Cameron Brink Brings Home the Pac-12 Regular-Season Title for the Cardinals With a Resounding Double-Double

Published 03/01/2024, 12:06 PM EST

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A purposeful double-double from their star athlete Cameron Brink saw Cardinals overcome a tough challenge on Thursday. The 2021 NCAA champions brushed aside a resilient Oregon State side 67-63 to register their 25th win of the season. This victory seals the Pac-12 regular-season title for them along with a No. 1 seed in the Pac-12 WBB Tournament.

A career-high figures of 23 rebounds and 25 points by the 6-foot-4 senior forward proved vital in the end for the visitors. The team displayed composure at critical points and ended up on the winning side.

Cameron Brink powers Stanford past Beavers

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The visitors were in total command in the opening quarter. Brink seemed to be on a mission as helpless Beavers’ defense wasn’t able to contain her wrath. She quickly built enough space between the two sides and ended the first 10 minutes getting Cardinals a 15-7 advantage over the home team. Following this, Oregon State bounced back in the next quarter and fought fire with fire. Even without their leading scorer and rebounder Raegan Beers, Beavers were asking some tough questions to Stanford’s defense. Their No.22 Talia von Oelhoffen led the Offensive attack for them and helped them score 19 points. Anyhow, they weren’t able to overcome their previous quarter deficit and end the first half trailing 26-35.

Beavers came out all guns blazing after half-time. Talia got the much-needed assistance from sophomore forward Timea Gardiner. Both of them combined and attempted to bridge the gap between both sides. On the other hand, Kiki Iriafen joined Brink and became only the second Stanford player to cross a double-digit mark. As a result, there was just a 5-point difference between both these sides by the end of the third quarter.

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After this, fans were in for an exciting and nerve-wracking penultimate quarter.

The drama unfolds in the final quarter

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Fans present at the Gill Coliseum witnessed an edge-of-the seat climax to this enticing contest. The battle went back and forth with no team wanting to surrender. With just 19.9 seconds to go in the final buzzer, two free throws from Talana Lepolo gave Cardinals a four-point edge over the opponents. However, a fifth foul from their standout player Cameron Brink awarded two free throws to Oregon State. But Von Oelhoffen was able to convert only one of those with the visitors holding on to their nerves in the closing moments ending the night for Beavers in disappointment.

Be what may, fans will be glad they witnessed a fantastic conference game. This victory will boost Stanford’s confidence sky-high as they head towards the March Madness. Additionally, they further their chances to become national champions for the second time this time around.

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Written by:

Shahryar Fazal

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Shahryar Fazal is a senior NBA writer at EssentiallySports. His specialisation lies in his scrupulous Live Coverage of the events like NCAA and WNBA tournaments. A former sportsman himself, Shahryar used to contribute stories for publishing houses like TOI before taking up American sports as his field of interest.
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Edited by:

Bilal Handoo