The Stanford women’s basketball team entered last weekend’s series against UCLA and USC as the consensus No. 2 team in the nation, and the owners of a 12-1 record. The Bruins and Trojans were both unranked, with a combined record of 15-13. But in back-to-back losses, the Cardinal was outplayed and its offense was shut down. Stanford dropped to 2-2 in the Pac-10, which leaves it sitting in sixth place in the conference standings.

Against a below-average UCLA team on Friday, the Cardinal could not sustain a lead, and lost 69-56. Stanford shot a pathetic 29.6 percent from the floor and only made half of its shots from the free-throw line.

Star senior guard Candice Wiggins led the Cardinal with 29 points — more than half of Stanford’s offensive output — but on only 11-for-28 shooting. Freshman forward Kayla Pedersen was held without a field goal, and sophomore center Jayne Appel was the only other player to score in double figures. In fact, just five Cardinal players found the net in the game.

After falling behind early in the game, the Cardinal kept pace with the Bruins in the first half and went into halftime down only four points. But as the second half began, UCLA was finally able to capitalize on Stanford’s mistakes — the Cardinal turned the ball over 18 times — to run its lead into double digits. And although Stanford fought back, the Cardinal could not make up the deficit.

Freshman guard Darxia Morris led the Bruins with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Senior forward Lindsey Pluimer added 13 points. Unlike their opponents, the offensive load was evenly distributed — only one UCLA player failed to score.

Even so, UCLA was hardly dominant — Stanford had more rebounds, blocks and steals than the Bruins, and UCLA committed 15 turnovers. But this makes the loss all the more troubling for the Cardinal: they were unable to beat a sub-par team that played only an average game.

All was not lost, though. Stanford had an opportunity to end the road trip on a high note with a win against USC on Sunday night. And while the team played better against the Trojans than they did against the Bruins, they were still unable to pull out a victory, losing a nail-biter 73-72.

Appel, who led Stanford with 22 points and 11 rebounds, hit one of two free throws with 38 seconds left to put the Cardinal up 72-71. But the missed foul shot proved costly, as junior guard Camille LeNoir put the Trojans on top 73-72 with eight seconds left.

With a decent amount of time left, the Cardinal put the ball in the hands of Wiggins, who has made her share of clutch shots in the past. But this time Wiggins airballed her shot at the buzzer, and USC escaped with the victory.

Stanford improved its play against the Women of Troy, cutting its turnovers in half from the UCLA game while dominating the boards. And while the team shot a respectable 44 percent from the floor, their biggest star was plagued with shooting problems: Wiggins was only 5-for-15, including just one of eight from three-point range.

Pedersen was able to regain her form after scoring only two free throws against the Bruins and contributed 14 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, who started the UCLA game, contributed five points and three assists off the bench.

USC was led by LeNoir, who, despite an injured hip, scored 21 points, including five three-pointers. The Women of Troy shot 58 percent from behind the arc. Sophomore Aarika Hughes hit two key three-pointers, and senior guard Allison Jaskowiak — who effectively guarded Wiggins for most of the game — hit from behind the arc to cut a late Stanford lead from five to two.

This was the first time since the 1993-1994 season that the Cardinal was swept in Los Angeles, and the UCLA loss broke a nine-game winning streak, dating back to a Nov. 22 loss to top-ranked Connecticut over Thanksgiving Break.

Stanford is next in action at home on Thursday against Oregon State and on Saturday versus Oregon. The Beavers and Ducks come in with identical 8-6 records. The Cardinal will then travel to Arizona to face a tough Arizona State team over the holiday weekend.