Cardinal thrashes the Trojans

It was a fast-paced, intense game with lots of crisp passes and excellent play from both the Trojans and the Cardinal — but more from the Cardinal who won 86-59.

The Trojans kept up for a while, but the Cardinal took the lead with an old-fashioned 3-point play from Lili five minutes into the game and never relinquished it.

That was just one of Lili's fine plays. She also sank two treys, scored on another drive to the basket in the second half and made a couple of free throws for a total of 12 points. Her defense of Ariya Crook, USC's sharp-shooter, was outstanding. She stuck to her like glue, and although Crook eventually scored 18 points, she hit only one from beyond the arc.

Amber also scored 12 points — on three drives to the basket, a stop-and-pop jumper and all four of her free throws. She also dished out six assists and never turned the ball over.

The Trojans knew about the Samuelsons and stuck close to them on the perimeter. But Karlie eluded her defenders twice, drove past them for a jumper another time and sank both her free throws for a total of 10 points.

My game ball goes to Mikaela who was in it to win it for 31 minutes. She earned her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She also stole the ball twice and forced numerous held balls. I'm surprised that the box score credits her with just one assist. Her decisive ball-handling and bullet-like passes were instrumental in much of the Cardinal offense.

The best parts of Mikaela's own scoring came at the free throw line, where she made all four of her freebies, and beyond the arc, from where she sank her second trey of the season. That shot came with just a couple of seconds left on the shot clock and no other option for Mikaela, who launched it with an, "Oh well, I might as well give it a try ..." look on her face. No-one enjoyed the result more than Mikaela. The thumbnail that accompanies this blog on the FBC home page is of Mikaela shouting in joy as she raced back down the court. (You can find that photo and several others of Mikaela in the USA Today gallery linked to below.)

Have I overlooked someone? Oh yes, Chiney, the fifth Cardinal to score in double digits. She had 30 points and 12 rebounds and three assists and two blocks — her customary splendid game.

Some quality stats for the team: 22 assists, 7 turnovers, 42 rebounds to USC's 28, 51% on fields goals, and 78.9% of 19 free throws (!).

Here are game reports and commentary:

• USC women fall 86-59 to No. 4 Stanford , the Associated Press game recap
• USC Falls at No. 4 Stanford, 86-59, the USC Athletics game recap
• Throw It Down, Big Cardinal!, the Stanford Athletics game recap
• A pair of doubles leads to another Stanford victory by Rick Eymer (Palo Alto Online)
• Stanford women crush second-place USC by Ray Hacke (Mercury News)
• Women’s basketball: Cardinal bury USC 86-59 — duel of top teams in Pac-12 is no contest by Tom FitzGerald (San Francisco Chronicle)
• USC still trying to catch Stanford by Michelle Smith (espnW)
• WBB: Stanford 86 U.SC 59 from the CARDboard

The box score and play-by-play,

Stanford-USC postgame notes from Stanford Athletics

A game highlights video from Stanford Athletics,

A gallery of photos by Nhat V. Meyer (Bay Area News Group),

A gallery of photos by Kelley L. Cox for (USA Today),

A gallery of photos by John Todd (Stanford Photo),

And photos by Jeff Chiu (Associated Press):

Chiney shoots against Cassie Harberts

Chiney shoots against Briana Barrett

Amber harrasses Briana Barrett

Chiney gets to the loose ball first

So does Bird

Chiney celebrates her basket

Mikaela & Chiney celebrate Mikaela's basket

Everyone celebrates Alex's 3-pointer

"Good job!"