In a first half filled with lopsided runs, the No. 8 Stanford Cardinal eventually separated from the Oregon Ducks Friday at Maples Pavilion as the Ducks fell, 88-63.
The Ducks (11-8, 2-4 Pac-12) fell behind 20-0 before scoring their first points with 3:45 to go in the first quarter. That bucket spurred a shorter 13-0 run by the Ducks to trim the deficit to single digits, before Stanford again separated and led 25-15 heading into the second.
Though the Cardinal (16-2, 5-1 Pac-12) got off to a hot start again in the second frame, a mini-run saw the Ducks trail by five midway through the quarter.
Then Stanford separated for good. The Cardinal went on a 12-0 run over the first half’s final four minutes and led 43-26 at half.
That deficit, and a poor finish to the half, would prove insurmountable for the Ducks.
“I was pleased with the way we fought back, we made a couple of runs of our own,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “The final few minutes of the first half killed us. We took some tough shots, some bad shots, and then we didn’t defend them. Going into the half they went in with some momentum after we really played them even or better in the second quarter.”
With Cameron Brink injured early in the game, Kiki Iriafen scored 21 points and had 15 rebounds for the Cardinal. Stanford outrebounded the Ducks, 38-32, and shot 51% from the field.
The Ducks countered with a strong first half from Chance Gray, who finished the game with a team-high 19 points. Phillipina Kyei added 14 points and six rebounds. Oregon shot 40% from the field and had 12 turnovers.
Oregon will look to rebound in a pivotal game against Cal at noon on Sunday.
Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer ties NCAA wins record
With her 1,202nd career win, longtime Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer tied former Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski as the NCAA’s all-time winningest basketball coach.
If the Cardinal can beat Oregon State on Sunday, VanDerveer would stand alone as the winningest coach in college basketball history.
Graves spoke earlier in the week on his friendship with VanDerveer and the potential accomplishment.
“It’s incredible what she’s done,” he said. “She’s really set the bar for the Pac-12. She’s the person, the coach, the program by which the rest of us are judged. She’s done it the right way; you never have to worry about them cheating or doing things they aren’t supposed to. She’s a great example to me. She’s become a good friend. Tara and I align on a lot of things. The last few years we talk more and more. I look up to her, I have so much respect for her.”
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer ties Mike Krzyzewski in NCAA basketball wins
