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No. 12 Stanford women cruise past USC 57-47

Jan 23, 2016 - 6:43 AM LOS ANGELES (AP) Senior-less Stanford showed it can bounce back in the middle of a tough road trip.

Karlie Samuelson scored 14 points and the 12th-ranked Cardinal beat Southern California 57-47 on Friday night for their eighth straight road win over the Trojans.

Erika McCall had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Lili Thompson added 11 points and Kaylee Johnson had 13 rebounds for the Cardinal (15-4, 5-2 Pac-12), which were coming off a 58-50 loss at No. 12 Oregon last week.

''The Oregon State game was a dagger to us,'' McCall said. ''Coming in here, you know you got to play well.''

Stanford has won nine of its last 11. The Cardinal are 2-1 so far on their four-game trip.

''At one point, I looked and there were two freshmen, two sophomores and one junior out there,'' Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. ''We did a better job defensively in the second half. I was real excited at how Kaylee came in and rebounded.''

Stanford controlled the boards, 44-32, and held USC to 31 percent shooting.

Temi Fagbenle had 11 points and seven rebounds to lead the Trojans (14-5, 2-5). They dropped their third in a row since losing starters Jordan Adams and Brianna Barrett, who are academically ineligible. Alexis Lloyd added 10 points.

''Tough night, disappointing effort,'' USC coach Cynthia Cooper said. ''If you want to win a basketball game, you got to earn it. We've got to get better at executing offensively and more consistent effort defensively.''

Adams and Barrett are averaging a combined 20.4 points.

''It obviously affects us, but someone has to step up,'' Cooper said. ''We can't use that as an excuse.''

Stanford pulled away in the fourth quarter, getting Samuelson's fourth 3-pointer of the game for a 51-38 lead. The Trojans struggled from the free-throw line, going 6 of 17. Fagbenle, a graduate student from Harvard, was just 5 of 12.

Sadie Edwards scored eight of USC's final nine points, getting a couple steals for quick layups in the final 19 seconds.

''We have to be more patient offensively to find the open player,'' Cooper said. ''They have to be ready to penetrate and knock down the shot. We struggled to get in an offensive flow.''

The Cardinal outscored USC 15-10 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 43-34. Samuelson scored eight points, hitting 3-pointers to open and close the period, when Stanford took its first double-digit lead of the game. Fagbenle made 3 of 4 free throws that cut USC's deficit to single digits heading into the fourth.

Stanford shot 50 percent in the first half when the Cardinal led 28-24 at the break. After falling behind by four to start the game, the Cardinal outscored the Trojans 14-2, including 11 in a row, to take an eight-point lead, their largest of the half. Thompson had seven points in the spurt.

Lloyd sparked the Trojans with nine consecutive points over the end of the first quarter and start of the second. They got within one on a layup by Courtney Jaco before Thompson's steal and fastbreak layup and a basket by McCall kept Stanford ahead at the half.

TIP-INS

Stanford: The Cardinal tied the single-game school record with 13 blocks, the fourth game this season in double-digits. ... Stanford has held 15 of 19 opponents under 40 percent shooting. ... McCall recorded her 11th double-double of the season. ... The Cardinal earned the program's 992nd victory. ... Stanford is without a senior starter for the first time since 2002-03.

USC: Adams and Barrett weren't with the Trojans last week, when the team was swept on the road by the Washington schools to fall out of the Top 25. Barrett, a senior, had not missed a game in her career until recently. She is averaging 7.6 points. Adams, a redshirt junior, is averaging 12.8 points, second-best on the team.

TURNOVERS

Stanford committed 19 turnovers - worse than its 14.2 average. Guard Marta Sniezek had a team-high five miscues and Thompson had four.

''That's what we need to improve on,'' VanDerVeer said.

FREE THROWS

The only other USC player besides Fagbenle to make a free throw was Lloyd, who was 1 of 2. Edwards missed her only attempt, while Khaedin Taito also missed both her tries. Lloyd, Edwards and Taito didn't get to the line until the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT

Stanford: Visits No. 20 UCLA on Sunday.

USC: Hosts California on Sunday.