Dec. 9, 1996

The Week in Review/Preview

Sport               Record  Conf. Record    Nat'l Rank       Last Week
Men's Basketball    3-1         0-0          ---             def. Loyola Marymount, 97-78
                                                             lost to North Carolina, 99-84
                                                             def. UNC Charlotte, 65-61
Women's Basketball  2-1         0-0          ---             def. Western Illinois, 80-42
                                                             lost to Louisiana Tech, 66-47
Men's Golf          ---         ---          5th (Golfweek)  none
Women's Golf        ---         ---         29th (Rolex)     none
Men's Swimm/Dive    2-0         2-0          6th (Speedo)    competed at U.S. Open, Speedo Cup
Women's Swim/Dive   3-0         2-0          4th (Speedo)    competed at U.S. Open, Speedo Cup
Women's Volleyball  21-8       12-6 (t3rd)  13th (AVCA)      def. SE Missouri State, 3-0
                                                             def. South Florida, 3-0
Men's Water Polo    23-3        7-1 (1st)    1st (coaches)   second at NCAA Championship
Season                 Complete Rec    Conf. Finish    Nat'l Finish    Notes
Women's Cross Country    ---                  6th         ---          Emebet Shiferaw an All-American
Football                  6-6           3-5 (t5th)        ---          def. Notre Dame, 27-20 (OT)
Women's Soccer           15-5           4-3 (t4th)        ---          Isabelle Harvey Pac-10 scoring champ
This Week
Friday:   Women's Basketball, at UC Irvine, vs. Colorado State, 5 p.m.
          Women's Volleyball, NCAA Tournament, at Stanford, vs. Stanford, 8 p.m.
Saturday: Women's Basketball, at UC Irvine, vs. Utah, 5 p.m.
          Women's Volleyball, NCAA Tournament, at Stanford, TBA  (if defeats Stanford)
Sunday:   Men's Basketball, at UC Irvine, 2 p.m.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Men's Basketball

The Trojans overcame a 20-point first-half deficit to defeat UNC Charlotte, 65-61, on Saturday in the third-place game of the Harris Teeter Pepsi Challenge in Charlotte, N.C. Senior guard Stais Boseman scored 21 points to lead the Trojans. Freshman guard Danny Walker hit a 3-pointer to break a 56-56 tie with 2:02 left.

Boseman, who was named to the All-Tournament team, scored a career-high 26 points against the No. 14 Tar Heels in the first game on Friday. Senior forward Jaha Wilson added a career-high 24 points off the bench. The game was close at halftime, as North Carolina led just 45-41, but the Tar Heels got hot in the second half.

Last Monday, the Trojans beat Loyola Marymount, 97-78, at the Sports Arena. Senior forward Rodrick Rhodes scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds.

Women's Basketball

USC placed second at the Louisiana Tech Tournament, losing to the host Lady Techsters, ranked No. 3, in Saturday's final, 66-47. In the opening game, USC beat Western Illinois, 80-42, on Friday. Tina Thompson was named to the All-Tournament team after scoring 22 points against the Westerwinds and 25 against the Lady Techsters. Freshman forward Tiffany Washington had 12 points and 11 rebounds and sophomore center Adrain Williams had 11 points against Western Illinois.

Women's Soccer

USC Coach Jim Millinder was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year last week. Freshman forward Isabelle Harvey was named first team All-Pac-10 and sophomore midfielders Courtney Barham and Carol Hatcher were named to the second team.

Men's and Women's Swimming

Senior Kristine Quance won three races at the U.S. Open Swimming Championships in San Antonio, TX, last weekend. She also won the 400 IM, 200 breast (within .1 of a second of an American record) and the 200 IM (in a meet record time) and placed second in the 100 breast.

For the men, the Trojans had a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 back, with junior Lenny Krayzelburg in first, assistant coach Brad Bridgewater in second and senior Brad Francis in third. Sophomore Bela Szabados won the 200 and 400 free, Krayzelburg also won the 100 back and senior Jeff Julian took the 200 fly.

Women's Volleyball

USC earned a trip to the Sweet 16 with easy victories over Southeast Missouri State, 15-2, 15-5, 15-1, on Wednesday at the Lyon Center and South Florida, 15-8, 15-5, 15-6, on Saturday in Tampa, Fla. The Trojans now meet Stanford in the regional semifinals on Friday, the seventh time in the last 9 years that the two schools have met in the NCAAs.

Senior outside hitter Vesna Dragicevic had 13 kills and a hitting percentage of .407 in the win over the Otahkians, and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Kessy had 10 kills. Sophomore setter Janice Mounts had 27 assists and 10 digs. USC hit .387 and held the Otahkians to a 1996 USC opponent-low minus-.030 hitting percentage.

In the second-round win, sophomore middle blocker Jasmina Marinkovic had a match-high 18 kills, senior middle blocker Kilee Hughes had 11 kills, Dragicevic had 10 kills and Mounts had 45 assists and 13 digs. USC outhit South Florida, .295-.083.

"I felt very good about the way the team played," USC Coach Lisa Love said. "We knew it would take great passing and really effective setting to win this match, and we were successful. We know Stanford like the back of our hand. The road to the championship always seems to go through Stanford for us. We're excited about this match."

Men's Water Polo

The Trojans lost in the national championship game to No. 3 UCLA, 8-7, on Sunday at UC San Diego's Canyonview Pool. The Bruins jumped out to a 6-3 lead after the first quarter, and held on for the rest of the game. Senior 2-meter man Hrvoje Cizmic scored 3 goals for the Trojans.

In the national semifinal, the Trojans hammered Massachusetts, 21-6, on Friday. Junior driver Simun Cimerman scored 5 points and senior driver Marko Zagar and junior driver Mateo Juric each had 4.

Athletes of the Week

Stais Boseman, Men's Basketball: Boseman, a senior guard, was named to the All-Tournament team at the Harris Teeter Pepsi Challenge after scoring a career-high 26 points against No. 14 North Carolina and 21 against UNC Charlotte. He had 4 steals in each game.

Janice Mounts, Women's Volleyball: Mounts, a sophomore setter, played a key role in USC's advancement through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Her setting (27 and 45 assists against Southeast Missouri State and South Florida, respectively) helped USC to excellent hitting percentages in the matches. She also had a total of 23 digs in the 2 matches.

Kristine Quance, Women's Swimming: Quance, a senior, won 3 races at the U.S. Open Swimming Championships last weekend. She finished .1 of a second away from the American record in the 200 breast and set a meet record in the 200 IM.

Tina Thompson, Women's Basketball: Thompson, a senior forward, was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week after scoring 47 points in two games at the Louisiana Tech Tournament last weekend. She also earned All-Tournament honors.