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California outlasts South Florida in overtime to earn Sweet 16 berth

Mar 26, 2013 - 5:06 AM Lubbock, TX (Sports Network) - Layshia Clarendon netted 27 points to push the second-seeded California Golden Bears to an 82-78 overtime win over the 10th- seeded South Florida Bulls in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Women's Tournament.

Reshanda Gray chimed in with 14 points for California (30-2), which will go on to play the winner of Tuesday's LSU and Penn State bout in the Sweet 16. The Golden Bears also set a new program record for victories with the decision.

South Florida (22-11), which was coming off of its first-ever NCAA Tournament win, was paced by Andrea Smith's 24 points. Inga Orekhova had 22 points while Andrell Smith contributed 12 despite a 3-of-16 showing from the floor.

The Golden Bears were in control at halftime as they took a 37-32 lead into the break. Clarendon scored 17 points in the opening half as Cal hit on 43.8 percent of its field goal tries including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. The Bulls hung around by draining 5-of-12 from beyond the arc.

Cal held a 10-point lead in the second half before USF produced a 13-3 run to tie it up at 70 just before the conclusion of regulation. Orekhova made three free-throw attempts in the closing seconds to force overtime.

The Golden Bears converted 8-of-10 at the charity stripe in the extra session to deny the Bulls their second-ever NCAA Tournament win.

The closely contested tilt was reflected in the rebounding battle as both sides finished with 47 boards. Cal managed to hang on for the win despite draining only 21-of-39 at the free-throw line in the contest.