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Jones keeps No. 2 Stanford rolling in blowout win over Cal

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STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Haley Jones scored eight of her season-high 26 points as part of a big run coming out of halftime, and No. 2 Stanford rolled past California 97-74 on Friday night.

Fran Belibi added a season-high 20 points and six rebounds to help the Cardinal (14-3, 5-0 Pac-12) to their seventh straight win over the Golden Bears. Hannah Jump scored 21 points.

Freshman Jayda Curry had a season-high 30 points for California (9-5, 0-3), becoming the first Bears player in more than two years to score that many.

The teams play one another again Sunday.

Coming off one of her worst shooting games of the season when she went 2 of 7 against Utah, Jones got rolling early, then helped Stanford break the game open in the third quarter on its way to a season high for scoring. She sank four free throws, made a driving layup and then followed up her own miss. Lexie Hull followed with a 3-pointer to cap a 24-5 run and give the Cardinal a 66-47 lead.

Jones shot 9 of 13, went 7-for-7 on free throws and grabbed 10 rebounds despite sitting out most of third quarter in foul trouble.

Stanford has won six straight since losing to No. 1 South Carolina 65-61 on Dec. 21. The defending national champs ran their conference winning streak to 20 games.

California, which had four of its last five games postponed due to COVID-19 issues, was playing for the second time since Dec. 31.

Jones had nine points in the first quarter but Stanford’s defense set the tone early with four steals to help the Cardinal to an early 10-point lead.

California got back in it behind the speedy backcourt tandem of Curry and Leilani McIntosh.

The Bears shot 75% (12 of 16) in the second quarter, appeared to lose some steam when McIntosh appeared to injure her ankle after scoring seven straight, then took their only lead on Curry’s 3-pointer late in the quarter.

FANS, TARA BOBBLEHEAD COMING TO MAPLES

The game between the two Northern California rivals was the last of four without fans at Maples Pavilion. Due to pandemic restrictions that took effect Jan. 4, only families of the players were allowed to attend games. Stanford’s home game against Arizona State on Jan. 28 will be the first with fans in more than three weeks. Two days later against No. 10 Arizona, some spectators will receive a Tara VanDerveer bobblehead in honor of Stanford’s coach.

BIG PICTURE

California: The Bears missed six of their first seven shots and went nearly five minutes without a basket in the first. They looked crisp and tied the game at halftime before getting blown out in the second half. Curry is an explosive talent who is one of the best young players in the Pac-12.

Stanford: Whatever message VanDerveer sent at halftime was received loud and clear by her players. Stanford was much more crisp in the second half and never gave California a chance to get close after the big run in the third quarter.

UP NEXT

California hosts Stanford at Haas Pavilion on Sunday. The two teams have split the last four games in Berkeley.

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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

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