USC Falls to Hot-Shooting Cal, 81-64

Paige Bowie, her hair dyed bright blue “just for fun,” and Courtney Johnson each scored 18 points Thursday night and California made nearly 57% of its shots in defeating USC, 81-64, at Berkeley.

Cal, 7-11 overall and 2-6 in the Pacific 10 Conference, made 64.3% of its shots in the first half to take a 43-27 halftime lead.

USC (8-10, 3-5) was led by forward Tashara Carter, who scored 15 points. Guard Tiffany Elmore scored 13 points and center Tiffany Washington had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Cal got 14 points from Kenya Corley and 12 from Shavaki Johnson.

USC outrebounded the Golden Bears, 34-24, but had 30 turnovers, including six each by Carter and guard Erica Mashia.

No. 2 Louisiana Tech 77, South Alabama 37--Tamicha Jackson scored 17 points and had five steals as the Lady Techsters (16-2, 7-0) romped over the Jaguars (5-14, 0-8) in a Sun Belt Conference game at Mobile, Ala.

“We know that we’re much more talented than South Alabama,” Louisiana Tech Coach Leon Barmore said. “But we took them serious and really played hard.”

No. 3 Georgia 81, Florida 76--Coco Miller made two three-point shots in overtime to lift the Bulldogs (22-2, 7-1) over the Gators (13-7, 3-4) in a Southeastern Conference game at Athens, Ga.

No. 9 Texas Tech 73, Texas 44--Aleah Johnson scored 20 points as the Red Raiders (17-2, 6-2) rolled over the Longhorns (14-7, 6-2) in a Big 12 Conference game at Lubbock, Texas.

No. 11 North Carolina State 86, North Carolina 76--Summer Erb had 25 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Wolfpack (17-4, 8-2) over the Tar Heels (11-10, 3-7) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Raleigh, N.C.

Maryland 63, No. 12 Duke 62--Deedee Warley made two free throws with 10 seconds to play as the Terrapins (13-8, 4-6) upset the Blue Devils (18-4, 7-3) in an ACC game at Durham, N.C.

No. 13 Auburn 71, South Carolina 62--Tasha Hamilton scored 18 points to help the Lady Tigers (17-4, 5-3) defeat the Lady Gamecocks (11-10, 1-7) in an SEC game at Columbia, S.C.

No. 17 Purdue 75, Ohio State 52--Katie Douglas matched her career high with 31 points in leading the Boilermakers (15-5, 7-3) to a Big Ten victory over the Buckeyes (11-9, 4-6) at West Lafayette, Ind.

No. 20 Mississippi State 66, Mississippi 60--LaToya Thomas scored 22 points as the Bulldogs (17-3, 6-3) outscored the Lady Rebels (11-8, 0-6) in an SEC game at Oxford, Miss., for their first victory at Ole Miss. Mississippi State had been 0-21 at Tad Smith Coliseum and 4-52 overall against Mississippi.

No. 21 Tulane 86, DePaul 76--Janell Burse had 39 points and 18 rebounds as the Green Wave (19-2, 8-2) ran its home winning streak to 18 games with a Conference USA victory over the Blue Demons (13-8, 6-4) at New Orleans.

Michigan 70, No. 23 Illinois 59--Anne Thorius scored all of her 23 points in the second half, leading the Wolverines (15-6, 7-3) over the Illini (16-8, 6-4) in a Big Ten game at Ann Arbor, Mich.

No. 24 Virginia 66, Georgia Tech 65--Svetlana Volnaya made two free throws with 3.5 seconds to play, lifting the Cavaliers (17-5, 9-1) to an ACC victory over the Yellow Jackets (11-9, 4-6) at Atlanta.