No. 4 Stanford 64, No. 8 UCLA 38

Stanford is a team of perfectionists. Even with three commanding home victories against top-10 teams by a total of 75 points, the Cardinal point to things they must do better.

The things they know it will take to win that elusive NCAA title. Improved ballhandling, boxing out with consistency, smarter decisions.

Kayla Pedersen had 18 points and 10 rebounds and No. 4 Stanford ran its home winning streak at Maples Pavilion to 55 games with a surprisingly lopsided 64-38 victory over eighth-ranked UCLA on Thursday night.

''They have all the makings of a championship run,'' UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell said. ''You look at the size, you've got shooters, you've got leadership and experience. They've got a confidence about them. They've been there. They know what it's like when you get to that championship game and you don't walk away with that trophy.''

Jeanette Pohlen added 14 points and Nnemkadi Ogwumike scored 13 in Stanford's ninth straight victory overall, ninth in a row against UCLA and 11th of 12 in the rivalry with the Bruins (15-2, 5-1 Pac-10), who were held to a season low in points. Their previous low had been 53 in a two-point loss to Louisiana State on Dec. 28.

Jasmine Dixon scored 12 to lead cold-shooting UCLA, which had its five-game winning streak snapped along with a run of 13 in a row in regular-season Pac-10 play dating to last season.

Stanford (15-2, 6-0) won its 43rd straight against conference competition and hasn't lost to a Pac-10 opponent since falling in a 57-54 thriller at No. 11 and rival California while ranked ninth on Jan. 18, 2009.

''I'm not trying to be a killjoy but the bar is really high for this team and they want it high,'' Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer said. ''In order to really go where we want to go we can't just say everything's OK.''

Stanford is unbeaten since dropping consecutive road games last month at DePaul and Tennessee. The Cardinal have looked dominant ever since, starting with a 37-point rout of Xavier on Dec. 28 and then their commanding 71-59 victory over then top-ranked Connecticut on Dec. 30 that snapped the two-time defending champion Huskies' record 90-game winning streak.

''I'm not saying we're not playing well. We're winning games. We want to win games the way we really want to,'' Ogwumike said. ''We're clicking now because we're very versatile.''

The Cardinal faced constant full-court pressure early from the Bruins and VanDerveer substituted regularly. But Stanford - picked to win its 11th consecutive regular-season Pac-10 crown - easily handled the pressure with its athleticism and size.

''The fact that we are so tall allowed us to see over the traps and it gave us some layups and we got our momentum going,'' Pedersen said.

The Bruins were outrebounded 44-27, committed 17 turnovers and hardly looked like the team that knocked off now-No. 11 Notre Dame in double overtime on the road in November. Stanford used big runs on either side of halftime to turn the game into a blowout.

This marked UCLA's first time as a top 10 team facing another foe in the top 10 since Dec. 23, 1999, when the No. 6 Bruins played at top-ranked UConn. This also was the first Pac-10 game between a pair of top 10 teams since sixth-ranked Stanford beat No. 3 California 58-41 at Maples on Feb. 14, 2009.

UCLA, in the top 10 for the first time since January 2000, missed its first six field-goal tries before Markel Walker connected on a jumper at the 15:15 mark of the first half. The Bruins began 2 for 14 to fall behind 15-4 midway through the half. Stanford used a 10-2 run over the final 4:37 of the first half for a 32-15 lead at the break, then came out of the locker room with a 14-2 burst.

Stanford's players talked at the start of the season about going unbeaten at home.

''This is our grounds. We want to protect it with everything we have,'' Pedersen said.

The Bruins will likely fall in the rankings next week after this showing. UCLA, off to the program's best start since beginning the 1976-77 season at 18-1, still must play at California in Berkeley on Saturday.

UCLA's conference start was its best since winning the program's first six Pac-10 games in 2002-03.

The Bruins lost for the first time this season away from Pauley Pavilion. They were 8-0 outside Los Angeles, 6-0 in true road games and 2-0 at neutral sites. Stanford visits Pauley for the second meeting of the season Feb. 20.

''It's going to be tough to win here ... obviously the No. 1 team in the country couldn't do it,'' Caldwell said. ''You don't have that type of winning streak without having a swagger about yourselves.''

UCLA missed all five of its 3-pointers in the first half and was 2 for 9 overall from long range.

Experienced Stanford senior guard Melanie Murphy checked in for the first time all season with 6:03 left in the first half. She had been sidelined while recovering from microfracture knee surgery. She played seven minutes in all, but limited time was all VanDerveer expected in Murphy's first game back.

Stanford debuted the home version of its new uniform with a faded silkscreen 'S' and also featuring campus landmarks on the back. It was designed by associate head coach Amy Tucker.