STANFORD, Calif. – A milestone night from Bonnie Samuelson, another balanced offensive effort and some stout defense on the nation's third-leading scorer pushed the No. 12 Cardinal to an 82-69 victory over Washington in Maples Pavilion on Monday night.
The win, Stanford's fourth straight, moved its record to 17-5 overall and allowed the Cardinal to keep pace with No. 10 Arizona State for second place in the Pac-12 at 9-1. Stanford travels to the desert on Friday looking to avenge a Jan. 19 loss to the Sun Devils, the Cardinal's only setback in its past 12 games.
Samuelson led Stanford with 17 points, including her 200th career 3-pointer late in the second half. Briana Roberson added 15, Amber Orrange 14, Kaylee Johnson 11 and Karlie Samuelson 10, as the Cardinal placed five in double figures for the second straight game.
Johnson added 17 rebounds to notch her fifth double-double and tied a career high with four blocks to move into fourth on the school's freshman rejections list (30) behind Jayne Appel (61), Val Whiting (57) and Kristen Newlin (50).
Just as Stanford was rolling on the offensive end, it tied up Washington's Kelsey Plum, who entered the night third in the nation averaging 24.1 points per game. The sophomore was limited to a season-low eight points on 3-of-14 shooting thanks to the relentless work of Amber Orrange and the rest of Stanford's heralded backcourt.
Stanford raced out to a 45-29 halftime lead in large part due to its 3-point prowess. The Cardinal, the nation's fourth-best team from distance, made 7-of-16 in the first 20 minutes.
A 12-0 run midway through the period made a six-point Stanford lead 18, 35-17, with 6:33 on the clock. Started and finished with Kaylee Johnson layups, the freshman's finishes surrounded 3-pointers from Roberson and Karlie Sameulson and a finish at the rim from Lili Thompson.
Stanford's first-half lead grew to as large as 21 when Taylor Greenfield joined the 3-point party late in the frame and the Cardinal's 44 perfect effort from behind the arc was bolstered by a 50 percent clip from the field and an perfect 8-of-8 mark at the line.
The Huskies made an early charge in the second half, hitting six of their first 10 shots, including 4-of-5 from deep. Brianna Ruiz hit three of those triples in a four-minute stretch and Jazmine Davis the other as Washington cut the lead to 53-45 (13:24).
A 7-0 UW run at with 10 minutes trimmed Stanford's lead to 58-52. Plum hit a jumper, Aminah Williams made a free throw and a layup off an offensive rebound and Plum later ran out for an easy finish on the break.
But Kaylee Johnson again ignited a Stanford run, this one a 14-2 spurt over the next 2:42 which gave the Cardinal a 72-54 lead with 5:15 remaining. Bonnie Samuelson put an exclamation point on the stretch with her 200th triple to end the run and make her the seventh Stanford player to convert that many in a career.
THERE IT IS!!!! @bonaldean41 nails her 200th career triple! Congrats Bonnie! #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/IR5RcJoHlP
— Stanford WBB (@StanfordWBB) February 3, 2015
Making an average of 2.0 per game this season, Samuelson will likely finish third in Stanford history when all is said and done behind only Candice Wiggins (295) and Jeanette Pohlen (268). The senior also went a perfect 9-of-9 at the line on Monday and is making over 90 percent of her free throws for the third straight season.
Johnson, who has had 11 games with 10+ rebounds to go along with her five double-doubles, will take over the NCAA freshman rebounding lead on Tuesday morning. Her 10.5 boards per game nudged Johnson ahead of Rebekah Van Dijk (10.3) of UT Arlington.
Stanford's showdown with Arizona State will be televised Friday night on the Pac-12 Networks at 7 p.m.