EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Stanford’s Brittany McPhee picked the perfect day to turn in a super performance.
Or, as Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer put it, “she really put the team on her back.”
McPhee scored 31 of her career-high 33 points in the second half to lead No. 24 Stanford over No. 6 Oregon 78-65 on Sunday.
McPhee had the last 19 points for the Cardinal (16-8, 10-2 Pac-12), who now share the conference lead with the Ducks (21-4, 10-2). Alaina Smith and Kiana Williams each had 14 points.
“Brit was just not going to let her team lose,” VanDerveer said. “Period.
“She just said no, it ain’t happening and give me the ball and I’m going to make shots and make defensive plays, and that’s what she did,” she said.
McPhee shot 13 of 18 from the floor in the second half, including 9 of 11 in the fourth quarter. Her 31 second-half points topped her previous game high by three.
“My teammates were getting me open,” McPhee said. “It wasn’t like I was just forcing it up. They were making really good passes, really good screens.”
Stanford, the last visitor to win in Eugene, snapped Oregon’s 14-game home winning streak. The Ducks trailed 67-65 before going scoreless over the final 5:08 of the game.
Oregon coach Kelly Graves said he ran every possible defense at McPhee to no avail.
“That kid is fearless,” Graves said. “It’s funny, we actually called that at halftime. We said No. 12 is going to come out, because she didn’t do much in the first half, and we figured she was going to do what she did.”
Sabrina Ionescu led the Ducks with 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Ruthy Hebard added 16 points and Satou Sabally had 14.
Hebard’s eight rebounds led Oregon to a 36-34 edge on the boards, but she attempted only one shot and failed to score in the second half. It was the Ducks’ first loss in 21 games after leading at halftime.
“I think we worked harder not to let her get in deep and get her spot,” VanDerveer said. “I thought Brit did a really nice job of doubling and trying to make other people make shots. (Hebard) is very effective in there, so that was great.”
Graves went almost exclusively with his starters, getting no points in 19 minutes from his three reserves. Ionescu had seven of Oregon’s 15 turnovers, which the Cardinal converted into 21 points.
“Congratulations to Stanford,” Graves said. “They deserved it, they earned that.”
BIG PICTURE
Oregon still hasn’t solved its Stanford problem, having lost 24 of 25 to the Cardinal. The Ducks, projected as a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament, finish the Pac-12 season with four of six on the road, and one of the home games is against No. 9 UCLA.
Stanford reasserted itself in the Pac-12 with the road sweep of No. 16 Oregon State and No. 6 Oregon. The Cardinal are now 4-7 against ranked teams.
UP NEXT
Stanford: Hosts Utah on Saturday to start its final homestand of the regular season.
Oregon: Plays at Washington on Friday.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Oregon’s No. 6 ranking, an all-time high, likely will drop after the home split against Stanford and California. The Ducks have been in the Top 10 since the first regular-season poll. Stanford should climb off the road sweep of two ranked teams after re-entering the Top 25 for the first time in a month last week.
STAT OF THE GAME
Stanford was 6 of 11 from 3-point range in the second half after going 3 of 12 in the first. The nine 3-pointers were a season high in conference play for the Cardinal.
STAR WATCH
McPhee is averaging 17.5 points since recovering from a foot injury that cost her nine games early in the season. The senior became Stanford’s 39th 1,000-point scorer four games ago and now has 1,076.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.