WOMEN’S BASKETBALL : USC Eases to Impressive Foul-Plagued Victory

Shooting 53% from the floor and cutting its turnover total in half, the USC women’s basketball team won an unexpectedly easy 67-55 game at San Diego State Tuesday night.

Tina Thompson dominated in the first half and point guard Audrey Gomez took over in the second half of a game that slowed to a crawl when the officials blew their whistles seemingly non-stop over the last five minutes.

They called 49 fouls, including eight in the final minute of a game that took about two hours to play.

And free-throw shooting was a sore point with Trojan Coach Cheryl Miller, whose team made only 19 of 36. San Diego State (3-2) converted 17 of 24.

“If we’d shot from the line like they did, we’d have put them away much earlier,” she said.

As it was, Thompson and guard Karleen Shields triggered a run that enabled USC to post a seven-point halftime lead.

Thompson, a 6-3 power forward, was five for five from the floor and two for two from the line. She finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Shields had a game-high 19 points.

San Diego State never solved USC’s zone defense, particularly down the stretch. In the last 6:11, the Aztecs made two field goals.

USC, 3-1 going into road games at Houston and Stephen F. Austin beginning Friday, got a major effort from Rashida Jeffery, a player who has largely watched from the bench for the last two seasons.

Jeffery, a 6-2 sophomore from Tucson, has spent two years trying to rehab through chronic knee pain. Tuesday, she came off the bench with no sign of pain and had eight points and seven rebounds.

“And Rashida is only at about 75%,” Miller said. “If she ever gets to around 90%, I feel sorry for some teams on our schedule.”

Miller also praised another backup, Shanika Porter, who contributed key rebounds in the first-half surge that lifted the Trojans to a lead they never relinquished.

Miller was most happy that the 35 turnovers her team committed against UC Santa Barbara Saturday were cut to 18 Tuesday--and against a team best known for defensive prowess.

San Diego State, the defending Western Athletic Conference champion, was trying to avenge an 82-62 loss to USC a year ago.

The Aztecs also played without starting guard Olivia DiCamilli, who might be out for the season because of an opening-game knee injury.