"Bird came out with energy and she was working hard on the glass and she scored 14 points," Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. "She's just at the tip of the iceberg from what's capable of doing the rest of the year. You can get used to her scoring."

Erica McCall scored 14 points and added seven rebounds for the Cardinal (8-1 in the Pac-12, 16-5 overall), which has won three in a row and 10 of 11 overall.

Amber Orrange scored 15 points and had six assists and the No. 12 Stanford women's basketball team topped Washington State, 75-56, in a Pac-12 Conference game Saturday.

Maybe all it took was a reminder at halftime, when the Cardinal was trailing, to take better care of the ball.

Amber Orrange had six assists against Washington State, surpassing 500 for her career. She's one of seven Stanford players with as many assists. Photo by Norbert von der Groeben/Isiphotos.com

Johnson gave Stanford a two-point lead early in the second half. The Cougars were still within 46-44 with 15:48 remaining to play.

Bonnie Samuelson nailed a pair of 3-pointers and needs two to reach 200 for her career and three to match Nicole Powell for sixth on the all-time list.

Briana Roberson added 11 points, Lili Thompson had 10 and Kaylee Johnson scored seven points to go with her game-high 11 rebounds as Stanford improved to 59-0 against the Cougars, who were without leading rebounder Shalie Dheensaw, out for the season with a right knee injury.

McCall, who made nine straight shots over the past two games, gave the Cardinal a 16-7 advantage midway through the first half before the Cougars' pressure forced some mistakes.

"I think it was our defensive pressure and taking care of the ball," McCall said.

During that stretch, Stanford committed just one turnover while the Cougars turned it over eight times.

"We took better care of the ball," Orrange said. "We pushed the ball a little more."

The Cardinal went on a 12-1 run over the next four minutes to open a 13-point edge. Stanford forced three turnovers in that span and was able to break the Washington State press, with Thompson and Orrange each driving easily to the basket.

Stanford shot 54 percent in the first half and out-rebounded the Cougars, 22-10, yet still managed to trail, 39-37, at halftime.

Follow Palo Alto Online and the Palo Alto Weekly on Twitter @paloaltoweekly , Facebook and on Instagram @paloaltoonline for breaking news, local events, photos, videos and more.

Orrange reaches milestone in Stanford's basketball win over Cougars