Arranaga Gives Lift to UCLA

Gennifer Arranaga scored a career-high 22 points and UCLA held off a late Oregon rally to defeat the Ducks, 63-57, Sunday in Pacific 10 Conference women’s basketball at Eugene, Ore.

Arranaga, who came into the game averaging 4.1 points a game this season, scored 13 in the second half. Noelle Quinn had 12 points for the Bruins, who beat the Ducks for the fourth consecutive time.

UCLA (6-6, 1-2) led, 57-50, with 3:44 left, but two points by Andrea Bills and a three-point shot by Chelsea Wagner pulled the Ducks (8-6, 0-4) to within two with 2:46 to play.

Nikki Blue countered with her only three-point field goal of the game a little more than a minute later, pushing the Bruins’ lead to five. Blue finished with nine points on two-for-12 shooting.

Wagner scored a season-high 12 points to lead Oregon, which suffered its fifth consecutive loss. The Ducks are 3-6 since losing forward Cathrine Kraayeveld to a right knee injury in early December.

Oregon had led, 26-25, at halftime on the strength of a 15-6 run in the last seven minutes before the break.

Oregon State 72, USC 67 -- The Beavers came back from a nine-point first-half deficit to beat the Trojans in a Pac-10 game at Corvallis, Ore. A 13-0 USC run in the final two minutes of the first half had given the Trojans a 37-28 lead at halftime.

But the Beavers outscored the Trojans, 26-13, in the first 10 minutes of the second half and took a 54-50 lead.

USC, plagued by turnovers and fouls for most of the final half, trailed by as many as 10 points, at 70-60, with slightly more than a minute remaining. USC’s Eshaya Murphy sank a three-point shot with four seconds left

It was the third consecutive victory for the Beavers (9-4, 3-1), who haven’t opened 3-1 in the Pac-10 since 1999-00.

Ebony Hoffman had 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Trojans (5-6, 2-1). Kim Gipson added 11 points and Eshaya Murphy 10 for USC.

Shannon Howell scored 24 points and Brina Chaney added 11 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Beavers, who had five players in double figures. Mandy Close finished with 11 points, and Krystal Turner and Leilani Estavan each had 10 for the Beavers.

The loss left USC Coach Chris Gobrecht one win shy of her 50th victory with the Trojans.