Feb. 3, 2000
Box Score
BERKELEY, Calif.
- Still riding a high from last
week's 72-59 victory at Washington, the California
women's basketball team brought their show home,
thumping USC in the first half 43-27 to capture an
81-64 win at Haas Pavilion, its biggest Pac-10 victory
since the 1996-97 season.
Senior Paige Bowie (sporting a new look Thursday -
blue hair) and junior Courtney Johnson led the game
with 18 points each, leading a pack of four Bears in
double-digits. Johnson also tallied-up a career-high
seven assists and five steals in her 35 minutes of
work on the floor. Junior Kenya Corley finished with
14 points and sophomore Shavaki Jackson had 12.
"We learned a valuable lesson at Washington," said
California head coach Marianne Stanley. "We don't have
to play perfectly as a team to win. We have to play
together and with intensity."
For California (7-11 overall, 2-6 in the Pac-10), the
first half was the game. Through the first twenty
minutes, the Bears managed to outshoot USC (8-10
overall, 3-5 in the Pac-10) 33-23, shooting an
overwhelming 64% from the floor, as opposed to the
Trojans' 41%, leading to a 43-27 advantage during
recess that the Trojans could find no cure for.
"We talked about it not being a one-time effort at
Washington," said Stanley. "We needed to keep the
momentum going. We can't go backwards. At halftime, we
talked about not relaxing and getting too
comfortable."
In an ironic twist of fate, the Bears were
out-rebounded 34-24 by USC just a game after breaking
the school's all-time single-game rebounding record
and the Pac-10 single-game rebounding record.
California led in steals 18-8 while committing 13
fewer turnovers than the Trojans. The Bears forced a
season-high 30 turnovers from USC.
For the Trojans, the game didn't start out looking so
bad, as the team mounted an 11-4 run during the first
3:01 of play before the Bears began to feel a rhythm.
California would not take the lead in the first half
until Bowie's jumper with 10:53 remaining, putting Cal
up 21-19. The Bears would never trail again.
Thursday's win was the Bears' largest margin of
victory in a Pac-10 contest since their 88-58 victory
over ASU on January 4, 1997.
California returns to action Saturday, February 5th,
at 1 p.m. against UCLA inside Haas Pavilion. The game
will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net.
"We know we have to play better to defeat UCLA on
Saturday, but we played very well tonight," said
Stanley.
