Feb. 24, 2007

NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. -- The No. 3 USC women's water polo team opened the UC Irvine Invitational with a strong win over No. 15 Long Beach State, tacking up a 14-5 win over the 49ers to move along in the tourney. The Women of Troy will next face either LMU or UC Davis at 2 p.m. at Corona del Mar High School for a shot at moving into Sunday's semifinals, to be held at UC Irvine.

Against Long Beach State, USC made sure to put some early distance between itself and the 49ers. The Trojans pushed out to a 7-2 lead by halftime, and had 10 different players score by the final buzzer. Brittany Hayes led all players with three goals -- her seven multiple-goal game of the year -- while teammates Kami Craig and Alexandra Kiss each pumped in a pair for the Trojans.

USC powered out to a 12-9 advantage as the teams entered the final period, where the teams matched each other goal-for-goal on the way to the 14-5 final. USC spread around its scoring attack throughout, getting single scores from seniors Erika Figge, Jana Wenger and Patty Cardenas, as well as juniors Veronika Bartunkova and Carolyn Conway. Two first-year players, Forel Davies and Mary Cousineau also got to the back of the cage for the Trojans, with Cousineau registering her first career goal at Troy, and Davies tallying her second as a Trojan.

SCORING:
LBSU -- Megan Winchell 2, Cecillia Canetti 2, Keala O'Sullivan.
USC -- Brittany Hayes 3, Kami Craig 2, Alexandra Kiss 2, Erika Figge, Forel Davies, Jana Wenger, Patty Cardenas, Veronika Bartunkova, Carolyn Conway, Mary Cousineau.

SAVES: Kim Hayes (LBSU) 3, Whitney Morgan (USC) 4.