Women’s Basketball : USC Beats UCLA, Closes In on Huskies

USC, despite getting just one field goal in the final three minutes, scored an 81-75 win over UCLA in an important Pacific 10 Conference women’s basketball game Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.

The victory gave the Trojans four straight wins over their cross-town rivals and a 12-5 mark against UCLA in the 1980s. And, more importantly, it moved them closer to first-place Washington (12-2). USC is 13-3 in Pac-10 play.

A crowd of 1,523 saw senior Rhonda Windham (on 12-of-17 shooting) and sophomore Cherie Nelson score 24 points each for USC. Junior Paula Pyers added 17 as the Trojans improved to 19-7 overall.

“For her last game at the Sports Arena, I don’t think she could have gone out any better,” Coach Linda Sharp said of Windham.

Junior Dora Dome scored 21 points before fouling out with 31 seconds left in the game for UCLA, which is 17-9 and 10-6, and in fourth place in the Pac-10. Junior Jaime Brown (12) and senior Shari Biggs also scored in double figures for the Bruins.

After leading, 36-33, at the end of 20 minutes, USC broke the game open midway through the second half--or, more specifically, while Dome was on the bench with three fouls.

When Dome, UCLA’s leading scorer this season, went out with 13 minutes left in the game, the Bruins were leading, 49-48. When she returned four minutes later, the Trojans held a 64-55 advantage. Nelson, the Pac-10’s second-leading scorer, had eight points in that stretch.

UCLA pulled back within three points on several occasions but never led again. The last time was at 74-71 with 1:55 remaining, but USC then took control from the free-throw line, hitting five of seven attempts the rest of the way.

Both teams are idle until next Thursday, when the Washington schools come to town for the crucial season-ending series.

In a key Pac-10 matchup tonight, the 17th-ranked Huskies will play at 20th-ranked Oregon, the third-place team with an 11-3 mark. The Ducks have won eight straight, including a 79-78 decision over USC last week that knocked the Trojans out of the top 20 for the first time since Nov. 25, 1980.

The Cal State Long Beach women’s basketball team, having wrapped up the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. title last Saturday with a win over San Diego State, will play UC Irvine tonight at 7:30 at the University Gym.

The 49ers, the fifth-ranked team in the nation, are 25-2 overall and 15-1 in the PCAA. Irvine is 13-13 and 9-7.