By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal (24-2,13-1) traveled to USC (16-10,9-5) Friday night to start their final road trip of the season.  Stanford had one of the worst starts of the season, but was able to overcome it and complete the huge comeback to defeat the Trojans 64-59.

Stanford struggled tremendously in the first half as they fell behind early.  USC was pouring it on, as the Cardinal couldn’t buy a bucket.  Stanford was trailing as much as 18 in the first half.  USC had the 32-13 lead with six minutes to go in the half.  Stanford would be able to cut the deficit before the half to seven, as they finished out the half on a 17-5 run.

Stanford would come out of the half hot as well, as they would cut the lead to just two only three minutes into the second half.  USC would be able to hold their lead until the 11-minute mark, when a made Chiney Ogwumike layup would give the Cardinal a 45-43 lead.

Stanford would be able to stretch their lead to nine with just over a minute to go before USC would start to make their comeback.  USC would make a comeback once again shrinking the Stanford lead to just four with 42 seconds remaining.

Bonnie Samuelson would knock both of her foul shots down giving the Cardinal a 62-56 lead.  The next possession for the Trojans would see a missed shot, but an offensive rebound would give Ariya Cook a chance for a three pointer.  She wouldn’t miss, cutting the lead to just three with 14 seconds to go.  Samuelson would get fouled once again, sending her to the foul line, she would knock down both once again.  Samuelson finished the game perfect from the charity strike, going eight for eight.

The game wouldn’t see another basket, and Stanford would be able to hold on for the win.

Chiney Ogwumike led all scorers with 27 points, however the Academic All-American would shot only 50% from the field.  Ogwumike finished the game with seven rebounds, three blocks and a steal.  On top of Samuelson’s eight free throws, she also knocked down two three-pointers to finish the game with 14 points.

Cook led the way for the Trojans with 24 points, nine of them coming from beyond the arc.

With the victory Stanford has now clinched at least a shared title of the Pac-12 regular season.  They can become the sole champions with either a California loss, or a win on Sunday over the UCLA Bruins.