Reserves lift USC women

When push finally came to shove for the USC women’s basketball team Monday at the Galen Center, the Trojans looked to their bench to squelch Utah’s three-point barrage in a 62-45 nonconference victory.

USC (4-2) had dominated through the first half. Camille LeNoir scored all eight of her points as USC led, 32-15, at halftime.

It reached 35-16 before Morgan Warburton made four consecutive three-pointers for Utah (5-3), a team that lost to Stanford in double overtime earlier this season. Leilani Mitchell added another to close the deficit to 37-31. But in a 75-second span, USC’s Heather Oliver made a three-pointer and Hughes hit a long jumper and a three-point basket to restore order at 45-31.

“Tonight was my night,” said Hughes, a backup to Morghan Medlock, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. “Next game it might be someone else’s. We all step up in that role and fill the shoes when we need to.”

USC answered Utah’s rally with five reserves on the floor.

“We don’t have five starters,” said USC Coach Mark Trakh. “We have 11 starters. We have too many shooters to get in a drought.”

Warburton scored 16 for Utah.