The Trojans are pushing their way up the Pacific-10 Conference ladder.
After a 14-17 record landed USC in a tie for fifth at the end of the Pac-10 season last March, the Trojans have picked up steam this season and are 4-1 in conference play.
“Everything we hoped we were going to get out of (a tough early schedule) last year, we were able to get this year,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said Tuesday. “We were able to come out feeling very positive and like we still had a chance to win in the Pac-10.”
USC (7-6 overall, 4-1 Pac-10) returned four starters from the tough nonconference season it played a year ago. Gobrecht spaced out the difficult games this season, and she said it will be a big help when they make the tough trips during conference play.
“Anytime you’re on the road it’s tough,” Gobrecht said. “We’ve only been on the road once. Stanford’s got a lot of tough things to do as well as any of us. Stanford has yet to be tested. Washington almost got them, but Stanford really has yet to be tested.”
The Trojans recently survived a visit from the Washington schools, taking care of Washington State, 82-52, on Sunday. Meanwhile USC beat Washington, which was chosen to finish ahead of them in the conference, 70-50, on Friday.
Senior Rometra Craig led the Trojans with 13 points against Washington, while fellow senior Ebony Hoffman led USC with 16 points Sunday.
Junior Rachel Woodward contributed 10 points off the bench between the two games.
After losing six consecutive games to the Huskies, sophomore Meghan Gnekow and her teammates especially enjoyed the victory. The first-year starter scored nine points in 23 minutes and led the Trojans with eight rebounds.
“I’ve been practicing all week on how to guard Giuliana (Mendiola) and had watched film before the game to get a feel for what I was doing,” Gnekow told the Los Angeles Times after the victory against Washington. “But it wasn’t just for me; our whole team did a great job of not letting them catch the ball and run her plays.”

Not-so-happy birthday
The Huskies’ loss to USC came on the same day as the younger Mendiola sister, Giuliana, turned 22 and two days after Gioconda Mendiola’s 23rd birthday. While Giuliana Mendiola is second in the Pac-10 with 19.6 points per game, the Huskies (8-7, 1-5) have lost three straight games.
“The urgency is there, and it’s only getting more intense,” Mendiola told The Seattle Times after the loss to USC. “You can’t lose four games in the Pac-10 out of five and sit back and say, ‘Well, I’m OK with it. We’ll get better.’ We still have a lot of confidence in each other, but we need to get this done. Soon.”