MASHIA STARTS IN USC ROMP : USC 71, BAYLOR 53.

Byline: Scott Wolf Staff Writer

USC's search for a point guard took an interesting turn Sunday, when senior Erica Mashia made her first start since 1996.

It's a minor miracle she's playing at all. Mashia battled two hip injuries and major knee surgery, and often during the previous three years, her career was believed to be over.

She's still not close to being the player who was a Pacific-10 All-Freshman team selection in 1996, but Mashia played 17 solid minutes and scored four points in USC's 71-53 victory over Baylor before 563 at the Sports Arena.

``Erica wants to try it. It's her natural position,'' USC coach Chris Gobrecht said. ``She pushes the ball hard. We're still talking three years she hasn't played.''

One reason that Mashia got the start is because Gobrecht has rotated Ayeshia Smith, Lauren Smith-Hams and Camille Norwood at the position. All three played against Baylor, but no one has claimed the starting position, and it's likely to stay that way.

``Could you tell? You don't like my point guard by committee?'' Gobrecht joked. ``Even if Erica plays point guard, she doesn't have a lot of minutes in her.''

Mashia struggled at times, and had seven turnovers, but she's doing much better than expected considering her injuries.

``I'm probably 75-80 percent (recovered) but I still think I can get a lot back,'' Mashia said. ``I played all right. In the first half, I was tentative.''

The Trojans (5-2), who are off to their best start in Gobrecht's three years, used an 18-4 first-half run to take a 36-24 lead. They outscored the Lady Bears 19-9 to start the second half and led 58-35 with 12:41 left.

Baylor (3-4) cut the lead to 13 points (61-48) with 3:36 remaining but got no closer.

``We've still got a ways to go,'' Gobrecht said. ``When we all work hard we're pretty good. Our problem is we don't have an in-between. We were flat for six to eight minutes. What we can't do like other teams can is mess around.''

As usual, USC was led by forward Danielle Golay, who had a season-high 19 points. Forward Tashara Carter and guard Tiffany Elmore each had a season-high 14 points while reserve forward Carmen Krause had a career-high 11.

``I think we're getting better,'' Golay said. ``We're not the 7-20 team like last year. We're looking at getting rid of the lull. It comes every game but we're starting to narrow it down.''

USC is about to hit a rough part of its schedule, with road games at UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday, at Notre Dame on Dec. 27 and Rutgers on Dec. 30.

``Those are all big-time games for us,'' Golay said.

Notes: Gobrecht said she is still waiting for 6-foot-4 freshman center Portia Mitchell to pass a conditioning test before allowing her to join the team. ``This team needs her,'' Gobrecht said. ``But there are times she has to make running or else she can't be out at practice.'' Gobrecht is not sure if she will consider redshirting Mitchell.

All three of USC's of fall signings - Ebony Hoffman of Narbonne High, Ryane Alexander of Copperas Cove, Texas, and Aisha Hollans of Berkeley - attended the game, because their high school teams are playing in the Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara.