The two best women's water polo teams in the country do not like one another. The disdain USC and Stanford share is a natural development, considering they are the only schools that have won a national championship in the last nine years.
This was the only way the 2018 season could end, with the Trojans and Cardinal seemingly trying to tear each other apart, limb by limb, for 32 minutes. Their NCAA semifinal match last year, won by Stanford, set the tone. In that one, USC star center Brigitta Games had two ribs broken in the second quarter, rendering her ineffective the rest of the match as she played through the pain.