Briana Roberson hit a 3-pointer to put Stanford ahead, 42-31, early in the second half but the Buffaloes scored 12 unanswered points to take a 43-42 edge with 10:14 remaining.

"We put a lot of pressure on Amber and Lili and they came through," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "They worked hard the whole game."

Lili Thompson added 17 points as the Cardinal (9-4, 1-0 in the Pac-12) won its third straight and six of eight overall.

"I tried to be aggressive and take what the defense was giving us," Orrange said. "They were switching on screens so the bigs were on our guards and we attacked."

Amber Orrange scored a career-high 26 points to help the 15th-ranked Stanford women's basketball team escape with a 62-55 victory over visiting Colorado in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both teams on Saturday night.

Briana Roberson (10) tries for a steal as Brittany McPhee (12) and Kailee Johnson (32) look on. Stanford beat Colorado, 62-55, in a Pac-12 Conference opener on Saturday. Photo by Bob Drebin/stanfordphoto.com

Orrange and Samuelson combined to go 3 of 4 from the foul line the rest of the way while helping limit Colorado to one shot attempt.

The Buffaloes drew within 59-55 on a pair of free throws from Jamee Swan with 45 seconds to play.

Stanford continues the homestand with a conference game against Utah on Monday at 5 p.m., to be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

Bonnie Samuelson hit a 3-pointer to end Stanford's scoring drought and put the Cardinal ahead to stay, although Colorado was within four with less than a minute to play.

"We faced a little adversity but we just had to be patient in moving the ball forward," Orrange said. "We were fine."

Roberson has made seven of 13 3-pointers (.538) while Bonnie Samuelson (.417) and Karlie Samuelson (.436) are over 40 percent from long range.

Stanford is shooting .401 from beyond the arc as a team, with Thompson a 48 percent (24 of 50) 3-pointer shooter. The Cardinal is fourth in the nation in 3-point shooting.

Orrange was 10 of 16 from the field and the Cardinal shot .415 overall, including a 6 of 15 effort from long range. She has 1,110 career points, moving past Josyln Tinkle and Jillian Harmon into 30th place on the school's all-time scoring list.

"We attack and the defense has to decide if they want us to make layups," Thompson said. "We have to be prepared to kick out to Bonnie, Karlie and Briana and those are the games when they will knock down shots."

Thompson, who scored 16 points in two games against Colorado last year, also matched Kaylee Johnson with a team-high five rebounds.

Stanford improved to 8-0 against the Buffaloes since they joined the Pac-12. Colorado last defeated the Cardinal in an NCAA tournament game in 2002.

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Orrange has career game in Stanford's win over Colorado