USC Women Defeat UCLA, 76-72 : Young Bruins Impress, Appear Ready to Launch New Era

After losing 8 of the last 10 meetings against USC, the UCLA women’s basketball team played one for the future Friday night.

The Bruins were beaten again, 76-72, in a Pacific 10 Conference game before a Pauley Pavilion crowd of 3,059, but they may have ushered in a new era at the same time, one that could end Trojan domination.

UCLA started one senior, three juniors and a sophomore and stayed with 15th-ranked USC the entire way. The largest lead of the game was 12 points, 25-13, with 8:31 to play in the first half. Then the Bruins reeled off a 14-4 run to trail by just 4 at the intermission, 33-29, and played the conference-leading Trojans even in the final 20 minutes. UCLA even led, 66-65, with 3:07 left in the game.

USC’s biggest lead after that was four points, on several occasions. Jaime Brown’s basket for UCLA, 2 of her team-high 23 points, made it 72-70 with 48 seconds to play. A pair of free throws by Trojan center Monica Lamb (24 points, 9 of 10 shots) with 22 seconds left helped put the Bruins away.

Lamb was especially effective in the second half, making all 7 of her shots, many from difficult angles, and all 5 free throws. She also had a team-high 7 rebounds.

“Five or six of those shots Lamb buried in the second half I would make her take,” UCLA Coach Billie Moore said after the Bruins fell to 11-6 and 4-3 in the Pac-10. “We had her going away from the basket . . . but she hit nothing but net. She should be commended.”

USC started one senior, two sophomores and two juniors in improving to 12-4 and 6-1, good for a half-game lead over Washington. The Trojans then had to rely heavily on their bench as guard Karon Howell, the team’s second-leading scorer at 15.3 points a game, missed all of the second half with a sprained right ankle.

Guard Paula Pyers and center Cherie Nelson both finished with 15 points for USC. For UCLA, Sheri Bouldin has 12 points, Dora Dome 11 and Althea Ford 10.

The Trojans have several key games ahead. They play at Cal State Long Beach, the No. 5 team in the nation, in a nonconference game Monday, then at Washington a week from today. In between is a game at Washington State, winless in the Pac-10.

UCLA plays at Seattle Thursday and at Pullman, Wash., Saturday.