Brink, Emma-Nnopu lead No. 6 Stanford by Arizona State 96-64

JACK MAGRUDER
Associated Press

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Agnes Emma-Nnopu had a career-high 17 points and Cameron Brink had 15 points and eight rebounds despite playing only 12 minutes to help No. 6 Stanford to a lopsided 96-64 victory over Arizona State in a Pac-12 game Sunday afternoon.

Emma-Nnopu made five 3-pointers and Hannah Jump added 12 points, making four from behind the arc. Each made four three-pointers in the first half. The Cardinal (24-3, 12-2 Pac-12) were 12 of 23 from distance, with nine makes in the first half.

“Tag-team basketbalI,” Brink said. “Everyone contributed. Everyone played really well.”

Guard Tyi Skinner had 23 points for the Sun Devils (7-16, 0-14), who have lost 14 in a row.

Freshman Lauren Betts had 13 points and Kiki Iriafen had 12 points in 13 minutes for the Cardinal, who played reserves the majority of the game. Haley Jones had two points, five rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots in 21 minutes.

“We had a lot of different people contributing,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “We have to play this way, where you play hard for awhile, then you come in. Our depth was a real factor. You could be physical.”

Stanford had a 58-35 rebounding edge and had 19 second-chance points. The Cardinal had 28 assists on 35 field goals while shooting 46.1 percent. Arizona State shot 33.3 percent.

“They were just relentless,” Arizona State coach Natasha Adair said. “Knowing their role, knowing that is what they needed to do. They are really good at that and balanced across the board. That is another bonus to why they are as talented as they are.”

Jump made three three-pointers in the first five minutes and Stanford went on a 9-0 run midway through the first quarter for a 21-7 lead that grew to 29-13 at the end of quarter.

“It’s always nice to see your first one go in,” said Jump, who has a team-high 80 threes. “We all open things up for each other. I don’t think anyone in the country can guard our posts one-on-one. If the bigs are doing a great job inside, then teams have to double and leave shooters on the outside. Seeing whgat each team is giving us and running with that,”

Stanford led 54-23 at halftime and 70-38 after three quarters.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Emma-Nnopu ended each of the first two quarters with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. All four of her first-half baskets were threes. She had 11 three-pointers entering the game.

“We call her ‘Green Light,” Jump said. “We all have the confidence in her to shoot that shot.”

BIG PICTURE

Stanford: The Cardinal recovered nicely from its upset at Washington last Sunday with a road sweep against the Arizona schools and should move up in the AP Top 25 after No. 4 UConn and No. 5 Iowa lost last week. The Cardinal has four games remaining, three against ranked teams, and finishes the regular season at No. 7 Utah on February 25.

Arizona State: Coach Natasha Adair has had a trying first season, and a home game against Stanford is seldom a tonic. The Sun Devils were forced to forfeit mid-January games at Utah and Colorado because injuries prevented them from fielding the requisite seven scholarship players. They suited up nine players Sunday.

UP NEXT

Stanford: Hosts USC on Friday.

Arizona State: Hosts No. 25 Colorado on Friday.

___

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP–Top25