No. 2 Stanford Stays The Course For 83-57 Win Over USC Women’s Basketball
LOS ANGELES — The USC women's basketball team came up against a sharp No. 2 Stanford squad today at Galen Center, as the Cardinal stayed perfect in Pac-12 play with an 83-57 win over the host Trojans. USC had a strong third quarter, but could not carve down the Cardinal's advantage in taking a sixth consecutive loss in Pac-12 action. USC is now 9-11 overall and 2-8 in Pac-12 play while the defending national champions improve to 18-3 overall and 9-0 in conference with their 10th straight victory.
The Cardinal hit seven second-half 3-pointers to finish with 10 on the day, while USC got just one three to go in the game. Stanford finished up shooting 43.7 percent overall from the floor to USC's 33.3 percent, ad the Cardinal won on the boards 48-34.
USC received another team-high scoring effort from sophomore Jordyn Jenkins, who finished with 20 points — 19 of which came in the second half. Jordan Sanders also hit double figures with 12 points, and Rayah Marshall added 10 for the Trojans. Stanford, meanwhile, was paced by Cameron Brink's 26 points and 14 rebounds, with Hannah Jump adding 12 points — all on second-half 3-pointers.
USC kept the Cardinal in reach during the first stretch, with Jordan Sanders answering Stanford buckets to get the score to 9-7. Stanford nailed a couple 3-pointers around a score down low from Rayah Marshall, and the Cardinal got ahead 15-9 entering the final minute of the first. A couple Stanford free throws fell to wrap the quarter with the Cardinal ahead 17-9. Sanders kept striking in the second quarter, working her way into double digits with back-to-back scores that made the margin 22-17 at 6:20. Marshall delivered again in the paint at 5:15 to make it 24-19, but the Trojans would come up empty on the offensive end the rest of the way. Stanford, meanwhile, wrapped the half with a 13-0 scoring run to take a 37-19 lead into the locker room.
Stanford extended that scoring stretch with two more scores out of the gates in the second half before Jenkins struck and Pili punched up a 3-pointer to give a boost to the Trojan cause. Stanford would knock down a set of 3-pointers while USC worked its way to the free-throw line, and then USC got going with a 6-0 surge with two baskets from Jenkins and a bucket from Desiree Caldwell to make the score 58-42 at 2:55. A fifth third-quarter 3-pointer would fall for the Cardinal later, and Stanford would grip a 63-46 lead entering the fourth. USC's Jenkins got herself to 20 points on the day with a three-point play that made it 67-51 Stanford at 8:15. With 5:30 to go, USC got a finish from Marshall to make it 68-53, but that was as close as the Trojans would get as Stanford made another surge and finished things off as an 83-57 Cardinal victory at Galen Center.
NOTABLE:
- With a 20 points tonight, SO Jordyn Jenkins has scored in double digits in 11 straight games.
- Jenkins has now recorded five 20-point-plus games this season.
- With two blocks tonight, FR Rayah Marshall extended her run of games with at least one block to 15 straight.
- With 10 points, Marshall scored in double digits for the fourth straight game.
- USC has now lost six straight games, the longest losing skid for the Trojans since a seven-game slump during the 2016-17 season.
- USC was without GS Tera Reed due to injury for the fourth straight game.
NEXT:
USC has three games in a five-day span ahead with an extended Pac-12 road trip on the docket. First, the Trojans play a makeup game at Utah at 2 p.m. MT on Wednesday (Feb. 9) in Salt Lake City. Then it's on to Seattle for a 7 p.m. test at Washington on Friday (Feb. 11) before a visit to Pullman to face Washington State at 12 p.m. on Sunday (Feb. 13).