Woods Finally Looks, Sees USC Women Beat UCLA

The no-look, 12-foot jump shot didn’t quite feel right when USC’s Jualeah Woods resorted to desperate measures with only two seconds remaining.

After Woods launched the shot, she finally got a look at the basket for the first time. Then she saw her teammates celebrating. The 6-foot sophomore forward’s blind shot was the difference when USC defeated UCLA, 62-60, on Friday night at the Lyon Center before 1,232.

So what if Woods rarely makes that shot in practice?

“Somehow, it fell in my hands,” said Woods, who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. “I was just praying it went in.”

Woods got control of the ball when teammate Lisa Leslie missed a free throw with 10 seconds remaining. Leslie’s first free throw had tied the game, 60-60. There was a scramble for the rebound after the missed free throw, and Woods said that UCLA’s Rehema Stephens knocked the ball over to her.

“I thought it was going to go out of bounds,” said Woods. “I knew I was pretty close to the line.”

All week, USC Coach Marianne Stanley had emphasized the importance of rebounding against UCLA. She finally found some listeners on Friday.

UCLA Coach Billie Moore had called a timeout between Leslie’s free throws and her words came true several seconds later.

“I told them that you always have to anticipate them missing the second shot,” Moore said. “Very often, what you get beat on is the second miss. Unfortunately, I was correct.”

USC (9-5, 3-2 in the Pacific 10) ended a two-game losing streak with the victory. UCLA (9-6, 2-3) has lost three consecutive conference games.

Leslie led the Trojans with 21 points and eight rebounds. Joni Easterly scored 15.

Natalie Williams finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Bruins, and Nicole Anderson had 17 points. Stephens, who was averaging 26.5 points in the conference, finished with 14.