The Arizona women’s basketball team had a season-low point total Saturday en route to its worst conference defeat since the end of December, falling to USC 66-42 in Los Angeles.

The Wildcats continued their three-week-long pattern of losing the second game of the weekend after winning the first.

“”I think it’s just who we’re playing,”” said UA head coach Joan Bonvicini. “”We haven’t played well in that second game. We’ve put ourselves in position to get a sweep the last three weekends, but, unfortunately, our Saturday game hasn’t been as good.””

The Wildcats (10-19, 4-13 Pacific 10 Conference) were also outrebounded 47-31 by USC (16-10, 10-6).

“”I think the key thing was their offensive rebounds,”” said guard Joy Hollingsworth, who finished with nine points and four rebounds. “”They really stepped up and hit the glass. They struggled a little bit offensively, but so did we.””

The Wildcats trailed only 24-19 at halftime, as Arizona shot 8-of-26 (30.8 percent) in the firstand held USC to 7-of-29 (24.1 percent) shooting.

But the Trojans picked up the pace in the second half, shooting 15-of-27 (39.3 percent) in the second half, while the Wildcats went 10-of-34 (29.4 percent).

“”I think we’re better than what we showed today,”” Hollingsworth said. “”We just couldn’t hit our shots as well as we have been. Maybe it’s because we have our legs on Thursdays, and we aren’t as tired.””

Hollingsworth said the Wildcats achieved their team goal of getting a split in Los Angeles.

Guard Ashley Whisonant led Arizona in scoring with 10 points off the bench in 24 minutes.

Aside from Whisonant and Hollingsworth, only four other Wildcats scored: guard Linda Pace had nine, center Suzy Bofia had eight, forward Rhaya Neabors had four and forward Whitney Fields added two.

“”We weren’t even able to connect on easy shots,”” Whisonant said. “”We basically couldn’t hit anything.””

Guard Jessica Arnold left the game early in the first half after she tried to take a charge , only to be knocked over by USC guard Shay Murphy. Arnold was called for a foul, and she stayed on her back under the basket for several minutes before teammates carried her off the court.

Bonvicini said Arnold’s back just tightened up and went into a spasm. She originally thought Arnold landed on her head, which could have been a much more severe injury, considering Arnold has already suffered a concussion.

“”She wanted to go out there in the second half, but the doctor said she shouldn’t,”” Bonvicini said. “”She should be OK.””

The Wildcats have one regular-season game remaining before the Pac-10 Tournament – and it might be the most grueling matchup of the year: at home against No. 10 ASU.

“”The big thing is we got a split, which was good,”” Bonvicini said. “”We’ve just got to play better than this, and I think it’s good to have some time to prepare for ASU on Saturday.””