California outlasts South Florida in overtime to earn Sweet 16 berth
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Layshia Clarendon netted 27 points to push the second-seeded California Golden Bears to an 82-78 overtime win over the 10th- seeded South Florida Bulls in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Women's Tournament.
Reshanda Gray chimed in with 14 points for California (30-2), which will go on to play the winner of Tuesday's LSU and Penn State bout in the Sweet 16. The Golden Bears also set a new program record for victories with the decision.
South Florida (22-11), which was coming off of its first-ever NCAA Tournament win, was paced by Andrea Smith's 24 points. Inga Orekhova had 22 points while Andrell Smith contributed 12 despite a 3-of-16 showing from the floor.
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The Golden Bears were in control at halftime as they took a 37-32 lead into the break. Clarendon scored 17 points in the opening half as Cal hit on 43.8 percent of its field goal tries including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. The Bulls hung around by draining 5-of-12 from beyond the arc.
Cal held a 10-point lead in the second half before USF produced a 13-3 run to tie it up at 70 just before the conclusion of regulation. Orekhova made three free-throw attempts in the closing seconds to force overtime.
The Golden Bears converted 8-of-10 at the charity stripe in the extra session to deny the Bulls their second-ever NCAA Tournament win.
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The closely contested tilt was reflected in the rebounding battle as both sides finished with 47 boards. Cal managed to hang on for the win despite draining only 21-of-39 at the free-throw line in the contest.