Stanford Turns Back Ailing USC

USC found out firsthand Sunday that Stanford is not ranked sixth in the country for nothing.

The Trojans played well in spots and challenged the Cardinal at times but could not keep Stanford from rolling to a 78-66 victory before 3,710 at Maples Pavilion at Palo Alto.

With its fourth consecutive victory, the Cardinal (12-1 overall, 4-0 in conference) took sole possession of first place in the Pacific 10 and is off to its best start in the conference since going 18-0 in conference in the 1996-97 season. Stanford has won its last seven Pac-10 games; the last loss was to USC here last March 1.

Stanford’s potent duo of Nicole Powell and Lindsey Yamasaki keyed the Cardinal attack. Powell had a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. Yamasaki scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half.

The Trojans’ Ebony Hoffman powered her way to 22 points and 12 rebounds. Tiffany Elmore added 19 and became the 17th USC woman to reach the 1,000-point career mark. Several Trojans (7-6, 3-1) were suffering from food poisoning after Friday’s victory over California at Berkeley. Aisha Hollans, USC’s leading scorer (18.5), was too ill to practice Saturday, and scored only 10 points Sunday. At one point in the first half, Hollans was feeling so ill she temporarily left the game for a bathroom break after making a layup and being fouled. That left Rachel Woodward to shoot, and miss, Hollans’ free throw. The Trojans got within 62-60, with 5:16 to play but came no closer.

Mike Terry

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UCLA 64, California 48--Sparked by a stingy zone defense, the Bruins escaped the Pac-10 cellar with a victory at Berkeley. Whitney Jones had 13 points to lead UCLA (4-8, 1-3), which snapped a seven-game skid. Cal (4-7, 0-4) made 33 turnovers.