Griffith's 25 points leads Arizona past USC

With yesterday's 82-64 win over Southern Cal and Friday's 90-78 win over UCLA, the Wildcats are a half-game out of second place in the Pacific 10 Conference.

More importantly, its 18 point victory over the Trojans should give Associated Press voters little doubt that Arizona deserves to be ranked among the country's best teams.

"This was a big game for us, maybe one of the biggest wins in our history," UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said.

Lisa Griffith led the Wildcats with a career-high 25 points, including seven three-point shots. Arizona took a 42-35 lead into halftime and USC never got closer as the Wildcats' pressure defense and three-point shooting kept the Trojans at bay in the second half.

Junior center Marte Alexander contributed a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The Wildcats (19-4, 9-3 in the Pac-10) have won seven of their last eight games and are off to their best start in conference history. Southern Cal (16-6, 10-3), which is the only team to beat UA (87-72) in McKale Center this season, still remains a half-game ahead of Arizona in second place.

USC's Tina Thompson, a Naismith Player of the Year candidate, finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

Southern Cal had won eight of its last 10 outings before yesterday's romp.

"We had to turn the tables somehow," Bonvicini said. "We started off playing too safe and then it was our defense with our full court press which enabled us to turn it around."

The Wildcats forced 23 turnovers and made 16 of 19 free-throw attempts.

On Friday against UCLA, Adia Barnes had 20 points to lead five UA players in double figures.

Griffith and freshman Felecity Willis each had 14, Alexander added 13 and sophomore Monika Crank put up 11. Crank, who suffered a broken nose against Arizona State on Feb. 8, was not expected to play.

The Wildcats forced UCLA into 30 turnovers - 20 in the first half alone.

The Bruins' Melanie Pearson, who finished with 20 points, hit a three-point shot to pull UCLA to 48-44 early in the second half. Arizona answered with a Barnes' three-point play and gradually built its lead to as many as 17 with just under eight minutes to play.

The last time the Wildcats played in Pauley Pavilion they lost after blowing a 17 point lead in the final minutes of the contest.