Cardinal come on strong to tie for 1st

LOS ANGELES — Brittany McPhee scored 10 of her 12 points in the final 6½ minutes and Stanford erased a 14-point second-half deficit in defeating USC 59-55 on Friday night to move into a first-place tie in the Pac-12.

McPhee’s three-point play gave Stanford a 52-51 lead with three minutes left, its first lead since late in the first quarter. USC’s Sadie Edwards tied it at 55-all with 41 seconds left before McPhee scored again with 25 seconds remaining. After a McPhee steal of a wayward pass, Marta Sniezek added two free throws with a second left.

The victory moved the Cardinal (12-7, 6-1) into first place with No. 7 Oregon, which lost 85-79 in overtime at No. 18 Oregon State.

DiJonai Carrington scored 15 points, 10 in the second half, as the Stanford bench outscored USC’s 23-0.

Aliyah Mazyck made four three-pointers and scored 20 points with Kristen Simon adding 17 for the Trojans (13-5, 3-4).

USC had not beaten Stanford on the Trojans’ home court in 10 years but that looked like it might change after Mazyck hit a three-pointer to begin a 9-0 run that extended USC’s lead to 14 midway through the third quarter. However, Stanford closed the period on a 10-1 run with Alanna Smith hitting a threepointer at the buzzer to get the Cardinal within 45-41.

Stanford won despite missing 17 of 22 from three-point range.