Thompson, No. 11 Stanford women beat USC 71-60
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Stanford's women's basketball team is difficult to beat on almost any night. When it's in prime shooting form as it was Sunday, the Cardinal is pretty much impossible to beat.
Lili Thompson scored 21 points to lead a balanced scoring effort and No. 11 Stanford eased past Southern California 71-60 on Sunday night.
Thompson made 12 of her 14 free throw attempts, both career highs.
The Cardinal (15-5, 7-1) shot 50 percent from the field, including 41.7 percent from 3-point range, and made 20 of 24 free throws.
"We are a very good shooting team with a great shooting lineup out there," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "I like the fact that we took care of the ball tonight and shot a good percentage. We're a very good team, an explosive team, and we know that.
Erica McCall scored 11 and Amber Orrange added 10 points for Stanford. Bonnie Samuelson and Kailee Johnson chipped in with eight points apiece.
McCall had six-straight points to start a 13-0 run which gave Stanford a 23-13 lead with 10:52 left in the first half. The Cardinal led the rest of the way.
"I think we came in with an attitude that we didn't want to get down like we have in past games and then try to battle back," Thompson said. "We wanted to commit to staying aggressive the entire game and I think we did that tonight."
Jordan Adams had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Kaneisha Horn scored 11 and grabbed 11 boards to lead the Trojans (11-8, 3-5).
USC has lost three straight, its longest losing streak of the season. The Trojans trailed the entire second half and shot just 35.8 percent from the field.
"Stanford plays the type of defense that puts pressure on you to make outside shots and it's very difficult," USC coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke said. "You're constantly going up against good players with height and size. Between their outside pressure and then when you get into the lane with their size, it makes it difficult."
Stanford shot 54.5 percent (12 of 22) from the floor in the opening half and took a 36-27 lead into the break.
Orrange scored five points during a 9-2 run that gave Stanford a 15-point lead, 53-28, with 12:29 to go, and the Trojans trailed by at least three possessions the rest of the way.
"We didn't do well on our rotations in our zone and they killed us," Horn said. "They got some wide open shots. If we could've executed on that it would've been a different game."
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TIP-INS
Stanford: The Cardinal have won 15 of their last 16 matchups against USC.It was VanDerveer's 790th win with Stanford. She is 10 wins away from becoming the 10th coach, men's or women's, to win 800 games with a single Division I program.
USC: The Trojans dropped to 0-4 against Top 25 teams this season..They outscored Stanford 36-22 in the paint, held a 20-5 advantage in offensive rebounds and scored 20 second-chance points.
UP NEXT:
Stanford: Hosts Washington State on Jan. 31
USC: Visits No. 9 Oregon State on Jan. 31