STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Sarah Boothe asked her mother to be on her best behavior and then went out and had her best game.
The 6-foot-5 freshman center from Gurnee, Ill., rewarded her mother, Rose, who was watching her daughter play in person for the first time, with a season-high 16 points to go with six rebounds, a block and an assist. Jayne Appel added 19 points and No. 9 Stanford beat Southern Cal 81-53 on Thursday night.
"She's usually very loud," Boothe said. "She had some friends with her who were going to help keep her calm. To be honest, it gets so loud in here that I couldn't hear her."
Jeanette Pohlen and Jillian Harmon each added 10 points as the Cardinal (16-4, 7-1 Pac-10) won their 23rd consecutive home game despite 22 turnovers, their second-highest total of the season. Stanford won its third straight and eighth of nine overall.
"Sarah did everything we needed her to do," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "That's the first time she and Jayne played together for any amount of time and I know Sarah likes that."
Camille LeNoir scored 18 points to lead the Women of Troy (11-8, 5-3), who lost their eighth straight at Stanford in their lowest-scoring game of the season.
LeNoir has 1,208 career points and is closing in on Cheryl Miller for fifth (414) on the school's all-time assist list.
"The coaches kept telling me to push the ball," LeNoir said. "I was able to break them down. I have to make more layups when I'm in there."
Nadia Parker, who came off the bench for the first time in Pac-10 play, missed Southern Cal's victory over Washington State last Saturday due to an ankle injury sustained in a car accident and was still favoring the injurry at times. Hailey Dunham missed her fifth straight contest with a hand injury.
Stanford freshman Nnemkadi Ogwumike sported a face guard to protect a broken nose she suffered during a practice earlier in the week. She was limited in playing time as a result, giving Boothe a chance to play extended minutes. She responded by making seven of her first eight shots and added six rebounds as the Cardinal finished with a 61-30 rebounding edge. Kayla Pedersen had a team-high 13 boards.
"It's great to see some of the freshmen come in and contribute," Harmon said. "It's exciting to see how much (Boothe) has improved the last couple of months.
The Women of Troy missed their first 13 shots, including a layup after two Stanford players collided and fell to the court. Briana Gilbreath finally broke the cold spell with a 3-pointer at 11:53 of the first half.
The Cardinal (15-4, 6-1) fared only slightly better after scoring the game's first 15 points and taking an 18-3 lead nine minutes into the game.
USC took advantage of 14 Stanford turnovers to spark a 9-0 run. The Women of Troy eventually pulled within four points late in the first half following a 21-4 spurt.
USC made one of its first 19 shots, and then put together a string of four straight.
The Cardinal eventually pulled away in the second half, although USC closed to within 32-30 early.
Stanford out-rebounded USC, 62-31 in the game, with the Cardinal's total coming up just one short of the school's single-game record of 63 rebounds, set Jan. 11, 1980 against Princeton.
"They pounded us on the boards," USC coach Mark Trakh said. "We did some good things, and we have a long way to go."
Stanford led at the half, 30-24.
Notes
- With Thursday's victory, Stanford now leads the all-time series against USC, 41-19
- The victory is also Stanford's eighth straight over USC at Maples Pavilion
- Stanford's 62 rebounds is tied for second as the best single-game rebounding performance in school history. The record is 63, set against Princeton on Jan. 11, 1980
- Sarah Boothe scored a season-high 16 points in Thursday night's win and matched a season high with seven field goals
- Stanford shot 93.8 percent (15-for-16) from the free-throw line, its best showing from the charity stripe as a team this season
- Jillian Harmon's 10 points Thursday upped her career scoring total to 919 in her quest to become the 29th member of Stanford's "1,000-Point Club"
- The Cardinal held the Women of Troy scoreless for the first 8:05 of the contest, the longest scoreless streak for a Stanford opponent this season
- Stanford's 51 second-half points marked the fourth time this season that the Cardinal scored at least 50 points in the second half of a contest
- With six rebounds in the contest, Jayne Appel increased her career total to 782, surpassing Kristin Newlin (2003-07) and Rachel Hemmer (1991-95) and moving into fifth-place all-time on Stanford's career rebounding list
- The Cardinal's 20 assists Saturday night marked the eighth time this season that the team recorded at least 20 assists in a game
- The Cardinal grabbed a season-high 62 rebounds in Thursday night's contest