"We have a young team who did some nice things but we have a lot of work to do," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "They're learning and adjusting to new positions. It was important for us to find a way to win."

The Cardinal jumped to a quick lead and were never headed, though the Highlanders never went away either. After the first quarter, UC Riverside actually outscored Stanford.

DiJonai Carrington rose to the occasion, scoring 13 points and grabbing 22 rebounds, to help the 14th-ranked Stanford women's basketball team earn its first victory of the season, a 53-43 win over visiting UC Riverside in a nonconference match Friday.

"I think its just grit," Carrington said. "I'm a tough person and I don't like it when the other team is getting second and third chances. We always want to win the rebounding effort."

Carrington recorded the third-most rebounds in a game, matching Mickaela Ruef and Kaylee Johnson on the list behind Chiney Ogwumike's 24-rebounds game and Nneka Ogwumike's 23-rebound game.

Stanford led by as many as 20 points early in the third quarter and then did just enough to hold off the Highlanders.

Riverside was equally ineffective, shooting just over 24 percent as a whole, under five percent from 3-point range.

Carrington made her first career start memorable. No one from either side shot the ball particularly well, though Carrington was ahead of the curve on 6 of 17 shooting (0-of-8 from 3-point range) for just over 35 percent. The rest of the team combined to shoot just over 27 percent.

(She means it when she says she's tough. Carrington has a brother who plays football at Utah, a father who appeared in the NFL and she played two years of tackle football in middle school).

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A tough hoops win to come by for No. 14 Stanford women