Women’s Basketball Roundup : VanEmbricqs Helps UCLA Defeat Arizona St., 85-81

As if squandering a 16-point halftime lead (46-30) over Arizona State wasn’t bad enough, UCLA’s women’s basketball team almost lost Friday night’s Pacific 10 game to the Sun Devils at the John Wooden Center. The Bruins, trailing by 2 points (77-75) with only 11 seconds left, sent the game into overtime when Sandra VanEmbricqs made 2 free throws.

With the score tied at 81-81, VanEmbricqs made a basket and a free throw, and Michele Wooton added a free throw to give the Bruins an 85-81 victory. The win raised UCLA’s overall record to 7-7. The Bruins are 3-1 in Pac-10 play. Arizona State is 7-8 and and 1-5.

VanEmbricqs, a junior forward, led the Bruins with 24 points, 1 shy of her career high. The Sun Devils were led by junior center Fran Ciak, who scored 22 points and had 14 rebounds.

USC 85, Arizona 78--The Wildcats outscored the Trojans, 10-4, to move within 79-75, but USC made 6 straight free throws in the final minute to snap a 5-game losing streak in the Pac-10 game at USC.

Freshman guard Tammy Story, who entered the game averaging just 3.5 points a game, led USC (5-9 overall, 1-3 in the conference) with 20 points. Her jump shot with 8:56 to play gave the Trojans the lead for good at 64-63. Cherie Nelson came off the bench to score 18 points.

Julie Meyer and Brenda Frese each scored 14 for Arizona (5-10, 0-5).