Trojans Hold Off Cal, 81-78

Tiffany Elmore scored 15 points and Tiffany Washington had 13 points and seven rebounds Friday night to lead USC to an 81-78 victory over California in front of 821 at the Sports Arena.

The Trojans, 13-12 overall and 8-7 in the Pacific 10 Conference, also got 12 points each from Tashara Carter and Denise Woods.

Cal (9-16, 4-11) got 21 points from Paige Bowie.

Pepperdine 68, Portland 49--Nadja Morgan had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Waves (21-8) over the Pilots (11-20) in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament at Santa Clara.

Pepperdine will play San Diego (16-12) in Sunday’s final.

No. 2 Georgia 63, Kentucky 45--Coco Miller scored 23 points as the top-seeded Lady Bulldogs (29-2) routed the Wildcats (15-14) in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Chattanooga, Tenn., for their 15th consecutive victory.

No. 2 Tennessee 91, Florida 79--Freshman April McDivitt scored 11 of her career-high 19 points over a four-minute stretch to help the Lady Vols (26-3) hold off the Lady Gators (17-12) in an SEC tournament quarterfinal.

No. 5 Penn State 64, Ohio State 48--Helen Darling scored a season-high 17 points and had five assists in leading the Nittany Lions (25-3) over the Buckeyes (13-15) in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament at Indianapolis.

Vanderbilt 59, No. 10 Louisiana State 46--Ashley McElhiney scored 14 points and the Commodores (20-11) capitalized poor shooting by the Lady Tigers (22-6) in an SEC tournament quarterfinal.

No. 17 Mississippi State 66, No. 12 Auburn 56--Cynthia Harris scored 17 points, including five three-point baskets, as the Lady Bulldogs (22-6) surprised the Tigers (21-7) to reach the SEC tournament semifinals for the first time in school history.

No. 16 Virginia 72, Wake Forest 47--Telisha Quarles scored 16 points as the top-seeded Cavaliers (23-7) romped in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at Greensboro, N.C., improving their record against the Demon Deacons (7-21) to 47-1.

No. 18 Purdue 74, Wisconsin 65--Katie Douglas scored 23 points as the Boilermakers (20-7) defeated the Badgers (16-12) in a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal.

No. 22 Michigan 72, Northwestern 39--Alayne Ingram scored 16 points as the Wolverines (22-6) routed the Wildcats (7-21) in a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal.