USC
19-12
Arizona
21-10
USC Women Trip Up In Pac-10 Quarterfinal
March 10, 2011 | Women's Basketball
March 10, 2011
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The USC women's basketball team was better on the boards, but Arizona was better from the floor as the Wildcats handed the Trojans a 72-61 loss in the Pac-10 Tournament quarterfinals tonight at the Galen Center. The Women of Troy were within reach at halftime, but Arizona's perimeter attack pulled the Wildcats ahead, and the Trojans were left out of reach of a semifinal slot. The loss puts No. 5 seeded USC at a 19-12 overall record, while No. 4 Arizona goes to 21-10.
It was the first time this season that USC has outrebounded an opponent and lost the game. Christina Marinacci led all with 13 rebounds in the game to help the Trojans to a 46-36 advantage in that stat line. But Arizona shot 49 percent from the floor and 53 percent (7-of-13) from 3-point range to work past the Trojans, who finished up 31 percent from the floor and 25 percent (3-of-12) from beyond the arc. Arizona's Davellyn Whyte hit five threes for a game-high 24 points, and Soana Lucet added 20 for the Wildcats to go with Ify Ibekwe's 13 points and 11 rebounds. USC's offense was charged up by 16 points from Briana Gilbreath, with Jacki Gemelos adding 11 and Cassie Harberts hitting 10 for the Trojans.
Arizona was effective in getting to the hoop in the first half and generated 22 of their first 29 points from the paint on the way to a 48-percent shooting effort by halftime. That outpaced USC's 39 percent, although the Trojans held a 17-14 advantage on the boards at the break. In the second half, Arizona upped its perimeter attack and built up a 19-point lead on the Trojans to leave them playing catchup and unable to close in down the stretch.
USC overcame a slow start to the game and crawled out of a six-point hole to lock up with the Wildcats at the 10-minute mark of the first half. The game would tie up eight more times from there, as Ashley Corral matched an Arizona three with one of her own in the final minute of the half to make it 28-28. Arizona's Ify Ibekwe was awarded a trip to the line with 30 seconds left and hit the back end of her visit to give the Wildcats a 29-28 halftime edge.
The Wildcats came out firing in the second half and built up a 13-point advantage in the first five minutes thanks to 11 points from Davellyn White, who nailed three 3-pointers in that span and added another - her fifth in six attempts - at 14:40 to get Arizona up 47-33. Arizona's seventh 3-pointer of the night put USC behind 57-42 with 9:35 left to play.
After then stumbling behind by 19, USC manufactured an 11-0 run - with Jacki Gemelos providing seven of those Trojan points - to make it an eight-point game with 4:34 on the clock. There was still an eight-point margin on the board with 1:58 to go, when Gemelos was tagged with her fifth foul and Briana Gilbreath was knocked down with an injury. After a set of Wildcat trips to the free-throw line in the next 30 seconds, USC was down 66-55 until Len'Nique Brown hit two free throws for USC to make it 66-57 with 1:24 to go. The Wildcats were stubborn in not allowing the Trojans to close in further, holding on for a 72-61 final.
Briana Gilbreath took over as the No. 15 all-time scorer in USC history with her first six points of the night. She also worked her way into the 10th most single-season steals among Trojans with her first two picks of the game.
USC now awaits the verdict on its postseason future when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed on Monday afternoon (March 14).
