WOMEN’S BASKETBALL : Wilkerson Leads No. 8 Long Beach Over No. 17 Mississippi

Tournament most valuable player Dana Wilkerson scored 21 points as No. 8 Cal State Long Beach beat No. 17 Mississippi, 90-67, Saturday night in the Dial tournament at Long Beach.

Also in double figures for the 49ers (5-1) were Penny Moore with 18, Trise Jackson with 12, Renae Duffie with 11 and Angie Lee with 10.

Jackie Martin scored 22 for Mississippi (6-3). Kimsey O’Neal had 17 and Charlotte Banks 12.

USC dropped out of the tournament earlier this year, so the three teams played round-robin, with each team playing two games. The other team was Northwestern Louisiana, which played Thursday and Friday nights.

Long Beach jumped to a 14-2 lead and Mississippi never got closer than nine points. The 49ers led, 48-29, at halftime.

Mississippi Coach Van Chancellor received two technical fouls late in the first half. Jackson and Wilkerson made two free throws apiece after the technicals.

Tennessee, the defending NCAA champion, begins a series of games against Southern California teams today when it meets UCLA at 2 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins have not fared well against the Volunteers, having lost 10 of 11 games and seven in a row since beating them during the 1980-81 season.

Tennessee (5-2) had its 22-game winning streak snapped Dec. 9 by Louisiana Tech, 59-58, and was replaced by the Lady Techsters as the nation’s top-ranked team. Tennessee, ranked No. 2, lost to No. 3 Stanford, 85-71, Friday night.

UCLA (4-1) is coming off an 84-75 victory over Cal State Fullerton in which sophomore guard Rehema Stephens, in her first year of eligibility after transferring from Colorado, scored a career-high 31 points.

Tennessee will play at Long Beach Tuesday and at USC Friday.