USC Women Feel the Pain

With her team trailing Western Kentucky by 14 points early in the second half, USC Coach Chris Gobrecht wanted to see the Trojans play better and, at minimum, make the score respectable on the road.

The Trojans did that to some degree, losing, 86-76, Sunday in front of 1,900 at E.A. Diddle Arena. But Gobrecht, whose team trailed by as many as 26 with 12:12 to play, didn’t see the comeback.

With 17:22 left, the USC coach slammed her fist on the scorer’s table after a foul was called on USC center Adrain Williams. The slam not only caught referee Nan Sisk’s attention, it also resulted in two technical fouls and an automatic ejection for Gobrecht.

“There was no question I had the first [technical] coming,” said Gobrecht, a 20-year coach in her second season at USC. “But a good official walks you to the bench and lets you calm down.

“She said [the second technical was because] I was out of the box, but she didn’t give me time to get back.”

Gobrecht’s outburst came less than a minute after point guard Kristin Clark appeared to be elbowed in the throat by Western Kentucky’s Katashia Witcher and went down injured.

Clark returned about two minutes later and led the Trojans (4-4) with 17 points. But after the game she was taken to the doctor complaining of neck and throat pain.

The technicals didn’t cost USC the game. The Trojans’ poor defense and Western Kentucky’s dominant rebounding did. The loss was USC’s fourth in its last five games.

The Lady Toppers (9-2), led by forward ShaRae Mansfield’s career-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting, shot 60% to the Trojans’ 38%. High-percentage shots were available throughout for Western Kentucky, which outrebounded the Trojans, 37-28, and outscored them, 54-24, inside the paint.

“We did not defend well,” said Gobrecht, whose team has one game, at home Dec. 29 against UC Santa Barbara, before it begins Pacific 10 play at Arizona. “Western Kentucky broke us down. That and the boards were the story of the game.”

Williams, who had 15 points and three rebounds, added: “They sent more people to the boards. When I went up for a rebound, I was going up against two people, sometimes three.”

Western Kentucky forward Shea Lunsford, who entered the game averaging a Sun Belt Conference-high 19.3 points and 11.1 rebounds, had only 10 points, but she had a game-high 11 rebounds to complete her sixth double-double of the season.

“[USC] did a great job on Shea Lunsford,” said Western Kentucky Coach Steve Small, whose team has won 145 consecutive games when it scored at least 80 points. “Each team knows what player they have to shut down. You just hope somebody else steps up when they do.”