Arizona State defeats USC; key player is hurt

Emily Westerberg had 10 points and nine rebounds Sunday, and No. 10 Arizona State overcame being outrebounded and the loss of guard Dymond Simon to defeat USC, 62-54, at Tempe, Ariz.

“A lot of mixed emotions right now,” Coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “I’m glad we won the game, but obviously we’ve lost Dymond Simon for the season. I would have rather lost the game and kept Dymond.”

Simon appeared to knock her left knee with the Trojans’ Nicole Berberet with 8 minutes 26 seconds left in the first half. Berberet was called for a foul, and Simon was carried off the court. Turner Thorne said Simon injured a ligament in her knee.

Simon came into the game averaging 9.7 points off the bench, and was chosen the Pacific 10 Conference player of the week two weeks ago.

Briann January had 12 points and four assists for the Sun Devils, 18-2 overall and 8-1 in the Pac-10.

Eshaya Murphy had 11 points and 11 rebounds for USC (11-8, 5-4), which out-rebounded Arizona State, 46-36, but shot only 34% (23 for 67) from the field.

“They really do a good job pressuring,” USC Coach Mark Trakh said.

“They forced us into a lot of turnovers. We were on a drought, we were on 44 or 42 for a long time and it’s just hard to get into anything the way they play defense.”

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Cal State Northridge 72, South Dakota State 61 -- Calvin Chitwood scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Matadors at Northridge.

Chitwood made eight of 15 shots and all four of his free throws before fouling out with 1:52 to play. Jonathan Heard finished with 18 points for the Matadors (10-8).

South Dakota State (4-14), an NCAA Division I independent, got 14 points from Matt Caldwell.