USC Lets One Slip Away, 69-63

The USC women’s game Friday against Washington was the start of five of seven at home. But instead of moving forward in the Pacific 10 Conference, the Trojans took a step back with a 69-63 loss to the Huskies before 500 at the Sports Arena.

Former Lake Forest El Toro High star Giuliana Mendiola led the Huskies (12-8 overall, 7-4 in the Pac-10) with 22 points--20 in the second half--to tie her career high. Her layup with 9:19 left in the second half broke a 49-49 tie, and put Washington ahead for good.

“It was exciting to play in front of my family,” said Mendiola, who made nine of 11 shots and had six assists in front of about 50 friends and relatives. “My team was looking for me, and fortunately the shots went in.”

USC (11-10, 7-5), which led 33-31 at halftime, dropped into a tie for fifth place in conference and the loss left the Trojans with plenty to ponder.

The Trojans can dwell on wasting a 19-point, 14-rebound effort by Ebony Hoffman, and 17 points by Aisha Hollans. Or how Washington scoring 24 points off USC’s 19 turnovers negated the Trojans’ 39-34 rebounding edge.

“We’ve got to grow up as a team sooner or later,” Trojan Coach Chris Gobrect said.

Mike Terry

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UCLA 79, Washington State 55--Reserves Brianna Winn and Sissy Pickett each scored a career-high 13 points to lead the Bruins to a Pac-10 victory in front of 1,536 at UCLA.

Winn, a freshman guard, scored eight of her points in the first half, when the Bruins (6-14, 3-9) led by as many as 26 points. Picket, a freshman center, scored all of hers in the second half, including six in a row during a 26-8 run that put the Bruins up by their largest margin, 29 points at 70-41 with 6:15 to play.

That sequence came after UCLA went scoreless for the first 4:43 of the second half, allowing the Cougars (2-19, 0-11) to cut a 22-point halftime deficit to nine at 42-33 with 15:33 left.

UCLA scored 17 of the next 23 points to go ahead by 21 at 60-39 and never looked back. The victory ended a losing streak at five.

Francine McCurtain had 14 points for the Cougars, who have lost 16 in a row since an 80-72 victory over Gonzaga on Nov. 29.

Lauren Peterson

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TOP 25 GAMES

No. 7 Purdue 82, Michigan State 66--Shereka Wright scored 18 points and the Boilermakers (17-3, 8-2 Big Ten) used a 20-3 run late in the game to hold off the Spartans (14-8, 4-7) at East Lansing, Mich., for their sixth consecutive victory. Purdue forced 20 turnovers and was 26 for 32 at the free-throw line.

No. 21 Old Dominion 70, Rutgers 48--Lucienne Berthieu had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Lady Monarchs (14-5) used a 16-0 run in the second half to pull away from the Scarlet Knights (7-13) in a nonconference game at Piscataway, N.J.

Old Dominion held Rutgers without a field goal for 13 minutes while breaking the game open.