No. 12 California 74, TCU 55

11/23/2007 8:38 PM

By DAVID JIMENEZ
Associated Press Writer

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -Ashley Walker scored 19 points and fueled a big first-half run that helped No. 12 California beat TCU 74-55 on Friday night.

Walker scored the first nine points in a 20-0 spurt that gave California (4-0) a 17-point lead with less than six minutes left in the first half.

TCU (2-3), which has lost two straight, never got closer than 11 points after that. The Lady Frogs had won 22 of their last 23 home games.

Adrienne Ross scored 14 points for the Lady Frogs, including the team's first 10 points after halftime.

California's Lauren Greif scored 16 points, and Rama N'diaye added 14 points and career-high 17 rebounds.

Helena Sverrisdottir had a three-point play to put TCU ahead 10-7 with 13:44 left in the first half. But California, which had given up a total of 93 points in its last two games, tightened up defensively and found Walker for several easy baskets.

Walker connected on a three-point play to tie the game and then scored the next six points. California completed its game-changing run on Greif's layup that put the Lady Bears ahead 27-10 with 5:51 remaining.

TCU missed 13 straight shots and turned the ball over six times over a span of nearly nine minutes. Many of the shots the Lady Frogs took in the stretch were desperation attempts as the shot clock was about to expire.

Lorie Butler-Rayford hit consecutive 3-pointers to end TCU's dry spell.

California led 35-20 at halftime and the lead ballooned to as much as 27 in the second half.

Greif scored the first nine Golden Bears points after halftime on two 3-pointers and a three-point play.

TCU got within 44-32 on Jenna Lohse's layup with 15:56 left, but California soon put the game out of reach with a 17-4 surge.

Walker scored six points in the second-half run, which was capped by a pair of free throws by Alexis Gray-Lawson that put California ahead 61-36 with 11:23 remaining.