The Cardinal made just 39.3 percent of their shots from the floor in the first half, but went into the locker room with a 3-point lead — in part thanks to poor free-throw shooting from the Longhorns. Any time Texas would lose patience and start playing too aggressively, Stanford would make it pay either by making its free throws or by finding an open player along the baseline.
It looked like Stanford might have found some separation early in the third, when Lauren Ebo, the Longhorns’ leading rebounder, picked up her second and third fouls in the first two minutes of the quarter, and Stanford forward Cameron Brink scored 5 straight points in that same period.
But Texas kept getting stops, even when it could not consistently convert them into points, and tied the game again. The senior guard Audrey Warren contributed crucial 3-point shots to keep the Longhorns within striking distance, and played impressive defense on Haley Jones.
Jones was able to bring Stanford’s lead back up to 5 points by the end of the third quarter, when she was fouled shooting a 3-point shot and made all her free throws. A 5-point lead is exactly what the Cardinal had brought into the fourth quarter of their first matchup against the Longhorns this season — a defeat to Texas on their home court in November for one of only three losses this season.
The push and pull continued in the fourth, but the Longhorns were never able to get back ahead and replicate their early-season upset. Texas came within 2 points in the final minutes, but continued to be haunted by missed free throws. The Longhorns finished 11 of 20 from the free-throw line.