USC Keeps Seton Hall Off Balance, 70-59

Ebony Hoffman scored 20 points to lead USC to a 70-59 victory over Seton Hall in the first round of the Junkanoo Jam Grand Bahama tournament Friday at Freeport, Bahamas.

The Trojans, who led, 27-24, at halftime, took advantage of Seton Hall’s 15 turnovers in the second half to pull away. For the game, USC scored 26 points off 25 Pirate turnovers.

USC also got 18 points from Rometra Craig. With the victory USC (1-1) next plays No. 11-ranked Minnesota today at 5:50 p.m.

In other top-25 games at the Bahamas tournament:

No. 11 Minnesota 88, Texas A&M; 72 -- Kadidja Andersson scored 10 of her 18 points in the second half to lead the Gophers (4-0) to victory. Toccara Williams had 22 points for the Aggies (1-2).

No. 9 Kansas State 59, Arizona State 50 -- Laurie Koehn scored 18 points as the Wildcats (2-1) limited to the Sun Devils (2-1) to 28.6% shooting.

No. 7 Penn State 77, George Washington 51 -- Tanisha Wright scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half for the Nittany Lions (2-1). Ugo Oha scored 14 points for the Colonials (0-2).

In other top 25 games:

No. 2 Texas 97, Navy 46 -- Nina Norman scored 18 points for the Longhorns (4-0) in the opening-round victory at the Rainbow Wahine Classic at Honolulu. Navy (2-2) got 15 points from Courtney Davidson.

No. 5 Texas Tech 74, Michigan 61 -- Reserve Alesha Robertson scored 13 points for the Raiders (5-0) in the SMU Hoops for the Cure tournament at Dallas. Jennifer Smith had 30 points for the Wolverines (3-3).

No. 6 Stanford 67, Boston University 51 -- Nicole Powell had 17 points and 19 rebounds for the Cardinal (4-0), which took command with a 15-0 run in the opening minutes at Palo Alto.

Becky Bonner had 19 points for the Terriers (0-3).

No. 8 Purdue 87, Central Florida 52 -- Katie Gearlds had 16 points and the Boilermakers (3-1) controlled the game from the outset in their victory at the Golden Knights Classic at Orlando, Fla. Central Florida is 0-2.

No. 10 Georgia 77, Santa Clara 65 -- Kara Braxton had 21 points to lead the Bulldogs (3-0) at Santa Clara. Michelle Cozad scored 15 of her 22 points in the first half for the Broncos (1-2).

No. 16 UC Santa Barbara 70, Illinois 59 -- Lindsay Taylor scored 20 points as the Gauchos rallied in the second half for the victory at Goleta, Calif.

The Gauchos improved to 4-1 overall, extending the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 27 games. In the second half, Illinois (2-1) led, 46-38, at the 15:07 mark. The Gauchos then went on a 19-4 run over 10 minutes, with Taylor scoring seven consecutive points.

No. 20 Colorado 95, Idaho State 65 -- Tera Bjorklund had 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Buffaloes (4-1) in an opening-round victory of the Coors Classic at Boulder, Colo. Idaho State is 2-1.

Virginia 70, No. 21 Arizona 65 -- LaTonya Blue scored 16 points as the Cavaliers (2-1) were upset winners in the first round of the Rainbow Wahine Classic at Honolulu. Shawntinice Polk led the Wildcats (1-2) with 14 points.

No. 22 Utah 84, Western Kentucky 55 -- Kim Smith and Julie Wood each scored 19 points to lead the Utes (2-1) in a tournament at Fresno. Tiffany Porter-Talbert led Western Kentucky (1-2) with 16 points.

No. 24 Oregon 54, Kansas 51 -- The Ducks (4-0) beat the Jayhawks (0-2) at the Eugene, Ore.