With Greco Scoreless, UCLA Upsets Arizona

Friday night’s women’s basketball game between UCLA and No. 24-ranked Arizona . wasn’t often a pretty sight.

But the final result was a thing of beauty to the Bruins, who pulled off a 48-47 upset of the Wildcats before 850 at Pauley Pavilion.

To win, the Bruins (13-9, 8-5) had to survive cold shooting (31%), eight shots blocked by the bigger Wildcats, and their leading scorer Michelle Greco being shut out. It was the first time Greco -- ill much of the week because of flu-like symptoms -- was held scoreless since Nov. 17, 2000, against Utah. On Friday, she played 26 minutes and missed five shots.

UCLA, which led, 23-18, at halftime, got 13 points from Nikki Blue. A free throw with 1:05 to play by Gennifer Arranaga ended up being the difference.

“The biggest thing tonight was how the team stayed positive when so many things were not going their way,” UCLA Coach Kathy Olivier said.

Arizona (16-7, 9-5) wasted two late opportunities as Krista Warren missed a layup with 42 seconds to play and Dee-Dee Wheeler bounced a 17-foot shot off the rim with three seconds left. Wheeler led Arizona with 16 points.

-- Mike Terry

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Rometra Craig had 17 points and five rebounds to lead USC over Arizona State in front of 409 at the Sports Arena. The Trojans benefited from 25 turnovers by the Sun Devils (14-9, 6-8). USC (12-12, 7-6) also got 14 points and seven rebounds from Rachel Woodward.