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Christian McCaffrey torpedoed USC’s defense the last two seasons. As Stanford upended the Trojans three times in 2016 and 2015, McCaffrey tallied 970 all-purpose yards. How tough was it to bring down the elusive running back? Reporters covering the Pac-12 championship game in 2015 overheard then-USC defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and other coaches swearing in an adjacent press box booth at Le...

LOS ANGELES >> Of the 159 rushing yards Ronald Jones amassed in USC’s season-opening victory over Weste Michigan, 122 came after contact. Deland McCullough, the Trojans’ running backs coach, took notice. “It ain’t always the flash and long runs,” McCullough said. “It’s the dirty work of lowering your shoulder, running through trash, breaking arm tackles and sending a physical message to yo...

INDIANAPOLIS >> Tamika Catchings was known as a hard worker during her playing career. But as hard as she worked in 16 seasons for the Indiana Fever, she had a tough time keeping up with her dad on Saturday night. Former NBA player Harvey Catchings helped his daughter raise a banner with her N...

STANFORD – Cal State Fullerton got an impressive pitching performance from John Gavin and just enough timely hits to defeat Stanford 4-1 on Friday at the Stanford Regional of the NCAA baseball touament at Sunken Diamond. Gavin went seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits and striking ou...

LONG BEACH >> The second-seeded Sparks are hoping that the WNBA playoffs end with a championship team trophy. Wednesday night at Long Beach State’s Walter Pyramid, they began the postseason with some individual hardware. Nneka Ogwumike was awarded the WNBA’s MVP trophy in a pregame ceremony and then spent the next 40 minutes proving why she deserved it as she led the Sparks to a 95-75 win over the fourth-seeded Chicago Sky. “It was great,” she said. “It’s been nothing but love the last few...

LOS ANGELES >> UCLA’s last-second loss to Stanford was crushing for the Bruins. TV cameras caught linebakcer Jayon Brown kneeling on the sideline after the clock expired with a shocked look on his face. Defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes shouted expletives in frustration. Head coach Jim Mora had never seen this team more devastated than when he saw it at the Rose Bowl after the Cardinal scored the game-winning touchdown with 24 seconds left. Then the clock struck on UCLA’s 24-hour grieving...

LOS ANGELES >> The best basketball player in Los Angeles began Friday night’s game with a steal and a layup. She ended Friday night’s game with a simple rim-run, from baseline to baseline, so she could finish a fast break, when her team led by only one point. The Sparks beat San Antonio, 71-65, and ended the WNBA regular season with a 26-8 record. Coach Brian Agler was asked his choice for MVP of the league by people who already knew the answer was Nneka Ogwumike. “First, she’s having a hi...

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Nneka Ogwumike had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Candace Parker added 11 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Chicago Sky 77-67 on Wednesday. Ogwumike was 10 of 11 from the field for her fifth consecutive game with at least 20 points. She also had four blocks as the Sparks tied a season high with eight. Kristi Toliver had 13 points, Jantel Lavender added 12 points and Essence Carson scored 10 for Los Angeles (19-1), the top-ranked team in the...

Ogwumike, Sparks too much for Sky 77-67 AP Photo ILNH111, ILNH110, ILNH109, ILNH108, ILNH107, ILNH106 ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Nneka Ogwumike had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Candace Parker added 11 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, and the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Chicago Sky 77-67 on Wednesday. Ogwumike was 10 of 11 from the field for her fifth consecutive game with at least 20 points. She also had four blocks as the Sparks tied a season high with eight. Kristi Toliver had 13 points, Jant...

LOS ANGELES >> Nneka Ogwumike had 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting, and Candace Parker scored on back-to-back possessions late to help the Sparks beat the Connecticut Sun 80-73 on Sunday at Staples Center. The win moves the Sparks (13-1) into first place in the Weste Conference, a half-game ahead of the Minnesota Lynx (13-2), who lost to the Washington Mystics 87-63. The Sparks handed the Lynx their first loss of the season 94-76 on Friday night. Parker and Essence Carson scored 10 points ap...

Nneka Ogwumike had 27 points and 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double, and the Los Angeles Sparks set a franchise record with their 10th straight season-opening win in a 98-85 victory over the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night. Ogwumike was 6 of 6 from the field in the first half to extend her WNBA record to 23 straight made field goals over the past three games. She missed her first shot of the second half, a 3-pointer from the wing, and finished 12 of 14. She entered as the league leader in fiel...

The first words out of the USC huddle after a 9-6 semifinal win over Michigan in the NCAA women’s water polo touament on Saturday were simple: “One more.” After 25 straight wins, the Trojans have eyes for one more that would complete a perfect season and cap the year with a national championship. To achieve perfection, USC will have to knock off two-time defending national champion Stanford, which punched its ticket to the title match with a 7-4 win over UCLA in the other semifinal. USC and Stan...

STANFORD >> Michael Humphrey shoots pregame free throws to get his shot right. He accomplished that, making every kind of shot known to a post player and a couple more he invented on the spot. It’s his free throws that might need work. Humphrey scored 24 points, Rosco Allen added 19, including a clutch 3-pointer, and Stanford beat UCLA 79-70 Saturday. “He was a beast. He did a great job, our bigs couldn’t keep him in front,” Bruins coach Steve Alford said. “He got around our bigs a lot, an...

STANFORD, Calif. — Dorian Pickens scored 22 of his career-high 25 points in the first half and Stanford beat USC 84-64 on Thursday night. Rosco Allen added 17 points, Marcus Allen had 15 and Michael Humphrey had 10, all in the second half, as the Cardinal (14-12, 7-8 Pac-12) won their third in four games. Katin Reinhardt scored 14 points to lead the Trojans (19-9, 8-7), who have lost four of five after opening conference play winning 7 of 10. Bennie Boatwright added 11 and Elijah Stewart had 10....

The No. 2 Long Beach State men’s volleyball team defended its home court in style on Friday night, topping No. 6 Stanford in four sets behind an excellent team performance, dropping the first set but coming back to win 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-23. The Cardinal looked unstoppable in the first frame, as Long Beach had seven hitting errors and hit just .179. But the Beach led comfortably for most of the rest of the match, and were able to come through in the clutch even when Stanford made it close. ...