WOMENS BASKETBALL

Stanford 78, California 51

Associated Press

BERKELEY, Calif. - Talana Lepolo scored a career-high 20 points with six 3-pointers, Kiki Iriafen had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and the No. 9 Stanford women won their third straight game by beating California 78-51.

Lepolo, whose previous high in scoring was 17 nearly a year ago, was 7 of 11 for the game, connecting on six of her 10 attempts beyond the arc. That provided a big boost for the Cardinal (11-1, 1-0 Pac-12) while leading scorer Cameron Brink was mired in foul trouble much of the game.

Brink had 13 points and seven rebounds.

Ioanna Krimili was the only Cal player in double figures. She scored 12 points. The Bears (10-3, 0-1) shot 26.5% from the floor (18 of 68) and finished 4 of 31 on 3-point attempts.

tanford led the entire game and was ahead 63-37 following back-to-back three-point plays from Iriafen early in the fourth quarter. Lepolo’s sixth 3-pointer extended Stanford’s lead to 70-41.

Stanford has won 10 straight against its Northern California rivals.

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, already the all-time leader in women’s college basketball with 1,197 victories, needs six more wins to slip past Mike Krzyzewski’s record of 1,202 to become the winningest coach in college basketball history.

Stanford athletics press release

December 29, 2023