This time, a second-half run wasn't enough.

After using a 26-4 surge after halftime on Thursday to pull away from UCLA and claim the 15-point win, the Arizona women's basketball team came up short Saturday against Southern California, 71-64, despite another second-half run.

Down 19 points with 5:02 remaining, the Wildcats (13-13, 9-8 Pacific 10 Conference) mounted a 20-3 charge to narrow the margin to two points with 36 seconds to play, but were unable to complete the comeback.

Freshman guard Dee-Dee Wheeler hit three 3-pointers during the run, finishing with a game- and career-high 21 points to go along with three assists and three steals. Sophomore guard Aimee Grzyb was the only other Wildcat in double digits with 11 points.

"I got the team hyped up when I had my little 20-second spurt at the end of the second half," Wheeler said. "We were on the same page at that point. My shots just happened to fall at that time."

The Trojans (14-11, 10-6 Pac-10) used 12-1 and 15-6 runs to amass a 21-point halftime lead, 44-23, putting Arizona in its largest halftime hole of the season.

A 9-0 Wildcat spurt to open the second half petered out when the Women of Troy answered back, rebuilding their lead to 19 points with five minutes to play.

USC sophomore guard Aisha Hollins led the team with 19 points and added six rebounds. Sophomore Trojan forward Ebony Hoffman pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini attributed the Wildcat loss to poor first-half play.

"It was a tale of two halves," Bonvicini said. "The first half they really chomped on us. We retreated and we were not aggressive, and we didn't rebound."

Wheeler agreed.

"I think we were playing kind of scared in the first half," Wheeler said. "When they went on runs, we didn't fight back. The fight wasn't there in the first half."

Bonvicini said she was happy with her team's second-half effort, if not the result.

"I'm really proud we made that run," Bonvicini said. "I thought we were going to throw it in. It's tough, and I am tired of losing."

Arizona finishes its regular season against in-state rival Arizona State Saturday in McKale. The game marks the final home game for the team's two seniors, leading scorer and rebounder Elizabeth Pickney, and center LaKeisha Taylor. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.