BERKELEY, Calif. — Devanei Hampton had 20 points and 15 rebounds, including the tiebreaking basket in overtime, and No. 10 California survived a poor shooting performance to hold off USC 60-55 on Saturday.
The Golden Bears managed to win their 14th straight home game despite shooting just 31 percent in the game in one of their worst offensive performances of the season.
But with their usual strong defensive effort and a solid performance from Hampton, Cal was able to beat the Trojans for the sixth straight time and complete its first ever four-game regular-season sweep against USC and UCLA.
This one wasn’t easy. Hampton’s jumper gave Cal a 53-51 lead with 1:27 remaining in overtime. Nadia Parker missed at the other end for USC and after the Trojans got a stop Camille LeNoir misfired on a 3-pointer. Natasha Vital hit two free throws with 33.2 seconds to go to make it 57-53. Cal added three more free throws to seal the win.
Hampton, who was 4-for-18 shooting with just 12 points the previous two games, got off to another rough start when she traveled the first two times she touched the ball. She missed four of her first five shots before finally finding the form that helped her win Pac-10 Player of the Year last season.
She dominated inside and wouldn’t let Cal become an upset victim. Alexis Gray-Lawson and Ashley Walker added 11 points apiece for the Bears.
LeNoir led USC with 21 points on 9-for-25 shooting and Parker added 12. The Trojans came into the Bay Area this weekend on a three-game winning streak but were swept by No. 7 Stanford and Cal. USC shot just 36 percent for the game against the Pac-10’s top defense.
Other games
Stanford 75, UCLA 62: At Stanford, Calif., Candice Wiggins scored 31 points to boost her school-record total to 2,253 and the Cardinal avenged a loss last month in the teams’ Pac-10 opener. Stanford had its 10-game winning streak in the series snapped with that 69-56 defeat on Jan. 4.
Arizona State 52, Oregon 51: At Tempe, Ariz., Briann January scored 14 points, Lauren Lacey added 13 and Sybil Dosty blocked a last-second shot to lead the Sun Devils over the Ducks, their fourth straight victory. Oregon had the ball for the final 17 seconds but Tamika Nurse’s drive was blocked by Dosty. The Ducks’ Ellie Manou grabbed the rebound but could not get a shot off before the buzzer.
Arizona 71, Oregon St. 63: At Tucson, Ariz., Ashley Whisonant scored 12 of her 17 points in the second half as the Wildcats beat the Beavers, giving them their first back-to-back Pac-10 victories in three years.
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