USC
Oregon St
Women's Hoops Falls To Oregon State, 57-53
January 29, 2000 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2000
Los Angeles, Calif. -- In a strong defensive battle, USC women's basketball fell to Oregon State, 57-53, in front of 897 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena this afternoon (Jan. 29). The Women of Troy suffered from poor shooting (12-41, 29.3%) which forced them to overcome an 18-point deficit early in the game. As the conference leaders in scoring defense, USC and Oregon State held each other to a season-low point total in the contest.
The Women of Troy are now 8-9 overall and 3-4 in the Pac-10. Oregon State improves to 8-11 this season, and 4-3 in conference play.
The Trojans finished with two players in double figures, forward Danielle Golay added 10 points, while Tiffany Washington led with 11. As a team, USC only managed to outdo the Beavers by forcing more turnovers, 23 to 18, and collecting more steals, 10 to 7.
Oregon State was led by high scorers Felicia Ragland (21 points) and Sissel Pierce (18). Pierce, who also added two blocks and three assists, also posted a double-double with 12 rebounds in the contest.
The Beavers opened the game on a 26-8 run, holding USC to two field goals in the first 13 minutes. Down the by 12 (35-23) at the break, the Trojans began cutting away at the lead in the second half. Twice, the Women of Troy came within two points (at 6:38 and 0:22), but were not able to overcome the deficit.
"We just didn't come out ready to play today," said head coach Chris Gobrecht. "You can't fall behind a defense that plays that well... 18 points is a big mountain to climb."
The Trojans will now prepare for their next Pac-10 series. They will face Stanford (Feb. 3) and Cal (Feb. 5) next weekend in the Bay Area.
