Collier leads Texas upset of No. 1 Stanford 69-64

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas became the first unranked women’s team to beat the No. 1 squad since January, getting 20 points and a career-best 19 rebounds from Charli Collier to knock off Stanford 69-64 on Sunday.

The Longhorns (7-4) beat the No. 1 team for the first time since 2004, snapping a string of 13 defeats. Stanford (10-1) became the second top-ranked team to lose this season, after then-No. 1 Oregon fell to Louisville on Nov. 30.

The last unranked team to beat the No. 1 team was North Carolina, which topped Notre Dame on Jan. 27.

Joyner Holmes had 13 points and eight rebounds for Texas. Holmes missed more than four minutes of the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. After returning, she stole an inbounds pass by Alyssa Jerome with less than 5 seconds left and dribbled end to end for the final basket.

Sug Sutton scored 12 points for Texas, including two free throws with 4 seconds remaining, and Celeste Taylor added 10. Jada Underwood snagged 10 rebounds, including seven of Texas’ 19 offensive boards.

The 6-foot-5 Collier made a putback and a free throw to give Texas a 61-60 lead with 3:09 left. Then she made a shot in the lane with 2:28 remaining for a three-point lead. Holmes added two more free throws at the 1:38 mark.

Lexie Hull led Stanford with 17 points, including 13 in the second half. Kiana Williams scored 15, including two free throws with 48 seconds left. Francesca Belibi made a layup with 5 seconds left before Sutton was fouled.

Stanford fell behind 35-26 at halftime after trailing the entire first two quarters.

The Cardinal began the second half with a 7-0 push, but Collier responded with a pair of 3-pointers.

BIG PICTURE

Stanford: The Cardinal’s 31.7% field goal accuracy was by far their worst of the season. Stanford continued to play good defense. The Cardinal began the game ranked No. 6 nationally in field goal defense, limiting opponents to 31.1% accuracy. Every team that faced Stanford shot less than 40%. Texas hit 38.6%, including 22.2% in the second half.

Texas: The Longhorns began the day ranked No. 152 nationally in turnovers committed with 16 a game. They committed 24 on Wednesday during a win over Ohio University. Texas had just eight giveaways during a win at then-No. 17 Tennessee in early December and 11 against Stanford, including four in the first half.

UP NEXT

Stanford is home against UC Davis on Saturday.

Texas is at home against Northwestern State on Dec. 29.