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Senior running back Stepfan Taylor was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week following Stanford's 35-17 victory at No. 15 UCLA on Saturday. The honor is the second of his career (Sept. 17, 2012) and the seventh Pac-12 Player of the Week recognition this year for a Stanford player - most in the conference.

Taylor took over the game with 142 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, pushing Stanford to victory and clinching the Pac-12 North Division title. He struck with a second-quarter dagger, running through two tacklers at the line of scrimmage and pulling away from defenders 49 yards to the end zone.

The senior running back added a highlight 40-yard run early in the third quarter, which set up a one-yard touchdown. With the game in hand, Taylor rested the final quarter and a half of the game.

The performance was the 21st 100-yard game in Taylor's career, a new Stanford record. The Cardinal is 18-3 when he reaches the century mark rushing. Taylor passed 4,000 career yards on a 19-yard scamper in the game's opening drive, now standing at 4,134 yards and 35 shy of the school career rushing record.

In his last two games, Taylor has outrushed two Doak Walker Award finalists by a tally of 303 yards to 131.

By virtue of the Taylor-led Cardinal win in Pasadena, Stanford has earned the right to host the 2012 Pac-12 Football Championship Game at Stanford Stadium on Friday. Kickoff is 5 p.m PT with a national broadcast on FOX.

Tickets are available online for sale at GoStanford.com, at the Stanford Stadium Ticket Office or by calling 800-STANFORD.

Women's basketball
Top-ranked Stanford spends the weekend on the road for the second time in three weeks as it opens things up Friday night at UC Davis for a 7 p.m. tip.

The Cardinal will then make the first of two regular-season trips to Spokane, this one to face Gonzaga Sunday at 2 p.m. Friday's contest in Davis will be streamed live at Big West TV and broadcast on the Internet on KZSU-3 with Joe Lami on the call.

The Cardinal, playing as the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time since 2005, cruised to a 77-41 win over Long Beach State that extended its national-best home winning streak to 81 games.

Joslyn Tinkle led all players with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting while point guard Amber Orrange again threatened a triple-double, finishing with 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Preseason national player of the year candidate Chiney Ogwumike posted a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double while Taylor Greenfield went 3-for-5 from behind the arc in an 11-point effort.

The Cardinal used a 26-4 run spanning 7:46 in the first half to break open a 10-7 game and take control of the contest. Stanford would end up setting a season high in first-half scoring as it took a 49-20 halftime lead over the 49ers.

UC Davis (2-2) bounced back from two straight losses to open the season with wins over Navy and host Houston Baptist at the Houston Baptist Husky Classic this past weekend. Sydnee Fipps averaged 21.0 points over the two wins and is now averaging 21.8 points per game and shooting 55.1 percent this season.

Fellow guard Cortney French saw her first action of the season in Houston, averaging 19.5 points and shooting 54.2 percent in Houston.

Stanford and UC Davis are tied at 7-7 in the all-time series, although the Cardinal has captured the past six meetings.

Friday will mark the sixth meeting of the schools since the 2007-08 season. The Cardinal and Aggies had met nine times from 1974-79 before going 28 years before crossing paths once again on Dec. 2, 2007.

— Stanford Athletics

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