USC Turns It Around Against Arizona

USC’s women’s basketball team brought its six-game losing streak to an emphatic halt Thursday night with an 81-67 victory over No. 19-ranked and Pacific 10-leading Arizona before 555 at the Sports Arena.

USC had lost by 12 points to UCLA on Sunday, while Arizona had won seven in a row and 13 of 14. But a hustling, ball-hawking defense, led by freshman point guard Jessica Cheeks, shut down Arizona in the last two minutes of the first half and for the first three minutes of the second as USC took a 52-35 lead. . The Trojans led by as many as 20 points.

“That’s the way we’re supposed to play,” USC Coach Chris Gobrecht said. “Maybe this team just needed to hit rock bottom Sunday before they could get themselves turned around. Cheeks really stepped up for us at the point. She didn’t play well at UCLA, but that was the first time she’d played it.”

The 5-foot-9 Cheeks, an excellent dribbler, is one of three USC players from Narbonne High. In 33 minutes, she had four steals, three assists and made seven of 12 shots for a game-high 18 points.

USC (6-8 overall, 1-3 in the Pac-10) shot 51.7% for the game. Arizona (14-3, 4-1) shot 40.7%.