No. 10 California 57, Southern Cal 52

1/5/2008 12:16 AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) -Devanei Hampton kept California out of the kind of trouble its archrival Stanford found itself in.

While the No. 2 Cardinal fell to UCLA across town, Hampton's season highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds helped the No. 10 Bears overcome a poor shooting night and beat Southern California squad, 57-52.

Ashley Walker helped, too, finishing with 12 points on 6-for-12 shooting and 13 rebounds.

``Those two kids are tough,'' USC coach Mark Trakh said. ``They're a load. They rebound and they're strong.''

USC post player Morghan Medlock, who had 13 points, said she had sore shoulders after banging into Hampton and Walker all night.

The Bears (12-2, 3-0 Pac-10) shot 50 percent from the free-throw line, as well as 40 from the floor and 28 on 3-pointers - their lowest percentages in a win this season.

They also committed 25 turnovers, but Hampton bailed them out. In just her fifth game since knee surgery Nov. 9, Hampton made 8 of 14 from the field, as well as some key plays in the final minutes.

She assisted on Walker's lone second-half basket to put Cal up 48-44 with 5 minutes, 14 seconds to play. With 1:26 remaining and USC (8-6, 1-2) down 54-50, Hampton grabbed an offensive rebound and fed it to Lauren Greif, who was fouled and made one free throw.

``I ripped the team,'' Cal coach Joanne Boyle said. ``It feels good to get out of here with a win, but this is a game we had better learn from, and quick.''

The Trojans yet had a chance to tie the score in the final seconds after Greif turned over the ball under USC's basket with 22.5 seconds left.

But two missed shots later, Alexis Gray-Lawson got a rebound, and Greif made a layup with 1 second to play.