HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Cameron Brink scored 27 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to help lead No. 4 Stanford to a 74-55 victory over Belmont on Wednesday in the opening round of the Ball Dawgs Classic.
The Bruins turned in a formidable performance before national powerhouse Stanford (5-0) pulled away for the win.
After falling behind 33-32 early in the third quarter, a 3-pointer by Hannah Jump ignited a 9-0 run - the other six points coming from Brink - as the Cardinal took a 41-33 lead to seize control.
And when the Bruins (2-3) cut their deficit to six, 59-53 with 4:34 left in the game, the Cardinal closed things out on a 15-2 run for the win.
Kiki Iriafen scored 14 points and nine rebounds for Stanford.
Tuti Jones and Tessa Miller each scored 18 points to lead Belmont . Jailyn Banks chipped in 10 for Belmont, while Kendal Cheesman grabbed 14 rebounds.
Stanford’s second-chance opportunities made the difference, as the Cardinal outscored Belmont 21-2 in that department by outrebounding the Bruins 20-8 on the offensive glass.
Belmont took advantage of Stanford’s poor shooting in the second quarter to gain a bit of momentum. While the Bruins hit 7 of 15 (46.7%), including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, the Cardinal was just 4 of 20 (20%) from the floor with only 3 of 11 dropping in from 3-point range.
Stanford’s offensive drought in the first half allowed the Bruins to head into the locker room trailing by only one at halftime, 32-31.
BIG PICTURE
Belmont: The Bruins will be battle-tested when they open Missouri Valley Conference play next Wednesday, after opening their campaign against power conference programs in five of their first six games, including a 76-50 win over Georgia earlier this month.
Stanford: Coach Tara VanDerveer (1,191) is one step closer to breaking Mike Krzyzewski’s record (1,202) to become the winningest coach in college basketball history, in either men’s or women’s.
UP NEXT
Belmont: Faces Northwestern in the consolation on Friday
Stanford: Meets No. 13 Florida State in the championship on Friday.
___
More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
