SEATTLE – Kiana Williams scored 18 points and No. 16 Stanford never trailed in a 69-59 win over USC in a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal Friday night.
The Cardinal (21-9) will play Arizona State (21-11) in tomorrow's semifinals at 8:30 p.m. The Sun Devils closed on a 13-1 run in the fourth and final game of the day and knocked off No. 10 Oregon State (23-7), 57-51.
Alanna Smith added 14 points and DiJonai Carrington 13. Marta Sniezek scored all 10 of her points in the first half to go along with five assists and just one turnover, while Kaylee Johnson grabbed 10 rebounds for Stanford, her 11th time this season in double figures. In five career Pac-12 Tournament games, Marta Sniezek has 24 assists and only three turnovers.
Stanford raced out to a 10-2 lead and forced an early USC (20-11) timeout when Smith made a layup less than four minutes into the game. Sniezek pushed ahead and hit Brittany McPhee at the opposite wing. McPhee jumped, received the pass and made a touch pass all to Smith all in one motion who was alone underneath for an easy two.
Sniezek put in six of the Cardinal's next eight points on a pair of finishes at the rim and two free throws and Stanford had its largest lead, 18-4, with 1:56 to go in the opening period.
The Trojans managed to get within six three times in the fourth quarter – 55-49, 57-51 and 59-53 – but never closer. Williams answered the first challenge with a layup to push the edge back to eight. The second time Brittany McPhee drove and drew two defenders, leaving Carrington wide open under the hoop for the finish.
Finally it was Stanford's defense that closed it out after Minyon Moore made a pair at the line to make it 59-53 with 6:16 left. USC would go more than four minutes without a point and missed nine of its final 10 attempts from the floor.
Aliyah Mazyck led USC with 22 points, Minyon Moore scored 12 and Jordan Adams 10. Kristen Simon, who came in averaging 17.3 points on 45.1 percent shooting, scored just nine, went 2-of-11 from the field (.182) and had 12 rebounds. The Trojans shot a season-low 26.8 percent (15-of-56).
Stanford snatched momentum in a couple end-of-quarter situations. Sadie Edwards missed a jumper with four seconds left in the first, Nadia Fingall pulled down the defensive rebound and found her outlet in Carrington. Carrington took one dribble and hoisted a shot from the logo at midcourt and banked it in at the buzzer to put the Cardinal on top 21-9.
At the close of the third quarter, Carrington stole the ball from Simon to give Stanford the final possession. Williams passed to Alyssa Jerome in front of the Cardinal bench and the freshman pump faked to get her defender in the air, took one step to the left and drained the corner 3-pointer as the horn sounded and Stanford was up 52-39 heading into the fourth.
Stanford and Arizona State split their regular-season meetings. The Sun Devils won in Tempe, 73-66, on Jan. 7 and the Cardinal won in Maples Pavilion on Jan. 26, 74-50.
