The Stanford women’s basketball team held N.C. State to 12 points in the first quarter and 13 in the fourth, but a 34-point third quarter from the Wolfpack doomed the Cardinal at Maples Pavilion on Sunday in an 81-67 loss.

After leading by six points at halftime, the Wolfpack (12-4, 4-1 ACC) shot 65% in the third quarter, including a 5-for-6 stretch in a closing 9-0 run that gave them a 68-43 lead heading to the fourth quarter. N.C. State kept it going early in the fourth, making 5 of 6 shots in the first four minutes and led by as many as 27 points. The Cardinal held the Wolfpack to a single made basket the rest of the game, but could not overcome the 22-point deficit.

Chloe Clardy had 17 points, Nunu Agara 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Elena Bosgana 14 points for Stanford (9-7, 1-4).

Saniya Rivers had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead all five Wolfpack five starters in double figures. Aziaha James scored 15, Zoe Brooks 14, Madison Hayes 11 and Tilda Trygger 10.

N.C. State forced 18 turnovers and outscored the Cardinal 23-6 in points off them.

A three-point play by Tess Heal in the final minute of the first quarter gave Stanford an 18-12 lead, but the Wolfpack stormed back with a big finish to the second quarter. Steele hit two 3-pointers and Rivers added a three-point play in a 9-0 run that gave N.C. State a 34-26 lead 45 seconds before halftime. Bosgana scored at the buzzer to make it 34-28 at the break.

Stanford has lost four of its first five games as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference under first-year head coach Kate Paye, who took over for all-time college basketball wins leader Tara VanDerveer. It has only lost five conference games in a season once since 2002 (2014-15).

Both teams head from the Bay Area to the East Coast this week. N.C. State will host Pitt on Thursday while Stanford visits Wake Forest.

Pitt pulls off historic comeback >> Pittsburgh women’s coach Tory Verdi had a simple second-half message Sunday for his team, which was getting absolutely blown out at home against SMU.

“I kept saying ‘fight,’” he said.

His team responded — in record fashion. The Panthers — down by 32 points in the first half, still down by 31 at intermission — tied an NCAA Division I women’s basketball record for biggest comeback, rallying to stun SMU 72-59 behind 22 points from Mikayla Johnson and 21 from Khadija Faye.

The 32-point comeback tied the record set by Texas State on Feb. 18, 2006, when it trailed UTSA 40-8 late in the first half before winning 73-71 in overtime.

“I came in at halftime and said, ‘I don’t have any magic words and I don’t have any magic plays,’” Verdi said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We were just getting outworked, we were getting outplayed. It was a positive, spirited conversation. I challenged them. We talked about pride, having a sense of pride. And then essentially I gave them a roadmap to get us back into the game.”

Tennis

Habib makes history >> Hady Habib’s history-making run at the Australian Open will continue after the first man to represent Lebanon in a Grand Slam singles tournament in the Open era became the first to win a match, defeating Bu Yunchaokete of China 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (6) in front of a loud group of supporters.

“This is probably one of the best days of my career, honestly. It’s such an incredible feeling to get this win — not only for myself but for Lebanon and Lebanese tennis,” said the 26-year-old Habib, who is ranked outside the top 200 on the ATP Tour. “As you guys could see there, the crowd was absolutely wild. It made it even more special to win in front of them. ... I felt the energy out there.”

College football

Notre Dame offensive lineman out for CFP championship game >> Notre Dame’s Anthonie Knapp has been ruled out of the College Football Playoff championship game against Ohio State with an ankle injury, but coach Marcus Freeman said Rocco Spindler is on track to play.

The Buckeyes’ Denzel Burke, who has been dealing with what coach Ryan Day called an “upper extremity issue,” will be available against the Irish in Atlanta on Jan. 20.

The Irish have battled numerous injuries all season and a flu bug last week as they’ve won 13 straight games to position themselves to play for their first national championship since 1988.

Day said his team, going for its first national title since 2014, planned for the possibility of playing an extended season and attempted to put in some safeguards in place if it happened.

They were intentional in building their roster and managing pace of play, he said.

“We looked at a lot of different things and metrics about playing this many games, playing our 16th game, what that was going to be like,” Day said. “We knew it was going to be a little bit of a battle of attrition at times. So depth was certainly a critical part of roster management and talent acquisition, but also how we practice, how we play.”

Golf

Taylor wins Sony Open playoff >> Nick Taylor of Canada delivered another theatrical finish, this time chipping in for eagle on the 18th hole to get into a playoff at the Sony Open and winning with a superb pitch that set up birdie to defeat Nico Echavarria.

Taylor never looked like a winner at Waialae, especially after missing two short birdie chances down the stretch. That changed all so suddenly when his eagle chip from 60 feet rolled in on the par-5 closing hole for a 5-under 65.

Echavarria joined him with a great bunker shot for a tap-in birdie on the 18th and a 65. They finished at 16-under 264.

Taylor has five PGA Tour titles and won the last three in a playoff. He had to hole a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th to stay alive. Playing the 18th again, Taylor went from a fairway bunker to 46 yards short of the cup. His pitch was close to perfect, landing on the front of the green and rolling with the grain and wind to just inside 3 feet.

Echavarria was just on the collar at the back of the green, but his 40-foot eagle putt came up 7 feet short and he missed the birdie putt.