University Southern California Trojans
USC Women Wrap Up Regular Season In Washington
February 28, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2012
COMING UP NEXT
The USC women hit the road for their final Pac-12 regular-season games of the year this week. The Women of Troy are bound for Washington as they look to lock in on third place in the Pac-12 standings. USC (16-11, 10-6 Pac-12) aims to avenge an earlier loss to Washington (15-11, 7-9) in a Thursday (March 1) clash with the Huskies at 7 p.m. in Seattle. A win there would put USC in good position for the No. 3 seed in the coming Pac-12 Tournament, but the Trojans could use an extra boost with a winning weekend in Washington, as USC wraps up in Pullman with a 1 p.m. matchup against Washington State (10-18, 4-12).
FOLLOW ALONG
This weekend's games will have live audio provided by Jason Schwartz. Live stats through GameTracker for all games also will be available online through the women's basketball page at usctrojans.com.
IN THE NATION
USC opened the year with a spot in the national rankings for the first time since 2006, ranked at No. 23 in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN preseason polls. After the first week, USC moved up to No. 22 in the USA Today/ESPN poll and No. 23 in AP, but fell out of the rankings in week two. USC is currently unranked. Washingon and WSU also are unranked.
LAST WEEK
USC took over the No. 3 spot in the Pac-12 standings with an important home stand against Arizona and ASU last week to set up with a four-game win streak entering the final weekend of the regular season. First, USC pulled out of a see-saw battle in the first half and a late first-half tie-up to peel ahead to a solid 78-62 victory over Arizona. Briana and Stefanie Gilbreath joined together for double digits apiece for the second time - the only other time also against Arizona earlier this season - with Stefanie leading the pack with 18 points and sister Briana tallying 14. In doing so, Briana Gilbreath moved up to take over No. 9 all-time in career scoring at USC, passing up Cynthia Cooper. They weren't alone in the double-digit trend today, though. Cassie Harberts hauled in a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Ashley Corral nailed 17 points thanks in part to three 3-pointers to match Stefanie Gilbreath's trio of threes. In doing so, Corral also moved up the career charts to take over at No. 11 all-time in career scoring. Not to be left out of the big numbers on the night, Christina Marinacci pulled in 11 rebounds to help USC outpace the Wildcats on the boards 50-32 in the win. For Arizona, Erica Barnes had a game-high 20 points, with Davellyn White adding 13 before fouling out. USC shot 39 percent from the floor to Arizona's 38 percent. Next, USC saw an 11-point lead slip away but regrouped and rallied for a key 59-53 win over visiting Arizona State on Senior Day. Christina Marinacci recorded her fourth career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead USC, while senior Ashley Corral's late surge of scoring helped lift the Trojans to victory. USC improves to 16-11 overall and 10-6 in Pac-12 play with its fourth straight win, holding on to third place in the conference standings. Arizona State, meanwhile, goes to 18-10, 9-8. USC was troubled by poor shooting in the first half, going from a 4-of-6 effort out of the gates to slip to shoot just 20 percent from the floor the rest of the half. ASU, meanwhile, heated up and fought out of an 11-0 deficit to take the halftime lead, shooting 39 percent to USC's 29 percent in the first 20 minutes of play. In the second half, however, USC warmed up enough to steal back the lead and create some late space to lock in on the comeback win. Ashley Corral - who had one point at halftime - delivered a game-tying assist with 5:15 to go and would score nine clutch points for the Trojans in the final five to help USC fight back for the win. She finished with 10 on the day, with teammate Christina Marinacci securing her double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead USC. Arizona received 22 points from Deja Mann to lead all scorers. After that first-half slump, USC shot 44 percent in the second to close out at 36 percent from the floor. ASU finished up at 34 percent. USC also won out on the boards behind Marinacci's gutsy efforts for a 41-33 rebounding advantage.
CROOK COOKS CAL IN OT
USC won its first game in Berkeley since 2005 in possibly the most dramatic fashion imaginable. The score locked up 10 times in the game and traded hands 11 times. Two of those lead changes were with backs to the wall. After USC took its largest lead of the game with 2:30 to go in regulation, Cal did the unimaginable, with Layshia Clarendon landing a 3-pointer that beat the buzzer to steal a regulation win from the Trojans. In overtime, Cal scored the first seven points, putting USC in its deepest hole since late in the first half. Down 72-65 with 1:50 to go, USC buckled down. Freshman Ariya Crook was up to the task. She would score all 11 of USC's points in overtime, including the last six big points in the final minute. After cutting it to three with 50 ticks to go, USC saw Cal turn the ball over on a violation on the inbounds. Crook made the Bears pay dearly for the mistake, making it a one-point game with 40 second left. Clarendon was then whistled for an offensive foul on Cal's next trip down, giving USC the ball for a winning attack. Crook converted on a clutch layup with just five seconds left, and Cal would not find a heroic buzzer beater this time around. USC got a game-high 24 points from Briana Gilbreath to go with a career-high 21 points from Crook. Christina Marinacci was at the helm on the boards for USC, finishing with 13 on the night.
SCOUTING UW
The Huskies are 15-11 overall and 7-9 in Pac-12 play after beating WSU 60-56 last week. Regina Rogers leads Washington with 16.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Kevin McGuff is in his first season as head coach of the Huskies, who went 11-17 overall last season with a 6-12 finish in Pac-10 play. USC is 27-29 all-time against Washington after having a seven-game winning streak against the Huskies snapped with Washington's 67-61 win over the Trojans on Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. USC beat Washington 60-51 in Seattle and 65-61 in overtime at the Galen Center last season.
SCOUTING WSU
The Cougars enter the week 10-18 overall and 4-12 in Pac-12 play after losing 60-56 to Washington last week. Jazmine Perkins leads WSU with 8.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. June Daugherty is in her fifth season as head coach of the Cougars, who went 8-23 overall last season with a 6-12 finish in Pac-10 play. USC is 42-12 all-time against WSU with a four-game win streak after a 67-62 win over the Cougars on Feb. 2 in Los Angeles. Last year, USC beat the Cougars 72-57 and 74-67 during Pac-10 play, then won 78-66 during the Pac-10 Tournament at the Galen Center.
ROAD WARRIORS
A road-tested USC roster is back for more this season. Last season, the Women of Troy played in 11 different states in amassing a program record of 18 road games. This year, USC opened the year with another busy travel schedule. The Women of Troy visited five different U.S. states during their nonconference stretch, which included face-offs against six NCAA tournament teams, including road tilts against 2011 NCAA finalist Notre Dame and champion Texas A&M. Four of USC's five nonconference losses came on the road against currently AP-ranked teams: No. 24 Nebraska, No. 16 Georgia, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 17 Texas A&M. The only other nonconference road loss this year was at unranked Arkansas State in USC's first-ever trip to the state of Arkansas. USC is now 7-8 in road and neutral-site games to date.
SCHEDULE STRENGTH
Although USC was one of three Pac-12 teams to enter conference play without a winning record, the Trojans boast the second toughest schedule in the conference and No. 10 toughest nationally (realtimerpi.com). Entering Pac-12 play, USC's strength of schedule was listed as No. 2 in the nation. USC has played five games against top-20 teams to date (0-5 against), with 10 games against currently ranked or receiving votes in the national AP poll (4-6 against). USC's current NCAA RPI is 31 (as of Feb. 27), putting the Trojans as the third-highest team from the Pac-12 behind Stanford and Cal.
MOVING ON UP
USC seniors Ashley Corral and Briana Gilbreath have both broken through 1,500-point barrier this season as they continue to trek up the ladders in USC's history books. On Thursday vs. Arizona, both seniors moved up the charts, with Gilbreath passing Cynthia Cooper to take over No. 9 all-time in career scoring (now holds 1,570 career points) while Corral passed Shay Murphy to move to No. 11 all-time (now holds 1,503 points). Gilbreath moved up to No. 4 all-time in career blocks (currently holds 165) on Feb. 11 and recently passed Shay Murphy at No. 6 all-time in steals (currently holds 237). Gilbreath also took over Pam McGee's No. 6 spot on the career free-throws made list on Feb. 11 (currently holds 375), and on Dec. 31, she cracked the top-10 all-time in career rebounds, now ranked No. 8 with 790 -after passing Shay Murphy on Jan. 19. Corral already is etched as USC's all-time 3-point leader (287) -- having padded her lead out past the century mark -- and has recently leapfrogged Cheryl Miller, Jamie Hagiya and Tammy Story to now stand at No. 4 in career assists (currently holds 459), with seven to go for a No. 3 spot.
