EX-MONTCLAIR PREP STAR EARNING HER WINGS MURPHY ASSERTING HERSELF AS USC'S STAR.Byline: Ramona Shelburne Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. Staff Writer It happened somewhere on a flight over the Midwest last March. The USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. team had just lost a heartbreaker heart·break·er n. 1. One that causes sorrow, grief, or disappointment: "one young and chaste, the other a dissolute heartbreaker of 48; one prim, the other passionate" to Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament NCAA Tournament can mean: Men's Sports
abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Game, which it lost. Eshaya Murphy didn't know how well the Spartans would do in the next couple of weeks as she rode that flight home from Minnesota. But the lesson was no less meaningful. ``It just made me realize that we were good enough to play with anyone in the country,'' she said. ``That I could play with anyone. But also how hard I had to work to play at that level.'' At Montclair Prep of Panorama City, Murphy had few peers. No one could stay with her. Athletically, she was dominant. She was the unquestioned team leader, leading Montclair Prep into a Southern Section Div. IV-AA title in 2003. She scored 2,678 points and 1,573 rebounds in her prep career. She averaged 32.1 points a game as a junior. But in her first two years at USC, Murphy had been more of a role player, an occasional star. `` When I first got here, I was more content to play a role and learn from the older players,'' she said. ``I'd never had that before. It was kind of nice.'' On that flight home though, with more of her college career behind her than in front of her, Murphy realized it was time to step out that supporting role. She shed 15-18 pounds over the summer and returned to campus with a chiseled chis·eled or chis·elled adj. Made or shaped with or as if with a chisel: a finely chiseled nose. Adj. 1. physique. She worked tirelessly on her game. She fought through a painful rehabilitation from an ankle injury faster than expected. USC won without any true stars last year. Not one Trojan averaged in double-figures last year. But that formula generally is only good for short-term success. When the game is on the line, a team needs a go-to player. Murphy has been that this year. She's scored in double figures in 11 straight games. Last week, she was the Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week after averaging 18.5 points and nine rebounds in road victories over then-No. 25 Washington and Washington State. This afternoon, she leads the Trojans into a showdown with UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX at 1 p.m. at the Sports Arena. USC (12-5, 6-2) is on a four-game winning streak. Murphy has averaged 20 points a game during the streak. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: USC's Eshaya Murphy, a former Montclair Prep of Panorama City star, has scored in double figures in 11 straight games. Jeff Gross/Getty Images Box: UCLA at USC -Ramona Shelburne |
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