WOMEN’S BASKETBALL : Title-Clinching Victory Doesn’t Thrill Miller

The USC women’s basketball team won the Pacific 10 Conference championship and completed a 23-3 regular season Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to make first-year Coach Cheryl Miller happy.

She stormed out of USC’s Lyon Center meeting room after reading the riot act to her players, bolting out the door and through the lobby.

Her team had played barely well enough to defeat Oregon State, 69-64, in a game that included a flood of ballhandling errors, defensive lapses and 32% shooting by the Trojans.

USC had a 10-point lead with nine seconds to play, but Oregon State’s Amy Ellis threw in a 15-foot jump shot and then, following a Trojan turnover, made a three-pointer with two seconds to play.

USC then celebrated briefly its championship, which broke a string of five in a row by Stanford, before Miller confronted her players inside the meeting room.

“She left . . . she wasn’t pleased with how they played,” associate head coach Fred Williams said.

Said assistant Frank Scott: “Cheryl wasn’t happy at how they finished off the game.”

Oregon State’s aggressive, attacking zone defense kept USC from building a commanding lead.

USC trailed at halftime, 38-34, but opened a 48-42 lead in the second half and never trailed again.

Lisa Leslie, in her final game at the Lyon Center, had 18 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

“It seems just like another game right now, but I guess the championship will sink in later,” she said.

The Trojans finished with a 16-2 Pac-10 record, a game ahead of Stanford. Oregon State is 17-10, 9-9.

Oregon 76, UCLA 68--Sara Wilson scored 18 points to lead the Ducks, who overcame a three-point halftime deficit at Pauley Pavilion.

Senior guard Amy Jalewalia scored 16 points to lead UCLA, which ended the season with a 15-12 record, 10-8 in the Pac-10.

Oregon finished at 19-8, 13-5.