Eshaya Murphy scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, helping USC down Oregon 69-64 Thursday at McArthur Court.
The Trojans (17-9 overall, 11-6 Pacific-10 Conference) overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to earn their third straight win.
Murphy was held to two points heading into halftime, but erupted in the second half hitting 8 of 13 from the field.
“She was held to two in the first half and we were looking for more from her in the second. We needed her to step up,” USC coach Mark Trakh said. “We’ve been waiting for that. She’s had a great year and has improved tremendously in the past couple of games.”
Murphy notched a game-high five steals and saved her biggest for the 1:08 mark in the second half. Murphy stole the ball cleanly from Oregon’s (14-13, 5-12) Kaela Chapedelaine and returned the ball to the other end for an easy two.
With the score 67-64, Oregon’s offense went quietly. Trojan guard Camille LeNoir sank a pair of foul shots to ice the game.
Oregon’s Brandi Davis felt Murphy’s performance was nothing shocking.
“She’s a good player,” Davis said. “That’s what good players do, they take over.”
Davis was explosive in the first half, converting 4 of 7 field goals en route to 10 points. Teammate Chelsea Wagner was identical from the field scoring 12 points heading into the break. The two seniors scored the Ducks final 10 points of the first half.
With his team trailing 37-26 at halftime, Trakh made adjustments to his defense, which held Davis and Wagner to a combined seven second-half points.
“We had to contain them,” Trakh said, referring to Wagner and Davis. “They were killing us just like they did here last year. We stepped it up on defense and that was it.”
Davis felt the tempo of the game weighed heavily on her shooting in the final period.
“They got more aggressive on defense in the second half,” Davis said. “I tried to get other people the ball and let them catch fire. – The flow of the game was slow, and I went back on my heels. I could have done a lot better tonight.”
Wagner ended with 17 points to lead the team in scoring. She and Kristen Forristall each pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Forristall played a season-high 25 minutes and hit her first three-pointer of the year.
Oregon’s Jessie Shetters filled in for injured Gabrielle Richards in the post and scored eight points, tying a personal-best. The junior forward from Portland grabbed six rebounds while clocking 26 minutes on the floor.
“I couldn’t be more proud of her,” Davis said, referring to Shetters. “She went out and played a great game and did everything we asked of her.”
Also scoring in double figures for the Trojans was Camille LeNoir, who finished 5 of 12 from the field and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line for a total of 14 points. Meghan Gnekow added nine points in 28 minutes of play.
The loss, in front of 3,179, marked the Ducks’ fourth straight. They’ve dropped six of their last seven games.
Seniors, such as Wagner, who have one regular-season game left to play for the Ducks, took the loss to heart.
“I was really excited for these last two games at Mac Court, and this is difficult for me,” Wagner said. “But I’ve still got one more.”
The Ducks wrap up the regular season Saturday against UCLA. The Bruins came away with an 82-63 win in their meeting with Oregon on Dec. 20. Oregon rallied from double-digit deficits throughout the game but stalled on offense late in the second half.
Going into UCLA’s 72-59 win over Oregon State Thursday, the Bruins led the conference in assists per game (18.13). Nikki Blue has played an integral part in the offense this season. Blue was tops in the Pac-10 heading into this week with 82 assists, 17 more than Oregon State’s Mandy Close, who ranks second.
On defense, Lisa Willis led the Bruins with 87 steals at the end of last week. Jene Morris of Cal was 22 steals behind her in the conference standings with 55.
Willis notched a half-dozen steals against the Ducks on Dec. 20, which helped the Bruins to 32 points off of turnovers.
Carolyn Ganes came off the bench to lead Oregon in scoring against UCLA. She added six rebounds to her scoring total in 19 minutes. Her efforts earned her all-conference honors for the week.
Oregon coach Bev Smith said turnovers were key in both Oregon’s loss Dec. 20 and Thursday’s defeat.
“We turned the ball over in some key moments, and they got some big offensive boards in the second half,” Smith said. “We definitely need to protect the ball Saturday.”
Tipoff Saturday at McArthur Court is at 3 p.m. Coverage can be found on 1320 AM.

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