McPhee leads No. 9 Stanford women to 72-52 victory over Utah
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) Brittany McPhee loves rebounding and she loves winning even more. For the second time in three games, she got to do a little of both.
McPhee and Lili Thompson each scored 16 points and No. 9 Stanford rebounded from its lowest points total in history to beat Utah 72-52 on Friday night.
''When I come in I'm just focusing on the team,'' McPhee said. ''I wanted to do whatever I could to help.''
In this case, it meant coming off the bench to spark a rally and get Stanford headed in the right direction. She did the same thing last Saturday at Arizona, scoring 21 points.
McPhee, a guard, added five rebounds. She averages about three per game and has a season high of six. Bri Roberson, who started the previous 14 games, came off the bench to deliver a career-high eight assists against one turnover.
''We got great contributions off the bench,'' Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. ''They play so much I don't think of them as substitutes.''
Karlie Samuelson added 13 points for the Cardinal (12-3, 2-1 Pac-12). They lost to No. 14 Arizona State 49-31 on Monday night.
''It's just sticking to it,'' Roberson said. ''We used that game as a learning moment.''
Erica McCall had 11 points and 11 rebounds for her ninth double-double to help Stanford win for the sixth time in seven games.
Paige Crozon scored 16 points to lead the Utes (10-4, 2-1). They had a five-game winning streak snapped.
''We knew this would be a tough game,'' Utes coach Lynne Roberts said. ''We knew after a tough loss this would be a tough time to play them.''
Emily Potter, who averages 17.3 points and 12.3 rebounds, was held to nine points and four rebounds.
''We did a good job on her,'' VanDerveer said. ''One-on-one, she'll score. We were sending a double on her immediately.''
Potter scored the opening basket of the third quarter to tie the game for the Utes before Stanford went on a 14-2 run to take control of the contest. McPhee scored six points during the run, with Thompson and McCall each adding four.
''The third quarter was a gut punch,'' Roberts said. ''Credit Stanford. They did a really good job of executing on both ends of the court.''
Samuelson had a steal and layup at the buzzer to give the Cardinal a 55-40 lead going into the final quarter.
The Cardinal, looking more like the team that struggled Monday in the loss to Arizona State, missed six of their first eight shots and turned the ball over three times as Utah built a 10-4 edge.
Stanford, sparked by McPhee off the bench, responded with a 9-2 run to finish the first quarter. McPhee scored the final five points of the period.
The Cardinal eventually held a 30-28 advantage at halftime, just one point less than they scored the entire game against the Sun Devils.
TIP INS:
Utah: The Utes finished 9-21 last season and played all but five games without four key players, including Potter and Katie Kuklok, both of whom missed the whole season. Devri Owens and Malia Nawahine missed 24 games and 27 games, respectively. ... Utah entered play 9-0 when scoring at least 60 points and 8-0 when limiting opponents to 70 points or fewer.
Stanford: Freshman guard Marta Sniezek was in the starting lineup for the third time. She started Stanford's first two games, becoming the 12th true freshman to start a season opener since 2000-01. ... Cardinal starters were a combined 12-of-50 (24 percent) from the floor in last weekend's games at Arizona and Arizona State. They accounted for 36 of Stanford's 90 points.
UP NEXT:
Utah plays at California on Sunday.
Stanford hosts Colorado on Sunday.
