The Riverside Press-Enterprise
No. 25 USC women fall in OT at Cal
Jayda Curry scored 27 points and Michelle Onyiah had six points in overtime as Cal’s women’s basketball team upended visiting No. 25 USC 81-78 on Sunday
The Trojans, back in the rankings for the first time since 2016, had their chances to win this one after falling to No. 3 Stanford 50-47 on Friday.
From the final four minutes of regulation until Destiny Littleton hit a 3-pointer with 1:08 to go in overtime, USC missed eight straight shots. After Littleton tied the game at 78 and Leilani Mcintosh put the Golden Bears on top with two free throws with 44 seconds to go, the Trojans came up empty on their next possession despite two offensive rebounds.
Onyiah made 1 of 2 from the line with eight seconds to go and Littleton’s late 3 was off the mark.
Kemery Marson scored 15 points and Evelien Lutje Schipholt added 14 with eight rebounds for the Golden Bears (13-14, 4-12 Pac-12). Onyiah finished with nine points, including the first basket in overtime and a three-point play that made it 78-75 with 1:37 to go.
Kadi Sissoko, a graduate transfer, scored 30 points for the Trojans (19-8, 9-7), two shy of her career high from Minnesota. Rayah Marshall added 14 points, Littleton and Kayla Williams both had 13.
Both teams shot 60 percent in the first quarter, which ended tied at 24 but trailed off dramatically from there, with the Golden Bears taking a 4542 lead at the half.
Each team scored 25 points in the third quarter before struggling again in the fourth.
It appeared Curry would have a chance to win the game at the end of regulation when a foul was called on her desperation attempt from the top of the key, but after a long review the officials changed the call.
USC closes the regular season next weekend against Washington on Thursday and Washington State on Saturday.
NO. 4 UTAH 74, ARIZONA ST. 69 >> Gianna Kneepkens scored 22 points and Jenna Johnson added 15 to lead the Utes to a road win over the Sun Devils.
Utah (23-3, 13-3), which had a seven-game winning streak stopped at No. 18 Arizona on Friday, struggled to put away Arizona State without post player Alissa Pili.
Pili, the Pac-12’s leading scorer at 20.7 points per game, did not play after suffering an apparent right ankle sprain in the final minutes of the loss at Arizona. Her ankle was re-taped on the bench after the first quarter but she never entered the game.
Sydney Erikstrup had 15 points for the Sun Devils (7-18, 0-16), who lost their 16th straight game despite leading most of the way.
The Utes did not get their first lead until Kneepkens’ 3-pointer made it 2927 with 2:19 remaining in the first half and did not lead for good until Kneepkens made two free throws to break a tie at 65 with 1:29 left.
NO. 18 ARIZONA 61, NO. 21 COLORADO 42 >> Shaina Pellington scored 19 points with five assists and the Wildcats ended the visiting Buffaloes’ five-game winning streak.
Arizona (21-6, 11-5 Pac 12) held Colorado (21-6, 124) to its lowest points total of the season and its worst shooting game, 28.3% overall (15 of 53), 1 of 12 from 3-point range (8.3%).
Esmery Martinez had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds for the Wildcats, who have won five of six.
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 64, MISSISSIPPI 57, OT >> Pushed to the brink, Zia Cooke and the Gamecocks finally exerted control once the game went into overtime.
Cooke scored five of her 24 points in the extra period to help South Carolina stay unbeaten with a road victory over the Rebels.
The defending national champion Gamecocks (270, 14-0 SEC) got one of their biggest scares of the season before winning their 33rd straight game. Mississippi (20-7, 9-5) never trailed by more than six points in regulation and flirted with its first win over a No. 1 team in 46 years.
“They were locked in,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said of the Rebels. “They played their zone and were committed to it, and we didn’t handle it well until we actually had to. So it was a good game plan.”
She called the Rebels “an NCAA Tournament team,” and they certainly looked the part.
Cooke had six rebounds and four assists to help offset a 7-of-18 shooting performance. Aliyah Boston added 13 points and 11 rebounds on 4-of-14 shooting and didn’t score in the first quarter.
The deep Gamecocks didn’t get their usual supply of scoring help for the two stars, though Kamilla Cardoso had eight points and 11 boards.
Angel Baker led Ole Miss with 17 points.
NO. 2 INDIANA 83, PURDUE 60 >> Mackenzie Holmes scored 20 points, Grace Berger added 14 points and 10 assists and the host Hoosiers beat the Boilermakers to clinch a share of their first Big Ten regular-season title in 40 years.
Indiana (26-1, 16-1 Big Ten) won its 14th straight, matching the second-longest winning streak in school history, before cutting down the nets in front of the program’s first home sellout. Indiana has broken the single-game attendance mark four times this season, this time celebrating its 18th straight home win in front of 17,222.
Lasha Petree led Purdue (17-8, 8-7) with 23 points.
Men
NO. 2 HOUSTON 72, MEMPHIS 64 >> J’wan Roberts had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Marcus Sasser also scored 20 as the Cougars beat the visiting Tigers for their seventh straight win.
Houston (25-2, 13-1 AAC shot 45% but struggled from deep, going 3 of 17 on 3-pointers.
Elijah Mccadden had 20 points and six rebounds, and Deandre Williams added 18 points for Memphis (20-7, 10-4), which shot 44%, including 6 of 15 on 3-pointers.
NO. 3 PURDUE 82, OHIO STATE 55 >> Zach Edey had 26 points and 11 rebounds for his 21st double-double this season to lead the Boilermakers over the visiting Buckeyes, who lost for the 13th time in the last 14 games.
Trey Kaufman-renn added 11 points and Mason Gillis contributed seven points and 10 rebounds for Purdue (24-4, 13-4 Big Ten), which had a 44-21 rebounding edge.
Brice Sensabaugh led Ohio State (11-16, 3-13) with 20 points.
Purdue shot 50% while holding Ohio State to 40%. NO. 23 NORTH CAROLINA ST. 77, NORTH CAROLINA 69 >> Jarkel Joiner took over during a critical secondhalf stretch, matching his season high with 29 points to lead the host Wolfpack past the rival Tar Heels.
Joiner had 20 of his points after the break for N.C. State (21-7, 11-6 ACC).
DJ Burns Jr. added 14 of his 18 points after halftime for N.C. State, which shot 64.5% in the second half and avenged last month’s loss on the road.
Caleb Love scored 20 points to lead North Carolina (16-11, 8-8), which shot just 35.5% while losing for the fifth time in six games.