Trojans get blown out early on by Stanford
8 a.m.
SEC Women’s Tournament:
Texas A&M vs. LSU, quarterfinal
Atlantic 10 Tournament:
St. Bonaventure vs. Duquesne, quarterfinal ACC Women’s Tournament:
Louisville vs. Wake Forest, quarterfinal Atlantic 10 Tournament:
St. Louis vs. Massachusetts, quarterfinal 10:30 a.m. SEC Women’s Tournament:
Georgia vs. Kentucky, quarterfinal
WCC Women’s Tournament:
Portland vs. Loyola Marymount
Atlantic 10 Tournament:
VCU vs. Dayton, quarterfinal
Monmouth at Rider
WCC Women’s Tournament:
Pacific vs. St. Mary’s
Atlantic 10 Tournament:
Davidson vs. George Mason, quarterfinal
SEC Women’s Tournament:
South Carolina vs. Alabama, quarterfinal Boston College at Miami
Kent St. at Buffalo
Georgia Tech at Wake Forest
Ohio Valley Tournament:
Belmont vs. Jacksonville St., semifinal Women: Ohio St. at Rutgers
Pac-12 Women’s Tournament:
Oregon St. vs. Stanford, semifinal
SEC Women’s Tournament:
Tennessee vs. Ole Miss
Ohio Valley Tournament:
Morehead St. vs. Eastern Kentucky, semifinal Pac-12 Women’s Tournament:
Arizona vs. UCLA, semifinal
8 a.m.
9 a.m.
10 a.m.
11 a.m.
12:30 p.m.
1 p.m. 2 p.m.
2:30 p.m.
3 p.m.
3 p.m. 3 p.m. 5 p.m. 5 p.m.
5 p.m. 5 p.m.
5:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
8 p.m.
COLLEGE HOCKEY
SECN
NBCSN
Prime
NBCSN
SECN
Prime
NBCSN
ESPNU
Prime
NBCSN
SECN
ACCN ESPNU ACCN
ESPNU
ESPN
Pac12N
SECN
ESPNU
Pac12N
TVG TVG
FSW, 830 SNLA, ESPN, 570
MLBN
FS1
NBA TV
NHLN Prime, 830 FSW, 1330
beIN TUDN TUDN NBCSN
NBCSN
USC women’s basketball head coach Mark Trakh was musing as he sat down for the press conference after Thursday’s game against Stanford.
“They’re good,” he said quietly. “They’re really good.”
The top-seeded Cardinal beat USC 92-53 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, just one day after the Trojans had snapped a threegame losing streak.
“That was a 39-point loss, but I just think they might have been 39 points better than us today,” Trakh said. “It’s not the fact that our kids stopped competing or stopped playing or stopped playing hard. And I think that really showed a growth in our team today.”
Jordyn Jenkins led eighth-seeded USC with nine points and 11 rebounds. Alissa Pili chipped in nine points.
USC shot 18.4% and was 0 for 11 on 3-pointers in the first half, while Stanford shot 44.1%, with 27 points coming from behind the 3-point line.
A day after defeating Arizona State in the first round of the tournament, the Trojans were shellshocked as the Pac-12 regular-season champion took a 23-5 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The Cardinal (23-2) went on an 8-0 scoring run to open the game before USC (11-12) got on the scoreboard on an Angel Jackson free throw. Kyra White’s jumper cut the deficit to 11-3 before Stanford rattled off 10 consecutive points.
“They’re a really disciplined team,” Pili said. “They did a good job of just loading up when someone would drive or doubleteam me, you know, helping the post when we got it down low, and we’ve had
UCLA guard Chantel Horvat, right, is defended by Washington forward Khayla Rooks during Thursday night’s Pac-12 women’s quarterfinal in Las Vegas. The ninth-ranked Bruins won 58-46 and will face 11th-ranked Arizona in today’s semifinals at 8 p.m. For details on the Bruins’ victory, go to ocregister.com/sports. better days of shooting. I think today we just kind of struggled with making shots.”
The Trojans fought for every point and were able to pick up the scoring pace in the second quarter, but couldn’t keep the Cardinal from beginning the quarter with another 8-0 run. Jenkins got USC into double
digits when she completed a three-point play to bring the score to 34-12.
Pili went in for a layup with 50 seconds left in the first half to make it 40-16, but Stanford’s Kiana Williams had the final say with a 3-pointer to give the Cardinal a 27-point halftime lead.
Pili made the Trojans’ first 3-pointer near the 7:30 mark in the third period and Jackson made three consecutive jumpers as USC shot 46.2% in the quarter.
Stanford held a 67-34 lead going into the final quarter.
Haley Jones had a double-double for the Cardinal with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Ashton Prechtel also recorded a doubledouble of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Stanford moves on to play fifth-seeded Oregon State — a 71-64 winner over No. 4 seed Oregon — in the semifinals at 5 p.m. today.
The Trojans struggled this season, mostly due to several injuries. However, USC should return nearly all of its players — forward Jordan Sanders is the only player out of eligibility — and will add two McDonald’s High School All-Americans: 6-foot-6 Clarice Uche Akunwafo of Rolling Hills Prep and 6-foot-4 Rayah Marshall of Lynwood High.
“I really, really love this team,” Trakh said. “I love what they’re doing and I just think our future is good. I’m really looking forward to what this program can do in the next three years.”