No. 5 California handles USC in Pac-12 quarters
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Gennifer Brandon tallied 17 points, 16 rebounds and four steals as the fifth-ranked California Golden Bears defeated Southern California, 78-59, in quarterfinal action of the Pac-12 Tournament.
Afure Jemerigbe and Brittany Boyd each scored 15 -- with Boyd also grabbing nine boards -- and Talia Caldwell donated 12 points and nine rebounds for California (28-2), which will take on UCLA in Saturday's semifinal.
The Trojans (11-20) gave up 11 unanswered points to start the contest and never recovered. Cassie Harberts had 24 points, while Christina Marinacci and Ariya Crook each scored 10 in defeat.
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The Golden Bears used a 10-0 surge to increase their edge to 25-6 just past the midway point in the first half and carried a 37-22 lead into the break.
USC was just 7-for-26 from the field in the initial 20 minutes and trailed by as many as 27 points before the final buzzer.