USC
11-6, 3-3
UCLA
8-9, 4-2
USC Women Lose Out To UCLA At Pauley Pavilion
January 18, 2015 | Women's Basketball
WESTWOOD, CALIF. -- The USC women's basketball team was right in stride with host UCLA through the majority of tonight's rivalry clash in Westwood, but it was the Bruins who got hot when it counted. After 11 ties and seven lead changes, UCLA made the final push to victory in turning a tie game with three minutes to go into a 71-60 Bruin victory at Pauley Pavilion. USC goes to 11-6 overall and 3-3 in Pac-12 play with the loss. UCLA is now 8-9, 4-2.
USC was able to pull out of a 23-23 lockup with a 9-1 scoring rally in under five minutes to create some space on its rivals by halftime. The Trojans were shooting 36 percent in the first half and was 10-of-13 from the free-throw line to hold a 32-26 lead on the Bruins at the break. UCLA was shooting 31 percent from the floor, and was also trailing the Trojans on the boards 28-19 by halftime. The second half was neck-and-neck until the last three minutes. The Trojans and Bruins were snarled at 60-60 with 3:06 to go, but that's when the Women of Troy kept coming up empty. UCLA, meanwhile, knocked down a pair of free throws and then got a spark from back-to-back buckets to fall into a hole and fail to recover as the Bruins finished out the game with 11 straight points for the win.
USC wrapped the game shooting 34 percent from the floor and 72 percent from the free-throw line on a 16-of-22 effort at the stripe. Beyond the arc, though, the Trojans made just 2-of-19. The Bruins enjoyed a solid second half that had them shooting 39 percent from the floor by the final buzzer and with a 5-of-16 outing from 3-point land. UCLA also led on the boards 46-42 and wrapped up at 67 percent from the stripe at 18-of-27. Two Trojans finished up with double-figure scoring, led by Alexyz Vaioletama's double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. McKenzie Calvert added 12 points, and Kaneisha Horn hauled in 10 rebounds for the Trojan cause. UCLA had three Bruins hit double digits, led by a game-high 23 points from Kari Korver. Jordin Canada scored all 15 of her points in the second half, and Nirra Fields added 14 for UCLA in the game.
The game snarled up three times in the first seven minutes of action before USC scored its first back-to-back buckets to craft a four-point edge. Alexyz Vaioletama and Kaneisha Horn converted to make it a 13-9 USC advantage at 11:45, and the teams would trade scores for the next stretch. A Bruin 3-pointer would take UCLA to its first lead of the game at the 10-minute mark. That lead lasted barely 30 seconds, though, as McKenzie Calvert calmly converted from the free-throw line before Vaioletama went on a solo mission with two quick buckets to take USC ahead 21-16 at 8:55. That pushed the senior into double digits with 11 points, while she also was leading the charge on the boards with five rebounds to that point. USC would get a lucky bone on a banked 3-pointer with 5:30 on the clock for a bucket that leveled the game at 23-23. USC got the go-ahead score on a cleanup from Jordan Adams, who made it 25-23 Trojans with 3:50 left in the half. That would spark a 9-1 Trojan run to a 32-24 lead in the final minute. UCLA would land a couple free throws before the break, leaving it as a 32-26 USC lead at halftime.
The Bruins put pressure on the Trojans to kick off the second half thanks to 10 straight points from Kari Korver. It was two-point game again with 16:00 on the clock before USC's Courtney Jaco buried a three to beat the buzzer and make it 43-38 Trojans at 15:25. Soon after, however, the Bruins would heat up next and strike out to a slim lead with a 7-0 run to a 44-43 advantage at 13:30. The lead would see-saw back and forth for the next few minutes and then lock up again with 11:00 to go. USC tugged ahead, and UCLA tugged back, making it 52-52 with nine minutes left. A Brianna Barrett steal and Vaioletama floater nudged USC ahead after a scoreless stretch, but it would be even again at 57-57 as the teams entered the last five minutes of regulation. With 3:00 left, it was level once more at 60-60 after free throws from Barrett got USC out of a hole. UCLA would get to the line next and convert to take the lead again, but USC wasn't so fortunate on the other end. No call came for the Trojans under the basket, while UCLA went the other way and scored to pad its lead. The Bruins would pull out to a 66-60 advantage with 39 seconds left, and USC couldn't get a three to go for a shot at closing the gap. The Bruins continued to finish off their trips to the stripe in the final seconds, meanwhile, and capped off the win as a 71-60 decision.
USC now heads back to Galen Center for next weekend's Pac-12 docket. The Trojans will host California in a 7 p.m. matchup on Friday (Jan. 23) and then take on Stanford at 5 p.m. on Sunday (Jan. 25).
UCLA 71, USC 60
At Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion)
USC (11-6, 3-3)
Vaioletama, Alexyz 7-14 3-4 17; Calvert, McKenzie 4-19 3-3 12; Horn, Kaneisha 2-6 5-6 9; Simon, Kristen 3-6 1-2 7; Adams, Jordan 3-8 0-0 6; Barrett, Brianna 1-4 4-6 6; Jaco, Courtney 1-4 0-0 3; Okonkwo, Amy 0-0 0-0 0; Edelman, Drew 0-1 0-1 0.
Totals 21-62 16-22 60.
UCLA (8-9, 4-2)
Korver, Kari 6-11 8-8 23; Canada, Jordin 5-11 5-6 15; Fields, Nirra 6-18 1-2 14; Drummer, Lajahna 2-4 1-2 5; Livulo, Luiana 2-5 0-3 4; Poteet, Madeline 1-3 0-0 3; Costa, Corinne 1-4 0-0 2; Swain, Kacy 0-1 2-2 2; Caldwell, Recee' 1-3 0-0 2; Williams, Dominique 0-0 1-4 1; Billings, Monique 0-0 0-0 0; Hersler, Paulina 0-1 0-0 0; Hayes, Kelli 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 24-61 18-27 71.
USC........................... 32 28 - 60
UCLA.......................... 26 45 - 71
3-point goals--USC 2-19 (Calvert, McKenzie 1-9; Jaco, Courtney 1-4; Adams, Jordan 0-3; Barrett, Brianna 0-1; Vaioletama, Alexyz 0-2), UCLA 5-16 (Korver, Kari 3-6; Fields, Nirra 1-5; Poteet, Madeline 1-3; Caldwell, Recee'0-1; Hersler, Paulina 0-1).
Fouled out--USC-None, UCLA-Costa, Corinne.
Rebounds--USC 42 (Vaioletama, Alexyz 12), UCLA 46 (Fields, Nirra 9).
Assists--USC 15 (Adams, Jordan 5), UCLA 15 (Poteet, Madeline 4).
Total fouls--USC 21, UCLA 18.
Technical fouls--USC-Simon, Kristen, UCLA-None.
Att-4022
