USC Falls Behind Early and Can’t Catch Oregon State Late, 57-53

Felicia Ragland scored 21 points and Sissel Pierce added 18 as Oregon State defeated USC, 57-53, on Saturday in front of 897 at the Sports Arena.

Pierce also had 12 rebounds for the Beavers (8-11, 4-3 Pacific-10), who opened the game with a 26-8 run.

Down, 35-23, at intermission, The Trojans (8-9, 3-4) began to cut away at the lead in the second half. USC came within two points twice--once with 22 seconds remaining--but were held off by strong defense from Oregon State.

Both teams were held to season-low point totals.

“We just didn’t come out ready to play today,” USC Coach Chris Gobrecht said. “You can’t fall behind a defense that plays that well . . . 18 points is a big mountain to climb.”

Tiffany Washington had 11 points and Danielle Golay added 10 to lead the Trojans.

USC shot only 29.3% (12 of 41) for the game, which contributed to its early deficit. The Trojans made two field goals in the first 13 minutes.

TOP 25 GAMES

No. 1 Connecticut 84, Miami 36--Shea Ralph scored 21 points and the Huskies (19-0, 8-0 Big East) extended their conference winning streak to 19 games with a victory over the Hurricanes (8-10, 2-5) at Miami.

Sue Bird scored 20 points on seven-for-seven shooting, including four for four from three-point range, and Tamika Williams added 12 on four-for-four shooting from the floor. Neither player missed from the free-throw line.

Miami, meanwhile, struggled to score, shooting 19% (12 for 62).

No. 2 Louisiana Tech--Arkansas State, ppd.--A snow and ice storm that stranded Louisiana Tech in Arkansas forced the Lady Techsters to cancel Saturday’s game against Arkansas State. A makeup date has not been announced.

No. 4 Tennessee 83, No. 8 North Carolina State 63--Tamika Catchings scored 14 points and Semeka Randall had 13 as the Lady Vols (15-3) made a season-high nine three-pointers to defeat the Wolfpack (15-4) in a nonconference game at Cleveland.

April McDivitt made all three of her three-point attempts and added 13 points for the Lady Vols, whose three losses this season have come against No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 Louisiana Tech and No. 3 Georgia.

No. 5 Notre Dame 87, Georgetown 56--Niele Ivey scored 18 points as the Fighting Irish (17-2, 8-0 Big East) won their 13th consecutive game by defeating the Hoyas (11-8, 4-4) at South Bend, Ind.

Danielle Green added 14 points for Notre Dame and Ruth Riley had 12 despite sitting out most of the second half.

Kansas 58, No. 6 Iowa State 49--Jaclyn Johnson had 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Jayhawks (14-5, 5-2 Big 12) shut down the Cyclones (15-3, 6-1) at Lawrence, Kan.

Iowa State committed 10 turnovers in the first 11 minutes of the second half and Kansas went ahead by 14 points after leading, 29-25, at the half.

No. 14 Texas Tech 71, Texas A&M; 49--Keitha Dickerson had 18 points as the Red Raiders (16-2, 5-2 Big 12) defeated the Aggies (9-9, 1-7) at College Station, Texas, for their fifth consecutive victory.

Texas Tech led, 36-17, at halftime after holding Texas A&M; scoreless for nearly eight minutes. The loss was the Aggies’ seventh in a row.

No. 15 UC Santa Barbara 86, New Mexico State 65--Erin Buescher scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead four players in double figures as the Gauchos (17-3, 5-0 Big West) cruised past the Roadrunners (7-11, 2-4) at Las Cruces, N.M.

No. 19 Boston College 85, Pittsburgh 54--Alissa Murphy scored a season-high 24 points, Cal Bouchard added 19 and Jamie Cournoyer had 18 as the Eagles (17-4, 6-1 Big East) defeated the Panthers (12-7, 3-5) at Boston.

No. 23 Oklahoma 76, Missouri 71--Phylesha Whaley scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Sooners (17-3, 7-0 Big 12) won their eighth consecutive game with a victory over the Tigers (12-6, 2-5) at Columbia, Mo.

No. 24 Stanford 83, Washington State 67--Lauren St. Clair scored 18 of her 22 points from three-point range to lead the Cardinal (12-5, 5-2 Pac-10) to a victory over the Cougars (4-14, 1-7) at Pullman, Wash.