FRESHMAN FIRSTS
USC's newcomers all marked up the stat sheet in their Trojan debuts in the season opener on Nov. 11. Freshman Alexyz Vaioletama got the start at forward and finished up with seven points, eight rebounds and five assists in her first action. Freshman Ariya Crook came off the bench to provide two points and an assist along with two steals; and redshirt freshman Thaddesia Southall nabbed a rebound and an assist to go along with two blocks for the post in her first minutes as a Trojan. Her first career points came with a free throw at Georgia on Nov. 20, and she became the first of the newcomers to hit double figures with 12 vs. Gardner-Webb on Nov. 26. Crook would notch her first double-digit day with 10 vs. UTSA on Nov. 30. Vaioletama hit double digits for the first time with 12 points at Texas A&M on Dec. 18, and most recently replicated that count with 12 vs. Oregon on Jan. 19. Crook picked up her first career start on Jan. 28 at Utah and hit double figures for the second time this season with a career-high 17 points. She provided the heroics in USC's Feb. 11 overtime win at Cal, setting a new career best with 21 points.
INJURY REPORT
USC has two players sidelined for the season to rehab from offseason surgeries. Freshman Deanna Calhoun (knee) will redshirt her first year at USC, and Kate Oliver (ankle) will sit out the season after transferring from Marist. Junior Christina Marinacci missed the first game of her USC career on Nov. 11 due to health reasons but returned to action at Nebraska on Nov. 18. Ariya Crook missed the Nov. 26 game vs. Gardner-Webb with an ankle injury. Redshirt freshman Thaddesia Southall sustained a tear to her ACL graft on Nov. 30 and will be out the rest of the season. Redshirt senior Jacki Gemelos suffered her fourth career ACL tear on Dec. 18 when she injured her left knee. Briana Gilbreath missed the first games of her career on Jan. 28 and 31 with a knee injury, but returned to play limited minutes on Feb. 2. Alexyz Vaioletama was sidelined by a shin injury for the Feb. 9 game at Stanford and Feb. 11 game at Cal but returned on Feb. 19.
YOUNG GUNS
Compared to the 14 years of combined time at USC among guards Ashley Corral, Jacki Gemelos, Briana Gilbreath and Stefanie Gilbreath, returning starters Cassie Harberts and Christina Marinacci are relative newbies. That is, until one takes a look at the minutes they've logged during their time as Trojans. Junior forward Marinacci played in every game in her first two seasons at Troy, and was fifth on the team in scoring last year with 8.2 points to go along with the second-best mark of 6.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Harberts was the only Trojan to start every single game last season, and was one of four Trojans averaging in double digits last year with her 10.2 points per game that she paired with 6.2 rebounds per game. She secured a spot on the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team and was on the Pac-10 All-Tournament Team after posting a 30-point game during the tourney. This season, Harberts is averaging a team-high 12.4 points and has 6.0 rebounds per game. Marinacci missed the first game of her career in USC's 2011-12 season opener, but has returned to provide 8.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game to date after setting a new career high with 23 points in USC's Dec. 31 win over Cal. Most importantly, Marinacci has stepped up big after the loss of Jacki Gemelos to injury, as the junior is providing 9.6 ppg and a team-high 8.1 rpg during Pac-12 play.
LAST SEASON
In head coach Michael Cooper's second season at Troy, the Women of Troy experienced a successful postseason that saw USC make a run to the WNIT title match. The 2011 Women of Troy finished the year with a 24-13 overall record after a 10-8 mark in Pac-10 play. The 24 wins was the most by a USC team since 1993-94, and USC's 18 road games in the season the Trojans set another program record. Juniors Ashley Corral and Briana Gilbreath both earned All-Pac-10 Team honors for the second straight season, with Jacki Gemelos picking up her first conference honors with All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention. Newcomer Cassie Harberts was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team and also had a spot on the Pac-10 All-Tournament Team alongside Corral. Corral and Gilbreath would also garner WNIT All-Tournament Team accolades, and Gilbreath became the first Trojan since 1997 to earn an AP All-American selection with an Honorable Mention pick after standing out as USC's leader in scoring, rebounds, blocks and steals in her junior season. Corral and Gilbreath made more Trojan history in both scoring their 1,000th career points last season. Gilbreath hit the mark on Jan. 22, 2011, and Corral followed suit on Feb. 10, 2011. Corral also took over as USC's all-time leader in career 3-pointers on that same day.
