The No. 2 Stanford women’s swim team scored two important road victories this past weekend, beating No. 14 UCLA and No. 21 USC. The women beat the Bruins on Friday, 166-133, before outclassing USC by the score of 180-120 on Saturday.

The Cardinal (6-1, 5-0 Pac-10) started off Friday’s meet at UCLA with an impressive victory in the 400 medley relay. A team composed of juniors Fiona O’Donnell-McCarthy and Caroline Bruce, sophomore Elaine Breeden and freshman Kate Dwelley touched the wall with an NCAA “B” time of 3:41.58.

Breeden was the star of the match for the Cardinal, winning three individual events. The sophomore took home the 100 fly, the 100 back and the 200 individual medley.

Fellow sophomore Julia Smit was also a multiple winner in the 200 and 500 free, with an NCAA “A” qualifying time in both.

“Our team’s Christmas training program really pushed us and made us hungry to get back into some racing,” O’Donnell-McCarthy said. “We train all year for these races, and we are working on executing our race plans better and better each time we get in the pool. We love racing the best teams in the country, and we are looking forward to Pac-10s and NCAAs.”

National team member Samantha Vanden Berge of UCLA won the 1000 free with a time of 10:01.07 while Stanford sophomore Whitney Spence was a close third behind UCLA’s Dani Milligan. UCLA’s Nicolette Teo then narrowly edged out Bruce by a one-second margin in the 100 breast, though Bruce posted a “B” time.

Spence, however, put Stanford back on top with a dominating win in the 200 fly in 2:00.59, good for a “B” cut. UCLA’s Samaniego out-dove Stanford freshman Meg Hostage — a Pac-10 Diver of the Month — in the one-meter board. Then, Stanford’s Bishop and Anna Poteete of UCLA tied with a “B” time of 23.20 in the 50 free.

Dwelley posted a “B” time, finishing second in the 100 free behind Poteete. Breeden and freshman Liz Smith would put the Cardinal on top permanently with their first- and second-place finishes in the 200 individual medley.

O’Donnell-McCarthy, Bishop, Smit and Dwelley won the 200 free with a “B” time, and Stanford won the meet 166-133 over the Bruins.

On Saturday, Stanford topped USC 180-120 in another solid performance.

Senior distance star Elizabeth Durot won the 1650 free, Breeden won the 200 fly for the second day in a row, and Dwelley won in the 50 free. Bishop won the 100 free, Wadden captured the 200 back and Smith took home the 400 individual medley.

The Cardinal finished with individual event wins, including Hostage’s sweep of the one- and three-meter springboard events. Stanford also won the 200 medley and 200 free relays.

“The meets this past weekend were challenging not only because we were up against solid programs but because we have been training well the past few weeks, and we were pretty tired heading into the competitions,” Breeden said. “Our team did very well staying positive, racing hard and having fun, and it paid off. We are excited about our victories, but we know that we have a lot to work on before the championship meets.”

USC’s Rebecca Soni, the Summer U.S. Nationals winner in both the 100 and 200 breast, won the events in short course yards on Saturday. Stanford’s Smith finished second to Soni in both events.

The Cardinal divers will be away at BYU on Feb. 15 while the swim team will host Cal on Feb. 16. After that, the season’s stretch run will come to a head at the Pac-10 Championships on Feb. 27 at Long Beach.