Cardinal crushes Trojans

It started out like a replay of yesterday's Cal/UCLA game – lots of defense leading to nothing. I've never seen so many shots rim out, clank off the rim or miss the basket entirely! With seven minutes left in the first half, the score was 11-8.

Then Nneka laid it in and Jayne, not able to find anyone to pass to, turned and shot from about 20 feet out, and Kayla and Nneka made five free throws and ...

The Cardinal's tough defense and the Trojans shooting woes continued – the final score was Stanford 77, USC 39.

At the pregame chalk talk, coach Bobbie Kelsey said that Kayla was working hard to get her shot back. "We know she can make 27 points and 13 rebounds – that's what we're looking for." She fell a bit short of that. She only got the game-high double-double: 18 points and 14 rebounds. The scoring included three of six from beyond the arc.

Nneka was close behind with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Jayne had the Cardinal's third double-double: 15 points and 14 rebounds. With the fourth rebound, she replaced Nicole Powell as the holder of the Stanford record for career rebounds.

Ros had another great all-around game. She scored 11 points, had five steals, two rebounds and four assists with two turnovers. She hounded USC's top scorer Ashley Corral unmercifully and held her to zero points. Corral did not make a field goal until the last 1:23 minutes of the game after all the Cardinal reserves had subbed in.

Jeanette's been working hard on her outside shot and sank two of three long ones.

Here are the game reports:

• Appel becomes Stanford's career rebounding leader in win by Jake Curtis
• Appel takes over career rebounding lead by Rick Eymer, Palo Alto Online
• Appel sets Cardinal rebounding record by Tom FitzGerald, San Francisco Chronicle
• Women's Basketball Handles USC, 77-39 by Janie McCauley, Associated Press

The box score and play-by-play,

The press conference video with Tara, Jayne, Kayla and Nneka,

And more photos:

One of Nneka's amazing rebounds One of Jayne's career-record rebounds Nneka goes up for a shot Jayne goes up for a shot Ros dives for the ball What did Kate say? Jennifer Azzi was one of the 1989-90 honorees