Fourth-ranked Stanford is the kind of women's basketball program UCLA aspires to be.
The Bruins showed they have a ways to go to reach the fourth-ranked Cardinal's level after losing 77-50 Saturday, their 12th consecutive defeat against the Pac-12's perennial powerhouse.
''We have a team that has set the standard and they teach the rest of us what it takes to be there night in and night out,'' first-year coach Cori Close said about the Cardinal's influence on the rest of the league. ''We have a relentless vision to build our program to that level.''
It didn't help the Bruins that they played without leading scorer and rebounder Atonye Nyingifa, who tore her right ACL in a loss to Tennessee on Dec. 17 and is out for the season. They had already lost Jasmine Dixon, who ruptured her Achilles tendon in September.
''Does it make it tougher? You bet. Who's going to bring us that sort of swagger?'' Close said. ''We're going to have to be more creative and more disciplined.''
Rebekah Gardner scored 17 points and Markel Walker, who recently returned after offseason thumb surgery, added 11 for Bruins (6-7, 1-1). They beat California 60-55 on Thursday and earned a split on opening weekend of league play.
''I had one local coach tell me after the Cal game that you had no business winning that game,'' Close said. ''We learned something from both games. Against Cal, we learned you got something special in you. We got to learn from what happened today. We're good when we play together. We're not very good when we go on islands.''
The Bruins gave Stanford all it could handle in the game's opening nine minutes, when they led by one point in front of a full house at the John Wooden Center.
''The first 10 minutes, we had them shooting jumpers and we were boxing them out,'' Gardner said. ''As the game went on, we kind of fell away from that.''
Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike each posted double-doubles for the second straight game to lead the Cardinal.
''It was a matter of who got tired first,'' said Nnemkadi Ogwumike, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. ''UCLA is known for denying. What really helped us was our depth and pace.''
Chiney Ogwumike had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Toni Kokenis added 11 points for the Cardinal (11-1, 2-0), which won their eighth in a row and extended their league winning streak to a record 59 games.
''They really played strong and physical and you don't really find it that often,'' said Chiney Ogwumike, who relished banging in the post.
The Cardinal eventually found a rhythm behind the Ogwumike sisters and forced UCLA into shooting a season-worst 28 percent from the floor.
''We want to play a physical game. We're excited about that,'' Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. ''It was a good tone for us.''
Ahead by 17 points at halftime, Stanford quickly extended its lead to 25 midway through the second half. Chiney Ogwumike scored eight of the Cardinal's first 17 points before she and her sister, along with Kokenis, sat down for good with 10 minutes remaining. The reserves outscored UCLA's bench, 30-10.
''It was a great game for some of our young players,'' VanDerveer said.
The Cardinal completed a sweep of the Los Angeles schools on opening weekend of Pac-12 play, having beaten Southern California 61-53 on Thursday. They were forced to rally in the final 10 minutes of that game in which they shot 38 percent from the floor.
''This weekend was a hard weekend,'' Nnemkadi Ogwumike said.
