STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Haley Jones kept No. 5 Stanford in the game in the first half and then helped carry the Cardinal with a big second half.
Jones scored a season-high 21 points and had 11 rebounds to help Stanford beat UC Davis 67-55 on Saturday and avoid an upset.
“We still didn’t box out well enough in the first half and our O-pace was not fast enough,” Jones said. “We came out in the second half with a lot of defensive intensity. Anna (Wilson) came out with a lot of fire and heart and when she gets going, we all feed off her energy.”
Lexie Hull hit two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 14 points for Stanford (11-1), which was coming off its first loss of the season. Nadia Fingall added 11 points.
“This will get everyone’s attention on playing better defense,” Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. “We stepped up in the second half and Haley made some nice plays. She came to play. Defense was the difference.”
Freshman Evanne Turner made her first career start, replacing the injured Sophia Song, and scored 15 points to lead the Aggies (4-8), who lost their 14th straight to the Cardinal.
“She’s been playing with a lot of confidence, so we went with her,” Aggies coach Jenny Gross said of Turner. “It paid off. I’m proud of her. I think this game will give us confidence that we can play with anyone in the country.”
Katie Toole added 13 points and Mackenzie Trpcic had 10. Cierra Hall added a team-high eight rebounds and scored six points.
Stanford ended the third quarter on a 10-1 run to take a 46-41 edge into the fourth. Jones scored five points, including a driving layup with 26 seconds left in the third.
“She is well beyond her years in terms of understanding the game,” VanDerveer said of Jones. “She’s very intelligent.”
Anna Wilson, the younger sister of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, hit a layup that gave Stanford a 17-7 advantage midway through the first quarter.
The Aggies outscored the Cardinal 21-5 over the next 8:41 to open a 28-22 lead and carry a 32-30 edge into halftime.
Turner sparked the run with three consecutive 3-pointers over the final 1:34 of the first quarter.
“I’m proud of the kids for stepping up and staying focused,” Gross said. “We executed our game plan.”
THE BIG PICTURE
UC Davis: Toole scored 50 points total in 23 games a year ago. This year she’s reached double figures in all 12 games and ranks third in the Big West Conference with a 16.4 scoring average.
Stanford: The Cardinal dropped to No. 5 in the rankings after losing to then unranked Texas and are one of three Pac-12 teams among the top five. … Hull, Stanford’s leading scorer, was in foul trouble most of the game and was called for her fourth personal midway through the third quarter.
UP NEXT
UC Davis: Hosts William Jessup on Wednesday.
Stanford: Hosts Washington State in its Pac-12 Conference opener on Friday.
