UA 66, USC 74
SAN JOSE, Calif. - After a turbulent season plagued by injuries, the Arizona women's basketball team was in need of a win Saturday night to secure a bid in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats (19-11, 11-8 Pacific 10 Conference) were unable to do so, as they fell to Southern California, 74-66, in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament in HP Pavilion, recording their third loss in four games.
Like Arizona's season, the game was a roller coaster ride, as the lead flopped five times between the teams.
"The two teams played extremely hard. It came down to a couple things - definitely rebounding, particularly on the offensive end," said Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini. "It was also a game of runs. In both halves, it seemed like they made their run late."
Arizona brought down 41 rebounds to the Trojans' 52.
"We played in spurts tonight," said senior point guard Dee-Dee Wheeler, who recorded 15 points, seven rebounds and two steals in possibly her final game as a Wildcat. "That's the common denominator right there - we play spurts. We haven't showed intensity for the whole 40-minute game."
With the game knotted at 57 in the second half, sophomore forward Shannon Hobson hit one of two free throws before the Trojans used a 6-1 run to go up 63-58.
USC's Jamie Funn nailed a jumper to beat the shot clock with 3:31 left, giving the Trojans a five-point lead, 68-63.
Arizona chipped away at the deficit, pulling within two points on a free throw by junior center Shawntinice Polk, 68-66, at 1:52 remaining.
Polk finished with eight points, six boards, a team-high four assists and five steals.
The Wildcats put the Trojans (19-9, 12-6) on the free-throw line three times in the remaining 44.8 seconds of the half, as USC's Camille LeNoir netted four of the Trojans' six shots from the charity stripe.
"I think we played hard," Wheeler said. "But I think USC did an excellent job, especially down the stretch. They executed well and they hit their free throws, especially the freshman guard, Camille LeNoir. She did an excellent job of shooting free throws."
Eight minutes into the first half, Arizona freshman guard Ashley Whisonant nailed a jumper to give the Wildcats their biggest lead, 24-14.
Later in the half, the Wildcats allowed a 9-0 Trojan run to give USC a three-point lead, 37-34.
Junior guard Natalie Jones netted a pair of free throws to pull Arizona within one point.
Polk committed her second personal foul with three seconds left in the half and USC's Chloé Kerr made one of two free throws to give the Trojans a two-point cushion heading into halftime, 40-38.
"We didn't finish either half and that was a tough thing," Bonvicini said. "We had a lead and both times we needed to sustain it, and that's when you just got to be tough, you got to take good shots, you got to get the rebounds."
The Arizona coaching staff said the Wildcats were plagued by problems they faced all season.
"I thought we took some bad shots and it shows in our field goal percentage," said Bonvicini of Arizona's 36.9 mark from the field.
"In the last few games we lost, we haven't shot well, and it's more from bad shot selection," she said.
Despite being sick to her stomach and having to leave the game for a few minutes in the second half, Jones contributed 14 points and three rebounds. Freshman guard Jessica Arnold added nine points and a team-high four assists.
Arizona is now uncertain of its chances to receive an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament.
"I think if we would have won today, then we would probably be in the tournament," Bonvicini said. "I think now we're definitely a bubble team."
Arizona will find out whether it receives a bid during the NCAA Selection Show at 3 p.m. Sunday.