USC Bounces Back to Upset Sun Devils

Taking on ranked teams had not been one of USC’s strengths this season. The Trojans were 1-3 against teams in the Top 25.

But USC had little trouble Saturday overpowering No. 23 Arizona State to pick up a 68-49 victory before 3,808 at the Sports Arena.

Aisha Hollans had 16 points and was one of four Trojans in double figures. Ebony Hoffman (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Carmen Krause (10 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles.

Melody Johnson led Arizona State with 16 points.

After losing to Arizona on Thursday without starters Tiffany Elmore (sprained ankle), Hoffman (one-game suspension for fighting) and Hollans (coach’s decision for violating team rules), the Trojans could not afford another loss and still hope to catch Stanford in the Pacific 10 Conference standings.

Instead, by holding Arizona State to its lowest point total of the year, the Trojans (10-8, 6-3) are tied with the Sun Devils for second place.

“There’s no question this game was important because we chose to make a sacrifice [in personnel] the other night,” USC Coach Chris Gobrecht said. “There was a huge sense of urgency.”

The Sun Devils (15-5, 6-3) played one of their poorest games this season. USC owned the boards (47-36) and held Arizona State to 31.1% shooting. The most hampered Sun Devil was Amanda Levens, the Pac-10’s leading scorer, who played on a sore ankle. She made only four of 19 shots and had 11 points.

The Trojans looked strong in the first half, building a 28-17 lead. Arizona State scored seven consecutive points to close in, 28-24, at halftime. The Sun Devils got to within two points, but never caught the Trojans. By the 10:13 mark of the second half, USC led, 47-35.

Mike Terry

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Arizona 71, UCLA 60--Aimee Grzyb made five of seven three-point shots and had 19 points for the Wildcats (9-9, 5-4 in Pac-10 play). Krista Warren finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Arizona, which won its fourth consecutive conference game.

Whitney Jones had 17 points and Natalie Nakase finished with 10 points and a career-high 11 assists before fouling out for UCLA (5-12, 2-7), which made 25 of 69 shots (36%).