USC Women Reach Final Four, Do It With a Vengeance, 80-64

In one tremendous effort, the USC women’s basketball team was able on Saturday night to exorcise various nagging demons that had floated in and out of the team’s vision this season.

The Trojans defeated Louisiana Tech, 80-64, in the final of the West Regional, avenging a humiliating 75-53 loss at Ruston, La., earlier in the season in a game in which Cheryl Miller received a cut that required four stitches to mend and half a season to forget.

But with their win Saturday night, the Trojans (30-4) not only earned a berth in the Final Four next Friday at Lexington, Ky., where they will play Tennessee, but they also rid themselves of unpleasant baggage.

In front of 3,109 fans in the Long Beach Arena, USC proved that it is not a one-woman team. Four Trojans scored in double figures, and that was a revelation in itself.

Miller led all scorers with 23 points. Cynthia Cooper had 19, Rhonda Windham had 12 and Cherie Nelson had 10. Holly Ford, whom USC Coach Linda Sharp calls “our secret weapon,” scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting.

USC also wiped away the memory of last year’s disappointing season, in which they were eliminated in the first round of the West Regional.

Never before had USC been as emotional as on Saturday night.

The team had been edgy all week. Sharp had rued Thursday’s 8:30 p.m. first-round game against North Carolina, saying, “The kids just sat around all day.”

Nelson was getting a lesson in nerves. Her upset stomach would not go away; she thought it might be a touch of the flu, Sharp thought it might be a touch of, ‘My God, where am I?” Freshman jitters found no solace from her teammates.

Cooper, who takes on the role of team motivator, pulled Nelson aside in the locker room before the game and gave her a verbal spanking.

“I told Cherie, ‘Last time, Tori Harisson took you all out of your game. What you gonna do about it? Where’s your heart?’ ” Cooper said. “She showed me her heart out there on the court.”

By all accounts, the USC locker room was pandemonium before the game. Sharp was not wondering if she had prepared the team for the game; she wondered if the team could survive the pregame pep talks.

“Everybody was just so excited,” Rhonda Windham said. “JaMaiia (Bond)had to stand up and say, “Everybody just calm down!” The 6-foot 5-inch center managed to corral her teammates’ emotion so they weren’t psychologically spent before the game began.

Sharp herself had not rested well: She viewed the film from the game in Ruston again and again and pronounced it “a nightmare.” She dreamed of the game and woke to find it had been true--they had been trounced in Ruston.

“Today was the most nervous I’ve ever been in my coaching career,” Sharp said, smiling from behind two bloodshot eyes.

Speaking of eyes, the nightmare for Miller in Ruston ended when the stitches came out. “The only flashback I had tonight was the Long Beach game,” Miller said, referring to Tech’s 71-69 win over the 49ers Thursday night. “They ran up a lead against Tech and sustained it, then fell apart in the second half,” Miller said. “I hoped we wouldn’t.”

It was Tech that fell apart, or rather, Tech that was unable to grab at the thread that unraveled early in the game.

Tech stayed close in the first half, but USC kept adding on to its lead. First an eight-point lead, then 10, then finally, with 2:04 left in the half, a 13-point lead on Karon Howell’s jumper.

USC led, 43-30, at the half, and the Techsters no doubt retired to their locker room to define this nettlesome thing USC had thrown at them.

“That was as good a defensive game plan as has been played against us in a long time,” Tech Coach Leon Barmore said. “They kept the ball away from (guard Teresa) Weatherspoon on our press offense and didn’t allow (Tori) Harrison to get as many shots inside as we would like her to have.”

USC jumped out to a 47-30 lead with only 56 seconds gone in the second half. The Trojans widened the margin to 20 points with 52 seconds left and sat on the lead the rest of the way.

Weatherspoon, who is supposed to help from the perimeter, was stymied with the Trojan defense in the first half and took only two shots, missing both.

Sharp had installed what she called a 7-11 offense, “That’s for 7 passes from 11 players.” The offense played to USC’s strengths--every player on the Trojan team wants the ball, the offense gives Windham several options.

“The first option is for me to go one-on-one, which is why I like it,” Windham said. Her drives worked well as she scored 12 points.

Tech eventually came to rely on Angela Lawson for points. Lawson was hot from the perimeter and led the Techsters with 22 points. Harrison, the object of Nelson’s revenge, had 18 points.

Miller had another excellent defensive game, with four blocked shots.

“Everyone we play is in our way,” Cooper said, with the conviction of someone who has lived a life littered with obstacles.

“We had three Pepsi toasts in the locker room,” Sharp said. “ The first was, ‘Here’s to the seniors for their third trip to the Final Four in four years.’ The second was, ‘Here’s to the Gold Team (the reserves) for getting us here.’ The third was, ‘Here’s to our baby freshman, now you know what it’s like.’ ”

There have been tokens for USC. Last Monday Sharp was asked what motivation it takes for her to prepare for the tournament. Without hesitating, Sharp held aloft her left hand.

“This ring,” she said, waving the Trojans’ championship ring from 1984. “This ring is a constant reminder. I see some of the players are wearing theirs, too.

“I stand in the Sports Arena and look up at the banners (from the ’83 and ’84 championships) and I really want so much for this team. I want this team to have the chance. This has been the closest team we’ve ever had, and the most fun. They deserve it. It doesn’t get old making the Final Four, it just gets tougher.”