STANFORD, Calif. — UCLA coach Cori Close grew up not far away, in Milpitas, California, and attended Stanford women’s basketball camps. She definitely knows how hard it is to beat the Cardinal at home. Yet her Bruins did just that Monday — three nights after Stanford celebrated coach Tara VanDerveer’s 1,000th career victory.
After the 15th-ranked Bruins upset the No. 8 Cardinal 85-76 on Monday, Close was eager to celebrate with the friends and family members who were at Maples Pavilion.
“I’m from here, so it’s very special to me,” Close said. “I’ve been a part of two wins here, and that means a lot because I respect Tara so much.”
The previous victory she’s referring to is when Close was an assistant at Florida State, and the Seminoles beat Stanford in an NCAA tournament second-round game in 2007. It has been considerably longer than that, though, since UCLA won at Stanford: Jan. 16, 1999.
Maylana Martin was then the Bruins’ star, and UCLA made it to the Elite Eight that year before falling to Louisiana Tech. At that time, Close was an assistant at her alma mater, UC Santa Barbara. Her current star juniors, guard Jordin Canada and forward Monique Billings, were just toddlers then.
“We were talking about it in the locker room, and it definitely means something to us,” Billings said of leaving Stanford with a rare victory. “But also to our alumni. Because they feel like they are a part of it.”
The Bruins’ victory was the second of two big upsets Monday, which was especially fun because earlier in the evening the NCAA revealed the most recent version of its top-16 seeds. Those likely were shaken up a bit by the time the evening’s action ended.
Texas ended a seven-year drought against Baylor — and in Waco, Texas, no less. The No. 11 Longhorns topped the No. 2 Lady Bears 85-79, their first win against Baylor since March 7, 2010, when Gail Goestenkors was still Texas’ head coach.
Karen Aston, in her fifth season as Texas’ coach, had been 0-10 against Baylor before Monday, and the Lady Bears had not lost at home in the Ferrell Center since March 2, 2014, a stretch of 55 games. Since coach Kim Mulkey arrived as Baylor coach in 2000-2001, Baylor is 273-22 at home.
In Monday’s other marquee games — both in the ACC — the higher-ranked team prevailed, with No. 7 Notre Dame topping No. 12 Louisville, and No. 5 Florida State beating No. 16 Miami.
And while we’ve pretty much been expecting the upcoming ACC and Pac-12 tournaments to be competitive with some upsets, Texas knocking off Baylor showed that the Big 12 tournament — which the Lady Bears have won six years in a row — might have some drama, too. Now Texas is first in the Big 12 at 13-0, with Baylor second at 12-1. The Longhorns host the Lady Bears on Feb. 20.
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Jordin Canada scored 25 points, Monique Billings had 21 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots, and No. 15 UCLA stunned eighth-ranked Stanford 85-76 Monday night.
No. 11 Texas women hold on for rare win at No. 2 Baylor
Joyner Holmes drove for the tiebreaking layup with a minute left and 11th-ranked Texas held on to win its 17th consecutive game, 85-79 at Baylor on Monday night to end the second-ranked Lady Bear
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Jordin Canada scored 25 points, Monique Billings had 21 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots, and No. 15 UCLA stunned eighth-ranked Stanford 85-76 Monday night.
Joyner Holmes drove for the tiebreaking layup with a minute left and 11th-ranked Texas held on to win its 17th consecutive game, 85-79 at Baylor on Monday night to end the second-ranked Lady Bear
“It’s good for the game,” Close said of Monday’s upsets. “In women’s basketball, I think we still have to be committed to growing the game, not just our individual programs. Even if I was on the losing end of this one, I’d acknowledge, ‘It stinks for me right now, but it’s good on other levels.’ “
In the Pac-12, the Bruins’ victory moved Oregon State into solo first place at 11-1, and dropped Stanford into a second-place tie with Washington at 10-2. UCLA is in fourth place at 9-3.
It was a lift that UCLA, 18-5 overall, needed after losing at Cal on Friday. The Bruins got off to a slow start in Berkeley, and they were determined not to do that at Stanford. Close said she could tell in the way the Bruins practiced Saturday morning that they were out for redemption.
Canada had 25 points and five assists against the Cardinal. While Close would like her to be a little more efficient shooting (9-of-21), she was pleased with Canada’s overall production and leadership. Billings had 21 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. Senior guard Kari Korver was 6-of-8 from the field — 5-of-7 from behind the arc — for 17 points.
“Our rhythm was just on, and it worked for us,” Billings said. “We were happy this game was on [national] television so people could see us. We just need to bring this same fire and energy to every game.”
Close is aware that in a conference this challenging, things can flip around — positively or negatively — quite quickly. The Bruins still have six regular-season games left, including facing Oregon State and Washington back-to-back. But a victory like Monday’s is good for the Bruins to have on their résumé when it comes to NCAA tournament selection.
“I tell our team all the time, ‘I can’t give you confidence, you have to earn it. You have to conquer hard things,'” Close said. “They’ve got to dig down deep and find a way to conquer those obstacles. A win like this pays dividends for us, because it’s a hurdle we hadn’t been able to get over.”
Indeed, not in 18 years. But the Bruins did it Monday, and it made it even more clear why VanDerveer’s 1,000-victory total is so amazingly impressive. She was disappointed with her team’s focus and execution Monday, but the loss was an example of how challenging this conference can be.
Which, as far as the big picture goes in women’s basketball, is not a bad thing at all.
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