No. 1 Stanford holds off Arizona State 68-60
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Francesca Belibi scored a career-high 23 points and added a season-high 12 rebounds and Kiana Williams had 16 points to lead No. 1 Stanford to a 68-60 victory over stubborn Arizona State on Sunday.
Haley Jones, who was averaging a double-double, had eight points and seven rebounds and Lexie Hull had seven points for the Cardinal (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12), who have held every opponent to 61 points or fewer.
Jaddan Simmons had 16 points and Taya Hanson had 15 for the Sun Devils (7-3, 3-3), who missed their first 10 field goal attempts and trailed 19-2 before recovering to make it a game.
Arizona State got within four points midway through the third quarter, and Iris Mbulito made a layup to cap a 6-0 that got the Sun Devils within 64-58 with 1:06 remaining. Stanford made three free throws in the final nine seconds.
Stanford has played its last eight games away from home because of covid protocols put in place by Santa Clara (Calif.) County, and scheduled home games against Oregon and Oregon State this weekend are expected to be moved.
Stanford shot 49.2 percent from the field and had a 41-30 rebounding advantage. Arizona State shot 33.3 percent.
BIG PICTURE
Stanford: After beating No. 6 Arizona by 27 points on Friday, Stanford could use its sweep to edge closer to a unanimous No. 1 ranking.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils’ only losses are to then-No. 9 UCLA, No. 6 Arizona and No. 1 Stanford. ASU’s victory over California on Friday was delayed 3 1/2 hours to adhere to Covid protocols, but no issues arose Sunday.
UP NEXT
Stanford will conclude what was supposed to be its most treacherous stretch of the season against No. 8 Oregon on Friday at a site to be determined. The Cardinal beat then-No. 10 UCLA 61-49 on Dec. 21 and stopped No. 6 Arizona 81-54 on Friday.
ASU will visit improving Washington State on Friday, which is 6-1, 4-1 in the Pac-12. The Cougars won four league games last season.
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