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No. 2 Stanford women get balanced effort, rout Cal Poly

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STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Haley Jones scored on a layin 14 seconds into the game and wound up with 16 points and 10 rebounds playing for the first time in more than 10 months since a knee injury ended her freshman season early, leading No. 2 Stanford past Cal Poly 108-40 in the teams' season opener Wednesday.

Hall of Fame Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer began her 35th season on The Farm by moving to 1,095 career wins — four from passing the late Pat Summitt's 1,098 victories to become the all-time winningest NCAA Division-I women's basketball coach.

Stanford (1-0), one of four Pac-12 teams in the preseason Top-10 rankings and five among the top 18, used a 26-2 run to end the first half and build a 51-18 lead then kept pushing as the entire roster gained valuable minutes.

Stanford senior and returning leading scorer Kiana Williams scored 13 points after she averaged 15 points per game as a junior before the Cardinal missed out on the NCAA Tournament — they had been set to host the first two rounds — because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cameron Brink, a 6-foot-4 freshman, contributed 17 points and nine rebounds in her collegiate debut while Lexie Hull had 21 points with four 3-pointers.

VanDerveer used a red plastic bullhorn to make herself better heard given the social distancing and manufactured crowd noise in empty Maples Pavilion.

Jones shot 6 for 10 in her first game since sustaining the right knee injury Jan. 19 at Oregon State in her 18th career game. She averaged 11.4 points and 4.2 rebounds to start the season before getting hurt, earning 13 starts.)

Cal Poly senior forward Sierra Campisano was the lone player to score in double figures for the Mustangs (0-1) with 13 points. She is a big reason Cal Poly won its first two games in the Big West Conference tournament.

The teams hadn't played since Stanford's 83-55 victory on Nov. 11, 2016, and Stanford WOULD have a seven-game winning streak in the series since its lone loss — 66-60 on Feb. 14, 1978. The Cardinal are 7-0 against Cal Poly at Maples Pavilion.

PAYE IN THE STANDS

Stanford associate head coach Kate Paye sat in the stands above the bench among cardboard cutouts due to a delay with the result from her game-day antigen test administered about four hours before the 11 a.m. tipoff.

NO DOUBLEHEADER AFTER ALL

The second game of a scheduled doubleheader featuring the Stanford men's team against Utah Valley University was canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test in the Utah Valley program. Stanford was exploring options for a replacement non-conference game.

BIG PICTURE

Cal Poly: The Mustangs couldn't withstand a big second-quarter shooting funk in which they shot just 2 for 17 from the floor. ... A Cal Poly team returning four starters and 12 letterwinners hurt its cause by committing 26 turnovers, giving up 10 steals to the Cardinal.

Stanford: The 67-year-old VanDerveer's mark at Stanford is 943-202. ... The Cardinal finished with just 10 turnovers after averaging 13.7 turnovers per game last season, barely higher than its opponents 13.6. It is something VanDerveer regularly emphasizes. ... Fifth-year senior guard Anna Wilson, younger sister of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, earned her sixth career start in the opener and dished out five of 26 assists.

UP NEXT

Cal Poly: Hosts New Mexico State on Dec. 10.

Stanford: Hosts Pacific on Sunday.

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More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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