SWEET WIN FOR USC TROJANS FINALLY OVERTAKE BRUINS IN SECOND HALF USC 73, UCLA 69.

Byline: Anel Laj Staff Writer

Ear to ear.

That's how wide the USC players and coaches wore their smiles on Saturday afternoon.

And, really, who could blame them?

The Trojans came from behind to upset the No. 20-ranked Bruins 73-69 before a season-high 2,145 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena?

After trailing by as many as 11 points, the Trojans rallied in the second half, taking the lead for good, 69-67, on a jump shot by Tiffany Elmore with 51 seconds remaining.

Free throws by Erica Mashia and Elmore then sealed the victory.

``I feel great because I talked to my friends on the football team and my boys on the basketball team, and they said `It's your turn.''' said Tiffany Washington, who has been sidelined for most of her four years with hip and knee injuries.

The Trojans, who shot 36 percent and had 15 turnovers in the first half, settled down in after intermission.

They had four players scoring in double figures - Elmore (a season-high 20 points), Danielle Golay (12 points and 7 rebounds), Tashara Carter (10 points) and Denise Woods (11 points). Camille Morwood, who averages just 1.6 points per game, had 8, a season high.

Contributing to UCLA's loss were a the absence of guard Michelle Greco and a game-high 31 turnovers.

``I think (Greco) is the best sixth-player in the Pac-10.'' said UCLA coach Kathy Olivier, whose team is 7-3 in the Pac-10 and 13-7 overall.

``She averages about 10 points a game and does a lot of things that don't show up in the stats.''

Even without Greco, the Bruins built a 38-31 halftime lead, shooting 56 percent from the floor. However, they were just 9 of 30 in the second half.

``I know that a lot of people want to beat us,'' said UCLA's Maylana Martin, who had 15 points, ``and it's hard because I wanted to go out with a sweep and a win against SC. I realized I'll never play USC again - and that's hard.''

Janae Hubbard (16 points and 14 rebounds) Erica Gomez (13 points)and Nicole Kaczmarski (17 points) also played well for UCLA.

``We wanted to beat this UCLA team," said USC coach Chris Gobrecht. ''This is the team that was riding the wave when we were going through so many struggles. It's an outstanding group of UCLA players and we just wanted to beat that team (of players), not just UCLA.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1) Danielle Golay and Denise Woods of USC battle Janae Hubbard of UCLA for the basketball Saturday afternoon at the Sports Arena.

(2) LaCresha Flannigan, left, of UCLA tries to wrestle the ball away from Erica Mashia of USC Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer