A Night of Milestones for Cheryl Miller : She Becomes USC’s Scoring Leader, Is Thrown Out of 85-77 Win

Cheryl Miller, probably the most celebrated female athlete ever to attend USC, passed yet another milestone Friday night at the Sports Arena.

With 3:10 left in the first half of a basketball game with Tennessee, Miller broke the school’s women’s career scoring record.

Miller reached a personal milestone, or more accurately, she smashed into it, with 18:22 left in the second half, when she was charged with a flagrant foul (a forearm chop to the head of Tennessee’s Karla Horton) and for the first time in her career was ejected from a basketball game.

However, according to all parties, the shot to the head was the shot in the arm the fourth-ranked Trojans needed to beat the 11th-ranked Volunteers, 85-77, before 1,400 fans at the Sports Arena.

The Trojans (7-1) trailed, 44-40, up to the time of Miller’s foul, but when she was tossed out of the game, USC began to play with the intensity that has often been lacking this season.

“The call surprised me,” Miller said. “I knew he (the official) was going to call a foul, but I didn’t think I was going to be thrown out of the game. It was good, because it got the team going.”

The friction between Miller and Horton began at the opening jump, when Miller thought Horton’s elbow was trying to rearrange her dental work.

“It started with the jump,” Miller said. “I think the game got out of hand under the boards. For me to get thrown out, I don’t think that was fair. They didn’t call the elbows from before.

“It was certainly a night of firsts. I had no idea I was going to break the record tonight. It’s great.”

Miller’s 22 points Friday night gave her 2,415 career points. Paula McGee held the former record of 2,405 points.

USC started slowly, which has been the pattern for them all season. Tennessee (5-2), coached by 1984 Olympic Coach Pat Head Summitt, concentrated on the Trojans’ weaknesses--rebounding and post play--and got off to a quick start.

USC came back from an eight-point deficit in the first half to tie it at 30-30 with 2:43 left. A layup by Shelia Frost gave Tennessee a 40-38 halftime lead.

“I saw our team play well until the last eight minutes of the game,” Summitt said. “We didn’t take the ball inside and we didn’t execute.”

The Trojans took the lead in the second half on freshman Cherie Nelson’s turnaround shot with 7:08 left. From there, USC got six straight points, and Tennessee began to hurry shots.

The Volunteers had a chance at 3:15 with USC up, 75-73, but the Trojans’ Rhonda Windham hit a baseline jumper and Cynthia Cooper got a layup and drew a foul. She made the three-point play to give USC an 80-74 lead.

Cooper was the high scorer for USC with 23 points.

“After Cheryl went out, I saw myself as the leader,” Cooper said. “I needed to do the scoring, the rebounding--whatever--to bring the team together.”

Windham had 13 points for the Trojans, Nelson 12.

Tennessee’s Frost led all scorers with 24 points; Shelley Sexton had 15.