Southern California guard Kayla Williams, left, and guard Okako Adika celebrates after USC upset Stanford 55-46 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Sun Jan 15, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Sunday, January 15, 2023

Southern California pulled off a major upset in women’s basketball Sunday, as the Trojans defeated No. 2 Stanford 55-46 in Los Angeles, snapping the Cardinal’s 12-game winning streak in the process.

Destiny Littleton led USC with 18 points and six assists, Okako Adika scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Taylor Bigby and Kayla Williams scored nine points apiece as the Trojans (13-4 overall, 3-3 Pac-12) snapped a 14-game losing streak to Stanford.

It was Southern California’s first win over the Cardinal (17-2 overall, 5-1 Pac-12) since the 2014 Pac-12 Tournament.

USC had it going defensively, holding the Cardinal to four points in the first quarter, and leading by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter. The Trojans forced six turnovers while holding Stanford to 2 of 10 shooting in the opening 10 minutes, building an 11-4 lead.

The Cardinal tied the game at 19-19 with 1:09 left in the first half, but USC’s 5-0 run gave the Trojans a 24-19 halftime lead.

Clarice Akunwafo put the exclamation point on USC’s day at the end of the third quarter. With three seconds remaining in the period, Akunwafo blocked a shot by the Cardinals’ Lauren Betts, then hustled upcourt to sink a 24-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Trojans a 43-33 lead.

Cameron Brink scored 11 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for the Cardinal, which also saw its streak of 39 straight conference wins come to an end. Haley Jones had 12 rebounds for Stanford, but was held to eight points.

Though the Cardinal held USC to 27 percent shooting from the field, the Trojans compensated by hitting 8 of 19 behind the arc and sinking 17 of 26 free throws. Stanford hit only 4 of 21 3-point attempts.

The Cardinal return home on Friday to host No. 10 Utah, opening a four-game homestand at Maples Pavilion.