SALT LAKE CITY – Chiney Ogwumike and the Stanford Cardinal overpowered the Utah Utes — again.
Ogwumike had 30 points on 13-of-17 shooting and added nine rebounds and No. 4 Stanford routed Utah 87-61 on Friday night to improve to 17-0 against the Utes.
"Honestly, I've come to the point where my coaches say, 'If I'm open, I have to shoot the ball with confidence,'" Ogwumike said. "I love things on the block, but people are going to double and triple team me. So I've really had to elevate my game."
Amber Orrange had 14 points for the Cardinal (14-1, 3-0 Pac-12). Stanford shot 57.4 percent (35 of 61) from the field and 57.1 percent (8 of 14) from 3-point range.
"We came out and shot the ball well," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "I thought we were moving the ball and shooting the ball. I thought we had good balance in scoring. Chiney again had 30, but different people were contributing."
Emily Potter had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Utes (7-7, 0-3). Michelle Plouffe added 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Utah shot 38.6 percent (22 of 57) from the field.
"You've got to pick your poison with them," Utah coach Anthony Leverets said. "We had to go out and guard the perimeter and then, all of a sudden, Chiney's in the paint by herself — one-on-one. You're just in all kinds of trouble then."
The Cardinal opened the game by making four straight baskets and took a 15-4 lead.
Utah cut it 21-13 on Devri Owens' 3-pointer, but Stanford pulled away again.
The Cardinal rattled off one 3-pointer after another to fuel a 14-0 run to take a 35-13 lead with 8:09 left in the half.
Utah cut it to 44-27 on Potter's two free throws. Stanford then scored five straight points — capped by Ogwumike's layup off her steal — to go back up by 22 at 49-27 with 36 seconds remaining in the half.
Utah trailed by less than 20 points only twice after halftime. The final time occurred when Danielle Rodriguez made a jumper to cut Stanford's lead to 59-41 with 14:12 left.
The Cardinal answered with a 9-0 run, going ahead 68-41 when Sara James finished the spurt with a 3-pointer with 11:45 remaining.
The Cardinal had a 43-28 edge in rebounds and finished with 32-18 advantage in points in the paint.
"It helps our defense and it helps deflate their team when we're shooting well and they can't score," said Stanford forward Mikaela Ruef, who finished with 14 rebounds. "It really frustrates them and it really lifts us up and helps us play well."
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