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Oregon State Edges Out USC In Pac-10 Quarterfinals, 69-68
March 2, 2002
By LANDON HALL EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Felicia Ragland scored 29 points and made two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to send Oregon State into the semifinals of the Pac-10 tournament with a 69-68 victory over Southern California on Saturday night. The fifth-seeded Beavers (16-13) will meet top-seeded Stanford in the second of Sunday's semifinals. Stanford is 19-0 against the conference this season and trounced Oregon State by 22 and 37 points. USC (15-13) appeared to have the game sewn up when Ebony Hoffman was grabbed a third-chance offensive rebound and got fouled with 4.3 seconds left. She made one of two free throws for a 68-67 lead. After a timeout, the Beavers inbounded with a long, crosscourt pass toward Ragland. As she ran underneath the ball, she was grabbed by USC's Carmen Krause. In the one-and-one situation, Ragland calmly made both shots. The Trojans had one last chance, but Jessica Cheeks' heave was long and off to the right of the rim. Aisha Hollans led USC with 22 points, while Hoffman scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half. Hoffman also had 10 rebounds, and Rachel Woodward added 11 points for the Trojans, who stayed in the game despite shooting under 38 percent. Juleen Smith added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Beavers, who at the very least boosted their chances of earning a second straight WNIT berth. USC trailed by six with 5:18 to play, but Hoffman brought her team back. A short jumper tied it at 63 with four minutes left, and Cheeks' jumper that rattled in off the back of the rim put the Women of Troy ahead 67-65 with 51.3 seconds to go.
Ragland's two free throws tied it again. On the next possession,
Krause was forced to launch a long jumper to beat the shot clock. Cheeks
rebounded and spotted Woodward alone, but her baseline jumper missed
everything. Hoffman came up with it, but she was off on her first free
throw.
Oregon State, which lost both regular-season games to USC by a total of just six points, established itself with an early 15-2 run, but the Trojans gradually fought back behind Hollans. She and Ragland traded 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions, and Hollans scored the Trojans' next seven points to cut the lead to 33-31. After two free throws by Ragland, Portia Mitchell sank a hook shot with 12.8 seconds left to make it a two-point game at halftime. |
