Trojans Unable to Rebound

Sophomore forward Brandy Richardson pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds and sophomore guard Mia Fisher matched a season-high by scoring 17 points off the bench as No. 21 UC Santa Barbara defeated USC, 72-57, in its final nonconference game Thursday night in front of 2,759 at the Thunderdome.

With Richardson, who finished with 11 points, in command, Santa Barbara (9-2) outrebounded USC, 49-28, including 32-17 on the defensive end and 17-11 on the offensive boards. Lindsay Taylor and Lisa Willett each pulled down eight rebounds, and Haddy Sarr had five off the bench for the Gauchos, who had five players who scored in double figures.

The Gauchos’ efforts left the Trojans (6-9) stumped in any attempt to rebound from a second-half deficit that reached as many as 22 points and propelled Santa Barbara to its four consecutive victory and extended the Gauchos’ home winning streak to 16.

Junior forward Ebony Hoffman led the Trojans with 17 points and seven rebounds and Aisha Hollans had 14 points.

-- Lauren Peterson

OTHER GAMES

Alana Beard scored a Duke-record 41 points and hit two free throws after a questionable foul call with eight-tenths of a second to play, lifting the No. 1 Blue Devils (14-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) to a 60-59 victory against Virginia (5-8, 0-3) at Charlottesville, Va.... Neither team shot well, but No. 2 Louisiana State (13-0) flexed its inside muscle and stayed unbeaten in a 54-45 victory over Auburn (12-2) in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams at Auburn, Ala.... Chelsea Trotter scored a career-high 17 points as No. 6 Stanford (11-1, 3-0) beat Oregon State (7-7, 1-4) 62-51 for its 24th straight Pacific 10 Conference victory at Corvallis, Ore.... Shereka Wright had 26 points, and No. 7 Purdue (12-2, 1-1) avoided a second straight road loss to open the Big Ten Conference season, with a 59-53 victory over Wisconsin (2-10, 0-2) at Madison, Wis.... Janel McCarville tied her career-high with 23 points, and Lindsay Whalen added 21 and a career-high 12 rebounds to lead No. 9 Minnesota (13-1, 2-1 Big Ten) over Illinois (10-3, 2-1) 77-62 at Minneapolis.... Leah Metcalf and La’Tangela Atkinson scored 14 points apiece, and No. 10 North Carolina (13-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) got its 10th straight victory by beating Wake Forest (10-3, 1-2) 86-56 at Chapel Hill, N.C.... Dana Cherry scored 23 points, and India Lewis added 18 as No. 11 Arkansas (13-2) won at Memphis for the first time in seven tries by defeating the Tigers (6-6) 78-64.... San Jose State (6-6, 2-1) ended its regular-season Western Athletic Conference winning streak at eight games as Amber Obaze scored 18 points to lead No. 12 Louisiana Tech (9-2, 2-0) to an 83-38 victory at Ruston, La.... Koretha Johnson made the game-winning layup with 26 seconds left, and Jocelyn Penn had 24 points to lead No. 13 South Carolina (13-1) to an 83-79 victory over No. 14 Mississippi State (11-3) at Columbia, S.C.... Dee-Dee Wheeler scored 20 points, and Aimee Grzyb added 18 as No. 18 Arizona (10-3, 4-1 Pacific 10) to an 86-65 victory over winless Washington State.... Kelly Mazzante scored 33 points and Tanisha Wright scored 27 points as No. 17 Penn State (12-3, 3-0 Big Ten) turned a close game into an 86-52 rout of Iowa (8-4, 0-1) at State College, Pa.... Courtney Coleman scored 22 points and helped lead a decisive second-half run as No. 23 Ohio State (11-2, 2-0) beat Michigan State (7-6, 1-2 Big Ten) 70-65 for its eighth straight victory at Columbus, Ohio.