Oregon State Comes Up Short at USC, 59-51

The Beavers head home to face No. 13 ranked Arizona State on Thursday.

Freshman forward Judie Lomax buried 8-of-9 field goals to match her career-high with 18 points against USC on Sunday. Photo: OSU Athletics

LOS ANGELES - Oregon State freshman forward Judie Lomax matched her career-high with 18 points, but the Beavers dropped a 59-51 decision at University of Southern California in Sunday’s Pac-10 Conference women’s basketball action.

USC (9-7 overall; 3-3 Pac-10) led by as many as 10 points (37-27) in the early going of the second half, but Oregon State (6-7 overall; 1-3 Pac-10) fought its way back into the game.

The Beavers narrowed the margin to two points on several occasions – the last coming on a pair of Casey Nash free throws to make the score 50-48 with 5:29 remaining.

Unfortunately for Oregon State, Nash went to the bench after picking up her fifth foul with 4:26 left and the Women of Troy went on a 7-0 run to put the game out of reach.

USC dominated the glass in the game, holding a 41-23 rebounding advantage, including a 21-8 edge on the offensive boards.

Both teams shot 39.6-percent, but USC had five more field goal opportunities and shot nine more free throws than OSU.

Lomax buried 8-of-9 field goal attempts en route to her game-high 18 points and shared OSU’s rebounding honors with junior guard Ashley Allen who finished with five boards and nine points.

Nash was held to a season-low eight points, knocking down 6-of-6 shots from the free throw line but just 1-of-5 field goals in only 23 minutes.

Four Women of Troy reached double figures in scoring with point guard Jamie Hagiya’s 14 points leading the way.

The game was close from the start, but the momentum swung towards USC with just over five minutes left in the opening half as Nash picked up her third personal foul and then OSU head coach LaVonda Wagner was hit with a technical foul.

The Women of Troy scored six points in a nine-second span to take a 23-19 lead.

With Nash on the bench, USC closed the half on a 13-5 run and went into the locker room with a 30-24 advantage.

The Beavers head home to face No. 13 ranked Arizona State University on Thursday.

Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM in Gill Coliseum.

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