USC
11-4, 3-1
Oregon
11-5, 2-3
USC Women Fight Back To Beat Oregon 79-76
January 13, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2011
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The USC women's basketball team preserved its undefeated record at home in coming up with a comeback win over visiting Oregon with a 79-76 victory on Thursday night at the Galen Center. The Ducks delivered a program-high 3-point effort to keep constant pressure on the Trojans, but USC recovered from a 10-point hole and snagged a late lead to register the win. Briana Gilbreath tied her career high with 26 points, including USC's key final basket with 10 seconds to go. Cassie Harberts also put forth a career effort with 18 rebounds. USC improves to 11-4 overall and is 3-1 in Pac-10 play with the win, while Oregon moves to 11-5, 2-3.
Forced to play catch-up throughout the game thanks to a hot-handed 3-point game by the Ducks, USC trailed 37-30 at halftime. A 12-0 run got the Trojans back in the game in the second half, but Oregon answered right back. USC was down by two - a common spot for the Trojans during the final eight minutes - with 2:45 to go on yet another score from Nia Jackson, who finished with 25 points for the Ducks. And Victoria Kenyon's fifth 3-point of the night had USC trailing by one with 1:35 on the clock. The Trojan defense locked back down from there, however, while Ashley Corral took it to the hole for a USC lead in the final minute, and a defensive stop helped get the ball in Gilbreath's hands to secure the win.
USC's hold on the offensive boards helped breathe new life into the Trojan game in the second half. USC hauled in 15 offensive rebounds in the half, including five from Harberts. The Trojans finished the game outrebounding the Ducks 56-42. The teams both shot 36 percent from the floor, although Oregon nailed 15 threes with a 39-percent effort from beyond the arc. Gilbreath's game-high 26 points went along with a double-double from Harberts with 12 points and 18 rebounds, and Jacki Gemelos added 15 points together with a career-high five blocks. Oregon was led by Jackson's 25 points, with 16 from Ashley Buis and 15 from Kenyon - both of whom had career nights from 3-point land with five apiece.
Although both teams were lukewarm overall from the floor, the Ducks were far more effective from beyond the arc. Nine Oregon 3-pointers in the first half boosted the Ducks to a 37-30 halftime lead thanks to a 50-percent effort from 3-point land. USC had all eight players in the scoring column with points, but just four 3-pointers fell for the Trojans in the first half.
Five different Ducks nailed 3-pointers in the first seven minutes of action as Oregon built up a 19-11 advantage. USC would work back to tie, but 3-pointers kept falling for the Ducks. After three minutes of turnovers on both ends, Ashley Corral made good on a steal and scored to bring it even again at 26-26 with 3:35 left in the half. Again Oregon had a response to USC's effort to tighten things up, and a three and a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds pulled the Ducks to a 37-30 halftime edge.
Harberts opened the second half with her 10th rebound of the night, only to have Oregon soon expand its lead to 10 points. A 5-0 USC response moved the score to 45-40, and Briana Gilbreath made it a two-point game with a three-point play next. Another power board from Harberts set up USC for a chance to tie, and Harberts did it herself with a shot off the glass to lock it 45-45 at 15:00. USC made it a 12-0 run with a score from Gilbreath - USC's largest lead of the game up 47-45 - but Gilbreath would be tagged with her fourth foul of the game despite an apparent block, and USC's scoring run was stopped at the free-throw line as Oregon made it 47-47 at 13:35. After going for six minutes without a score from the floor, Oregon bounced back with a four-point play by Ashley Buis.
USC again fell in a hole, trailing by seven until Gilbreath knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Trojans a spark. Free throws from Kari LaPlante at 6:48 got it tied up again at 62-62, and the lead would stay up for grabs with a string of lockups. Harberts hit a pair of free throws to secure her double-double on the night and make it 73-73 with 2:30 to go. Jacki Gemelos delivered a stuff to put USC back on the attack, and Harberts earned another visit to the line. She rattled home them both to boost the Trojans into the lead at 1:46, only to see Oregon's Victoria Kenyon drain her fifth 3-pointer of the game at the other end. Ashley Corral slipped in a runner to edge USC ahead 77-76 entering the final minute, and Oregon missed its chance at the other end. With the ball in hand, USC called timeout with 22 seconds on the clock and the shot clock at 16. Whether or not the play was drawn up to finish in Gilbreath's hands, that's where it landed, and the junior knocked down a jumper in the paint for a 79-76 lead with 10 seconds to go, and that would wrap up a gutsy win for the Women of Troy.
USC now turns to host Oregon State in a 2 p.m. clash on Saturday (Jan. 15) at the Galen Center.
