STANFORD, Calif. – With the game tied late and a chance for Arizona to win on the road at No. 3 Stanford for the first time since 2001, Jada Williams took the ball on a dribble handoff, got between the legs on a dribble and let go.
His shot arced high and angled to give the Wildcats the lead with 30 seconds left in an impressive 68-61 victory over the Cardinals on Friday night.
“The bank was open,” Williams said. “That's all I have to say. My teammates trusted me and I had the green light.”
Williams scored 14 points in the final four minutes, including the game-winning 3-pointer, and led Arizona (15-12, 7-8 Pac-12) in scoring with 23 points. Esmery Martínez added 17.
The Wildcats had lost seven straight games to the Cardinal (23-4, 12-3). They only had seven players dressed, were without leading scorer Kailyn Gilbert and were coming off a triple-overtime win over Washington on Sunday.
The Wildcats snapped a 20-game road streak against the Cardinal. It was Arizona's highest-ranked road win in program history and fifth win over a top-5 opponent.
Stanford star forward Cameron Brink missed the game due to an illness unrelated to COVID-19.
“We came here and knew we could win,” Williams said. “No one believed in us. I bet no one in the entire country would say that Arizona would come here and beat Stanford.”
Stanford had beaten Arizona in seven consecutive meetings and in 15 of the previous 16 meetings between the teams.
Arizona trailed 45-37 early in the fourth quarter, but took the lead on Williams' jumper with two minutes left.
“Stanford is so good and this is a really tough place to play,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “I feel like we made it ugly. But we bounced back and followed the game plan. And I think we gave ourselves a chance to win and made some shots down the stretch.”
Kiki Iriafen, who led Stanford with 21 points and 15 rebounds, tied the game with a layup with less than a minute left until Williams hit her decisive 3-pointer.
Williams made two free throws to put Arizona up by five as the Wildcats pulled off the upset.
“It's very disappointing,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “They're fighters. They played very hard. And in the fourth quarter, they especially attacked us.”
“The bank was open. That's all I have to say. My teammates trusted me and I had the green light.”
Arizona guard Jada Williams
VanDerveer added that turnovers hurt the Cardinal, with Arizona scoring 18 points on 16 Stanford turnovers.
Brooke Demetre, who started for Brink, scored 15 points. Hannah Jump added 13.
The shorthanded Wildcats held off the Cardinal in the first half. The game was tied at 35 in the third quarter before Iriafen scored eight points to spark a 10-2 run, helping Stanford take a lead in the fourth.
“We know everyone is coming for us and we always have to be at our best,” Demetre said. “It's a good reminder that we always have to play with urgency and we have to play hard. We have to play like we have a target on our back.”
The Wildcats entered the game with just one road conference win and had not won on the road since the Pac-12 opener against Arizona State on December 17.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal entered the day leading the Pac-12 by two games, but the loss opens up possibilities for three teams chasing them: No. 9 Oregon State, No. 7 USC and No. 11 Colorado.
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
