 11.
Cal endured mismatches in the post and could not contain Kim Butler of the Beavers. Butler made 10 of 20 shots from the field and scored a game-high 30 points.
Because of Oregon’s loss to Stanford, the Golden Bears did not lose ground in the conference standings. Cal is in sole possession of sixth place.
Cal picked up a much-needed split on the road last week facing the Los Angeles schools. Gray-Lawson averaged 20.5 points per game during the week and played a pivotal role in the Golden Bears’ 72-67 win over USC. The freshman ended with 19 points and four rebounds.
Following its win over the Trojans, Cal came close to notching a road sweep with an upset over UCLA, but the Bruins held on for a 90-87 overtime win. In the loss, Hampton scored a team-high 24 points. She averaged 17.5 points per game during the weekend.
Going into Thursday’s game against Oregon State, Cal’s record through the first 21 games of the season equaled the team’s best start since 1993.
Oregon is now 0-6 on the road this season in conference play. The Ducks return home next week to host the Arizona schools. They have two away games left this year being against Washington and Washington State.
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