No. 4 Stanford throttles USC in Pac 12 quarterfinal

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ashten Prechtel had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 4 Stanford to a 92-53 victory over Southern California in a Pac-12 quarterfinal on Thursday.

Haley Jones and Hannah Jump each had 14 points, and Lacie Hull added 10 points for the Cardinal (23-2, 19-2), who improved to 48-6 all-time in the Pac-12 tournament and 18-1 in the quarterfinals.

Alissa Pili led USC (11-12, 8-10) with nine points.

Stanford, which won its first regular-season conference title since 2014, also swept its regular-season series with USC by way of 80-60 and 86-59 routs, giving the Cardinal an average winning margin of 28.6 in the three games.

Stanford has now held 11 opponents to 53 points or fewer. The Cardinal ranked ninth in the nation in points allowed at 53.0 per game.

Stanford was dominant from the opening tip. USC missed its first eight shots and didn’t get its first field goal until the 4:37 mark, when Kyra White cut Stanford’s lead to 11-3. The Cardinal scored the next 10 points, extending their advantage to 21-3.

Stanford led 31-5 after scoring the first eight points of the second quarter. The Cardinal went 9 of 21 from 3-point range in the first half, while the Trojans missed all 11 of their first-half attempts from beyond the arc.

BIG PICTURE

USC: Angel Jackson closed out her sophomore year with a glimpse of what the Trojans can expect next season and beyond. Jackson, who averaged 7.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game this season, showed poise in rattling off seven straight points in the third quarter. She finished with eight points and three rebounds.

Stanford: Balance was the key for the Cardinal. Stanford had a different leading scorer in each quarter, with Jones and Jump each leading the team with nine points in the first and second quarters, respectively. Hull led the third-quarter charge with six points, and Prechtel led Stanford with 11 fourth-quarter points.

UP NEXT

USC: Season is likely over.

Stanford: Will face Oregon State in Friday’s semifinal.

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