Jan. 5, 1998

USC Athletics the Week in Review / Preview

LAST WEEK
Sport                          Record   Conf.       Nat'l Rank              Last Week 
Men's Basketball                4-7      0-1                            lost to Tennessee, 74-70, lost to Arizona State, 84-81     
Women's Basketball              6-5      1-1                            def. Arizona State, 68-55, lost to Arizona, 81-69 
Men's Golf                                          12th (Golfweek)         none
Women's Golf                                        20th (Rolex)            none
Men's Swimming and Diving       2-0      2-0        t2nd (Speedo)           none 
Women's Swimming and Diving     2-0      2-0        5th  (Speedo)           none 

Season Complete         Record  Conf. Finish    National Finish     Notes 
Women's Cross Country               6th          30th (Coaches)     Penc 11th at District VIII Meet 
Football                 6-5        4-4 (t5th)                      Kelly, Claiborne All-Pac-10 1st team 
Women's Volleyball      23-6     13-5(t2nd)      9th (AVCA)         Marinkovic All-American 1st team 
Women's Soccer          16-3-1      7-2 (2nd)    23rd (Soccer Buzz) Clark All-American 3rd team 
Men's Water Polo        21-7        5-3 (1st)    2nd                Cimerman All-American 1st team 

This Week

USC's losing streak reached six after close losses to Tennessee (74-70 at the Sports Arena) and Arizona State (84-81 on the road, to open Pac-10 play).

Against the Sun Devils, USC kept battling back from large deficits but couldn't quite overcome the last one.

Senior guards Gary Johnson and Behzad Souferian hit three-pointers in the final 40 seconds, but ASU hit nine of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to hold off the Trojans.

Johnson and senior forward Anthony White led the Trojans with 12 points each.

Tennessee used an 11-0 run in the second half to take a 61-49 lead with 9:41 to play and also held off a Trojan comeback in the end.

Junior forward Adam Spanich led the Trojans with 15 points.

USC earned a split in its first weekend of the Pac-10 season, beating Arizona State, 68-55, on Friday before falling in a tough battle against No. 10 Arizona, 81-69, on Sunday.

Both games were at the Lyon Center.

Against the Sun Devils, junior guard Kristin Clark had a team-high 14 points and three players reached double-figures in rebounds.

Freshman forward Tashara Carter added 12 points and joined junior center Adrain Williams and sophomore forward Tiffany Washington with 10 rebounds apiece.

Clark led USC again against Arizona with 22 points, but the Wildcats used a 20-4 run in the first half to take control of the game at 36-24 with 3:05 to go.

Clark also had a career-high eight rebounds to go with five assists and four steals and freshman forward Whitney Houser scored 14 points off the bench.

Clark, a junior guard, had a total of 36 points in two games against the Arizona schools and had a career-high eight rebounds against the Wildcats.