Jan. 19, 2013

Game #18

No. 6/6 Stanford Cardinal (15-2, 4-1 Pac-12)

- vs. -

USC Trojans (7-9, 4-1 Pac-12)

Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013 - 4 p.m. PT
Maples Pavilion (7,233) - Stanford, Calif.

Series History: Stanford leads 49-19
Last Meeting: Feb. 9, 2012 (Stanford 69, USC 42) - Stanford, Calif.
TV: Pac-12 Networks (P-x-P: Krista Blunk, Analyst: Mary Murphy)
Webcast: None
Radio: 90.1 KZSU (P-x-P: Preston Chin, Analyst: Ashley Westhem)

Game Notes vs. USC

STANFORD, Calif. - No. 6/6 Stanford, back in a share for first place on the Pac-12 table after a five-day hiatus, aims to stay there Sunday as it hosts USC at 4 p.m.. Sunday's contest between two of the four teams tied for first place at 4-1 will be televised nationally on the Pac-12 Network with Krista Blunk and Mary Murphy calling the action. The game will also be available on the radio at 90.1 KZSU with Preston Chin and Ashley Westhem on the call.

Last Time Out
Stanford avoided losing a third straight home game for the first time since January 1987 with Friday's 75-49 rout of No. 14/15 UCLA. Consensus national player of the year candidate Chiney Ogwumike scored 25 points with 13 rebounds, posting her 12th double-double and 20-point game, respectively, of the campaign to lead the way in Stanford's 14th straight win over the Bruins. Amber Orrange went 7-for-10 from the field, scoring 15 points and made a career-high five steals to anchor a Cardinal defense that held UCLA to just 31.4-percent shooting. Joslyn Tinkle hit all four of her 3-point attempts and scored 16 points to highlight Stanford's 6-for-7 showing from behind the arc while Toni Kokenis scored six points and passed out six assists. Making just her second career start, junior Sara James scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds.

About USC
USC (7-9, 4-1 Pac-12) had its four-game winning streak snapped Thursday night in a 72-63 overtime loss at California, but has still won four of its past five to bounce back from a six-game losing streak. With Michael Cooper in his fourth year at the USC helm, the Trojans are led by the play of Cassie Harberts (17.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and Ariya Crook (13.7 ppg, 3.13 apg).

Against USC
Stanford leads the overall series against USC, 49-19, and has won 10 in a row against the Trojans as well as 20 of the last 21 meetings since Feb. 19, 2004.

Merely A Flesh Wound
Stanford bounced right back with a win over UCLA Friday night after having its program- and conference-record 81-game Pac-12 winning streak snapped Jan. 13 against California, as the Golden Bears claimed a 67-55 win at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal's 81-game run was bookended by the Golden Bears, who owned the previous Pac-12 win over Stanford, a 57-54 decision in Berkeley on Jan. 18, 2009. Stanford's 81-game run began with the following game, an 85-57 win at Oregon on Jan. 22, 2009. That win kick-started a streak in which the Cardinal won its final 13 regular-season conference games that season (2008-09) then put together three straight 18-0 campaigns (2010-12). The streak also included 11 wins at the Pac-12 Tournament.

I Love (Playing) L.A.
Sunday's matchup with USC presents a chance for Stanford to continue its run of success against its Southern California counterparts, a run that currently stands at 24 straight wins against UCLA and USC. Friday night's win over UCLA was the Cardinal's 14th in a row against the Bruins, and a win over the Trojans Sunday would up Stanford's streak in that matchup to 11 games. The Cardinal has not lost a game to either Los Angeles school since suffering a weekend sweep in the City of Angels Jan. 4 and 6, 2008.

Ogwumike Thrives Against Top-25 Competition
Junior forward and consensus national player of the year candidate Chiney Ogwumike has continued her award-worthy 2012-13 campaign as the Pac-12 season has gotten underway. Over the first five games of Stanford's challenging eight-game stretch to start the conference slate, Ogwumike is averaging 21.8 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 59.2 percent. So far this season, in which Ogwumike is in the national top 11 in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage, she has turned up her performance over eight games against Top-25 teams, averaging 20.9 points and 11.8 rebounds while shooting 52.3 percent.

Business Picking Up Downtown?
An encouraging improvement out of Friday's win over UCLA was Stanford's 6-for-7 performance behind the arc, highlighted by a 4-for-4 outing from Joslyn Tinkle. The accuracy from downtown was a significant improvement and has team and fans alike hoping that it is the beginning of a climb out of the prolonged slump the Cardinal shooters had endured. Prior to Friday night's outstanding performance, the Cardinal had only been shooting 19.5 percent (17-for-87) over its past eight games dating back to Dec. 15's clash against Pacific. In fact, the only player to make more than half of her 3-point attempts over that eight-game span was Sara James, who was 4-for-7 (57.1).

Orrange Controls The Point
Sophomore point guard Amber Orrange bounced back with another fine performance Friday against UCLA, going 7-for-10 from the field and scoring 15 points to help pace the Cardinal's 75-49 win. Yet Orrange, one of Stanford's top offensive weapons, averaging 13.6 points and shooting 55.8 percent against the Pac-12, also made her presence felt with her speed and quick hands on defense, making a career-high five steals against the Bruins. Orrange's two-way play has been a boon to the Cardinal, as the Houston native leads the team with 71 assists and is tied for the team lead with Chiney Ogwumike with 24 steals.

Kokenis Shines Against The L.A. Schools
Friday against UCLA Stanford's Second City Sparkplug, Toni Kokenis, a native of the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Ill., enjoyed another solid outing against UCLA. The junior guard scored six points with six assists and four rebounds in the 75-49 win over the Bruins, continuing her habit of playing well against the Los Angeles-based Pac-12 schools, where she actually has many family roots. With her parents and various extended family members having graduated from either UCLA or USC, some of Kokenis' best performances have come against the alma maters of her extended family. Over six career games against the Bruins, Kokenis is averaging 10.2 points and 2.67 assists, and most notably went 7-for-9 for 17 points with a pair of assists against UCLA in Stanford's 64-55 win in the Pac-10 Championship Game on March 12, 2011. Over three career games against USC, she has averaged 12.3 points and 2.33 assists.

James Continues To Climb The Depth Chart
Junior Sara James has enjoyed one of the best stretches of her collegiate career since the start of January, averaging 6.2 points and shooting 64.3 percent over Stanford's 4-1 start to Pac-12 play. The El Dorado Hills native had her break-out game Jan. 6 at Utah, scoring a career-high 18 points and hitting four 3-pointers, and continued that contribution Friday at UCLA. Making just her second collegiate start, James scored five points early to energize the Cardinal and went on to score seven points with three rebounds over 17 minutes in the Cardinal win.