Westerberg matches career best

Central Valley High graduate Emily Westerberg matched her career high with 26 points and No. 18 Arizona State pulled away in the final 8 minutes to beat Southern California 79-72 on Saturday in a Pac-10 Conference game at Tempe, Ariz.

The Sun Devils (18-5, 9-4) took sole possession of second place in the Pac-10 with the win. No. 15 Stanford has a two-game lead over Arizona State and a three-game advantage over USC.

Westerberg scored eight points in a 17-6 run that put the Sun Devils ahead 65-54, capped by a layup from Amy Denson, who finished with 16 points.

Eshaya Murphy hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to put USC ahead 35-31 at the break.

Murphy had 20 points and 12 rebounds for USC (14-8, 8-5), which placed four players in double figures. Meghan Gnekow and Camille Lenoir had 14 points apiece, and Chloe Kerr added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Westerberg matched the career best she set against Oregon on Jan. 22, 2005. She was 9 for 14 from the field, including 2 of 3 on 3-pointers.

The Sun Devils swept UCLA and USC at home after losing to both on the road earlier this season.

There were seven lead changes and six ties in the first 12 minutes of the second half. It was tied at 48 with 8:09 to go, then Arizona State went on its decisive run.

(4) Connecticut 58, West Virginia 50: At Storrs, Conn., Charde Houston had 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks to lead the Huskies (21-2, 10-0 Big East) – who won their ninth straight game despite shooting a season-low 32 percent – past the Mountaineers (12-8, 4-5).

(9) Rutgers 67, (13) DePaul 57: At Piscataway, N.J., Cappie Pondexter scored 18 of her 27 points in the second half and the Scarlet Knights (17-3, 9-0 Big East) held off the Blue Demons (18-5, 5-5).

(10) Baylor 81, Oklahoma State 51: At Stillwater, Okla., Sophia Young had 27 points and 12 rebounds and tied the Big 12 Conference record for career double-doubles with her 54th as the Lady Bears (16-4, 6-3) routed the Cowgirls (6-15, 0-10).

(11) Oklahoma 88, Missouri 73: At Columbia, Mo., Courtney Paris recorded her 15th straight double-double with 27 points and 16 rebounds, and the Sooners (19-4, 9-0 Big 12) snapped the Tigers’ (16-5, 6-3) 11-game home winning streak.

(15) Stanford 87, Oregon State 54: At Stanford, Calif., Candice Wiggins scored 24 points and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer earned her 650th career victory as the Cardinal (16-5, 11-2 Pac-10) defeated the Beavers (10-10, 4-8).

Utah 75, (16) New Mexico State 62: At Salt Lake City, Shona Thorburn scored 28 points and Kim Smith had 14 points and 16 rebounds – reaching 2,000 points – to lead the Utes (15-5, 6-3 Mountain West) to the win over the Lobos (16-6, 6-3).

(19) BYU 67, Air Force 44: At Air Force Academy, Colo., Ambrosia Anderson and Dani Kubik each scored 13 points to help the Cougars (19-1, 9-0) stay undefeated in the Mountain West Conference with a win over the Falcons (11-9, 2-7).