On a day when No. 6 Stanford found out that starting forward Nadia Fingall is out for the season with a torn ACL, the Cardinal received stellar performances from three experienced players.

Stanford rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit and made enough big plays down the stretch to beat UCLA 86-80 Sunday for their 18th straight home win. It was the Cardinal’s 18th win in their past 19 home games against the Bruins.

DiJonai Carrington had 30 points and nine rebounds. Playing the full 40 minutes, Alanna Smith had 24 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Kiana Williams had 21 points and a career-high 10 assists.

It was the first time Stanford had three players score at least 20 points since a 2015 game at UCLA.

Carrington, who had 21 of the Cardinal’s 38 points in the first half, said, “When teams are aggressive out in the passing lane, that’s where I thrive.

“People’s shots weren’t falling in the first half, but I know Alanna’s shots are going to fall. No one can guard her. Kiana’s shots are going to fall. Until that starts happening, somebody needs to step up and pick up the lag at that point.”

Stanford (12-1, 2-0 Pac-12) trailed 17-6 in the opening minutes and 45-38 at the half. UCLA, which came into Sunday as the conference’s worst three-point shooting team, hit 7 of 9 from distance in the first half before cooling off considerably in the third quarter.

“We tightened up our defense,” Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer said. “It was one of those games where we had to get punched in the face before we started fighting. Honestly, we can’t play that way. We have to come out of the gates better.”

UCLA (9-6, 2-1) cut the lead to 81-78 on a three by Lindsey Corsaro with 49 seconds left, but Carrington’s 12-foot jumper put Stanford up 83-78 with 24 seconds left. Smith’s two free throws made it 85-78 with 11 seconds to go, and Stanford was home free.

Fingall, a 6-foot-3 junior averaging eight points and 4.9 rebounds, hurt her knee during Friday’s victory over USC. Stanford was also without forward Maya Dodson for the second straight game because of a foot injury.

VanDerveer said the loss of Fingall “affects us a lot.” VanDerveer hopes Dodson returns soon.

The Bruins were 1-for-9 in the third quarter, when they were outscored 26-12.

“As well as we shot (the three) in the first half, I felt we fell in love with it a little too much in the third quarter,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said.

UCLA had 22 points from Japreece Dean and 14 for Corsaro. Michaela Onyenwere, averaging 16.7 points, was held to 11 on 4-for-16 shooting, mainly because of Smith’s defense. Kennedy Burke also had 11.

The Bruins had lost two key players in last year WNBA draft, Jordin Canada (taken fifth) and Monique Billings (15th).

Stanford forward Lexie Hull made her first appearance in 10 games after recovering from a stress reaction in her left foot. She didn’t score in eight minutes but grabbed three offensive rebounds.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald