USC
12-5, 4-2Pac-10
California
11-6, 3-3Pac-10
Women of Troy Take A Loss At Cal
January 20, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2011
BERKELEY, CALIF. - The USC women's basketball team saw plenty of its shots fall but came up well short on the boards to fall out of reach of host California down the stretch, taking an 82-71 loss to the Bears on Thursday night at Haas Pavilion. USC goes to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in Pac-10 play with the road loss, and Cal improves to 11-6, 3-3.
The Trojans matched a season-high scoring effort from the floor in shooting 52.8 percent in the game, but a season-low rebounding effort of just 22 boards kept USC a step behind. Briana Gilbreath led USC with 20 points and Cassie Harberts scored a career-high 18 to stand as the lone Trojans in double figures. Cal got a game-high 21 points from DeNesha Stallworth to go along with 19 from Lindsay Sherbert and 17 from Layshia Clarendon.
In a hot-shooting first half, the Trojans out-shot the Bears to the tune of a 59-percent effort from the floor to 46 percent by Cal. But the Bears knocked down eight 3-pointers in the half to generate enough power to put USC in a 44-40 hole at halftime. Cal also did some damage by holding more offensive rebounds (9) than the Trojans hauled in defensively (8) as the Bears were up 19-10 on the boards at the half. While USC held Cal to just a single second-half 3-pointer, the Bears pushed ahead on 59-percent shooting from the floor in the half to move out ahead of the Women of Troy. The final rebounding count stood at 32-22 in Cal's favor.
USC squeaked back into the lead in the early goings of the second half, up 47-46 on a take from Jacki Gemelos, but the Bears responded with an 11-2 run. The deficit would grow to 11 points as the 10-minute mark approached, with USC trailing 65-54. Gilbreath's first points of the half came with 7:40 to go, and made it 67-58 Cal. Meanwhile, Ashley Corral was tagged with her fourth foul with 6:29 to go as USC trailed 68-58. The disadvantages kept coming for USC, as the Trojans were unable to cut in further than seven with 1:50 to go. Cal converted free throws when necessary down the stretch, and wrapped up an 82-71 victory over the visiting Trojans.
USC now turns to pay a visit to No. 4 Stanford in a 2 p.m. clash on Saturday (Jan. 22) in Palo Alto, Calif.
