Hot-shooting USC women beat Colorado 69-54 in Pac-12 tourney
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Alissa Pili scored 22 points and seventh-seeded Southern California pulled away late in the third quarter to beat No. 10 seed Colorado 69-54 on Thursday night in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference tournament.
USC (17-13) will face second-seeded UCLA (25-4) in a Friday quarterfinal. The teams split the season series, each winning at home.
Endyia Rogers added 15 points and Kayla Overbeck had 10 for the Trojans, who shot 70% (16 of 23) from the floor in the fourth quarter and finished 30-of-49 overall (61%).
Peanut Tuitele scored 18 points to lead Colorado (16-14), which has lost five of its last six games including consecutive double-digit losses to the Trojans. Mya Hollingshed added 13 points.
The Buffaloes led 44-43 with 3:06 remaining in the third quarter before USC finished the game on a 26-10 run. Alyson Miura sparked the rally with back-to-back 3-pointers, scoring all nine of her points on 3s during the stretch.
Colorado pulled to 56-53, but Miura answered with her last 3-pointer as the Trojans closed on a 13-1 run.
