Stellar Second Half Leads USC Past Ducks, 69-64

Thursday, February 23

Eugene, Ore.

7 p.m.

University of Oregon

USC

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

02/24/06 | Women's Basketball

By: GoDucks.com

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Eshaya Murphy scored 21 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, lifting USC to a 69-64 come-from-behind victory over Oregon before 3,179 fans at McArthur Court on Thursday.

Murphy was 8-for-13 in the second half and added 10 rebounds and five steals. Camille LeNoir added 14 points for the Trojans (17-9, 11-6 Pac-10), who shot 53 percent (16-for-30) in the second half.

"We had a great first half and they came out in the second half like we knew they would because they are a great team," said Oregon senior guard Chelsea Wagner. "We just didn't get any stops down the stretch."

Wagner had 17 points and Brandi Davis added 12 for Oregon (14-13, 5-12), which has lost four straight and six of its last seven.

"I'm pretty disappointed in my second half play today," said Davis, who had 10 points before halftime. "I didn't play as aggressivley as in the first half and I kind of went back on my heels, like the rest of my team."

USC trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half before Murphy sparked the comeback. She had a layup and a three-point play to bring the Trojans within 49-44 with 11:40 to go. After Markisha Lea tied it for USC on a layup with 6:46 left, Murphy scored eight straight points for the Trojans - including two 3-pointers - to give them a 61-59 lead.

"They shot the ball tremendously well in the second half, especially Murphy," said Oregon head coach Bev Smith. "Some of those looks we had hands in their faces, but some of them were too open."

Smith's counterpart - USC's Mark Trakh - wasn't overly worried with his squad's halftime deficit.

"In the first half, I felt like we needed to tighten up on Wagner and Davis," Trakh said. "I wasn't too concerned about our missed shots because a lot of them were going in and out, and I just told them to keep shooting and eventually the shots would fall."

There were eight lead changes in the final 6:28 until LeNoir's jumper gave USC the lead for good at 65-64 with 2:06 to go.

Murphy then had a steal and an easy bucket to give the Trojans a three-point cushion with 1:01 remaining. LeNoir had two free throws with 25 seconds left for the final margin.

6-6 forward Jessie Shetters matched her career high with eight points down the stretch to keep the Ducks close.

Wagner's 3-pointer at the 15:08 mark gave Oregon its largest lead at 47-35.

Oregon was 7-for-12 on 3-point attempts in the first half, overcoming a slow start to tie it at 15 on a Wagner 3-pointer with 12:02 to go.

Trailing 26-25, the Ducks closed the first half on a 12-0 run, including Wagner's forth trey of the half to take a 37-26 advantage into the break.

QUACK TRACKS: SR G Chelsea Wagner moved from seventh to fourth place on the single-season list for three-pointers and now has 56 ... Wagner also had a career-high seven rebounds ... JR F Jessie Shetters made her 12^th career start and first since 2003-04 ... SO F Kristen Forristall made her first three-pointer of the season ... SO C Gabrielle Richards, UO's leading scorer coming into the game, played just five minutes after sitting out two days of practice this week to rest her sore left Achilles.