Jan. 21, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne would rather have lost the game instead of her third best scorer to a knee injury.
Emily Westerberg had 10 points and nine rebounds Sunday, and No. 10 Arizona State overcame getting outrebounded and the loss of guard Dymond Simon to defeat Southern California 62-54 for the Sun Devils' sixth straight win.
"A lot of mixed emotions right now," Turner Thorne said. "I'm glad we won the game, but obviously we've lost Dymond Simon for the season. I would have rather lost the game and kept Dymond."
Simon appeared to knock her left knee with the Trojans' Nicole Berberet with 8:26 left in the first half. Berberet was whistled for a foul and Simon was carried from the court. Turner Thorne said Simon injured an anterior cruciate ligament.
"Dymond was a huge part of getting us to 18-2," Turner Thorne said.
Simon came into the game averaging 9.7 points off the bench, earning a Pac-10 conference player of the week honor two weeks ago and freshman of the year consideration.
Briann January added 12 points and four assists for the Sun Devils (18-2, 8-1), who snapped the Trojans' five-game winning streak.
Eshaya Murphy had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Southern Cal, which outrebounded Arizona State 46-36 but shot only 34 percent (23-of-67) from the field.
The Sun Devils ran off 10 straight points, holding the Trojans (11-8, 5-4) scoreless for 5:13 in the second half to build a 58-44 lead with 3:49 remaining.
"They really do a good job pressuring," Southern Cal coach Mark Trakh said. "They forced us into a lot of turnovers. We were on a drought, we were on 44 or 42 for a long time and it's just hard to get into anything the way they play defense."
Arizona State held Murphy, the conference's second-leading scorer at 18.6 points per game, to two points in the second half. She was 5-of-24 from the field, 1-of-10 in the second half.
"They did a tremendous job on Shay," Trakh said. "They shadowed her, they got after her, they did a tremendous defensive job on Shay Murphy."
The Trojans held a 33-17 rebounding advantage in the first half, but missed 28 of their 39 shots and trailed 31-27 at the break. Southern Cal got within 40-39 with 12:08 left, but Danielle Orsillo hit a short jumper to spark a 6-0 spurt and the Trojans never got closer than four.
"We evaluated and adjusted very well," Turner Thorne said. "We held them to four offensive rebounds in the second half, which was the difference in the game."
The Sun Devils got 14 defensive rebounds in the second half, to slow down the Trojans' inside game.
"We really did come in and try to make a change," Westerberg said. "I think the entire team did a great job of team rebounding and that's what we needed and what we weren't getting in the first half."
Arizona State is 51-4 at home since the 2003-04 season and has won 33 of their last 34.