Bears avoid upset by Trojans

<p>BERKELEY -- Seventh-ranked California hasn't had it easy while building its school record-tying 10-game winning streak. Coach Joanne Boyle prefers it that way.</p><p>Devanei Hampton scored on a layup with 2.2 seconds left and the Golden Bears remained unbeaten in the Pac-10 with a 73-71 win over Southern California on Saturday, two days after holding off an upset bid by UCLA.</p><p>"In December when we had (losses) we really didn't handle adversity well, we kind of fell apart," Boyle said. "(Now) we're finding a way and we're staying together. That's kind of the difference."</p><p>Cal, which is off to its best conference start in school history, had to find a way against a pesky USC team that was coming off its most lopsided loss of the season. The Trojans (11-9, 5-4), who lost to Stanford by 28 points on Thursday, overcame double-digit deficits in the second half to push the Bears to the limit.</p><p>But Hampton, the Pac-10 Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2006-07, erased any hopes USC had of upsetting the first-place Bears when she put back a miss by teammate Ashley Walker to stave off USC.</p><p>"I didn't even see anybody in front of me," said Hampton, who had a season-high 17 points and 11 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double. "I just got the rebound. Seventy percent of rebounds come off the weakside so I knew I had to go get the ball."</p><p>Walker had 21 points and 11 rebounds and intercepted a final desperation shot by the Trojans to seal the game for the Bears (18-2, 9-0), who have four wins of five points or fewer during their current streak.</p><p>USC's Briana Gilbreath stole a pass from Walker and scored on a fastbreak to tie the game at 71-71 with 18 seconds remaining. The Bears tried to work the ball down to Walker on their ensuing possession but the Pac-10's leading scorer missed a short shot. Hampton rebounded the miss then leaned in for a short layup to help the Bears avoid the upset.</p><p>The Bears led by 13 early in the second half but the Trojans chipped away and crept back in. After Alexis Gray-Lawson's pull-up jumper gave Cal a 69-64 lead with 1:49 remaining, Camille LeNoir sank a 3-pointer to pull the Trojans within two.</p><p>Walker's driving layup made it 71-67 but Aarika Hughes scored for USC and Gilbreath followed with her steal of Walker's pass and then scored to tie the game, setting up Hampton's game-winning shot.</p><p>Cal, which hasn't lost since falling to then-No. 5 Oklahoma, 86-75, on Dec. 13, moved 1½ games ahead of Stanford atop the Pac-10 standings. The Cardinal host UCLA today.</p>