Other times, though, rankings reflect reality.

And, yes, No. 2 Stanford proved superior to No. 8 UCLA on Friday night in a Pac-12 Conference women’s basketball game at Pauley Pavilion, winning 72-59.

The Bruins have a star in Charisma Osborne, impressive depth and a brilliant freshman class. Yet they are painfully inferior in one key area: putting the ball in the basket.

Stanford (17-1, 5-0) scored nine of the first 11 points in the third quarter, turning a 32-32 halftime tie into a 41-34 lead before UCLA (14-3, 3-2) called a timeout. The Bruins rallied, though, and entered the fourth quarter trailing 51-49. But the Cardinal again began a period hot, scoring the next 15 points.

UCLA was scoreless the first 8:04 of the fourth quarter, missing 11 consecutive shots. Stanford center Cameron Brink blocked five shots and seven overall.

Spirited defense by UCLA kept the score even in the first half 32-32.

Cardinal All-American Haley Jones made only three of nine shots, alternately hounded by Osborne and freshman reserve Gabriela Jaquez.

Osborne also was cold, making two of 10 shots in the half. The baskets came back-to-back from three-point range less than three minutes into the second quarter, pushing UCLA ahead 25-20. Points became scarce from there, however. A three-pointer by Jaquez with 2:36 to play in the half was the only Bruins’ basket from the field in the last seven minutes of the half. Osborne finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Gina Conti also had 13 points for the Bruins.

“I like what we are doing on the defensive end,” UCLA coach Cori Close said at halftime. “On the offensive end, we need to move the basketball to take advantage of mismatches.”

Not much did change, with UCLA forcing turnovers and hanging tough much of the second half, only to falter offensively.