San Diego Wins Final Home Game
Toreros Outscore Gaels 48-24 in Second Half, Win 81-71
The USD Toreros pick up a much-needed conference win.
Overcoming a 14-point halftime deficit is difficult for a football team to orchestrate, let alone a college basketball squad.
The University of San Diego women's team (15-11, 6-6 WCC) just made it look easy though.
The Torero women not only climb out of the early hole, they bury the opponent, the St. Mary's Gaels, 81-71. A scoring threat that couldn't seem to come alive in the first half was more than present in the latter 20 minutes. USD entered the second half down 47-33, then started a 16-0 run that they'd later augment to a 34-7 run.
The win snaps a 9-game Torero losing streak of contests in which they trailed at the half.
Freshman forward Sam Child's contribution was consistent throughout. She swooshed 10 points in both halves, and finished with a team-high score of 20, while collecting 4 rebounds.
"No one can beat us but ourselves...and we just knew that we didn't want our seniors to go out with a loss," Child says following the Saturday matinee delight. "We love our seniors so much...it was all for them."
The final regular season home game gave USD's seniors one last chance to shine before the Torero faithful at Jenny Craig Pavilion. All game long, the fan spotlight was on senior guard Amanda Rego, the WCC Player of the Week. She finished with 14 points, tied center Amber Sprague for a game-high 6 rebounds, and towered over all other players in assists with 16.
"At halftime...we needed to make a change and come out and pick up our defensive intensity," says Rego, the San Diego native. "We knew our shots were going to fall in the second half. Once we started containing them, forcing them to take bad shots, we knew they weren't going to shoot that percentage they shot in the first half again."
Shooting averages were virtually tantamount in the first half. St. Mary's (13-15, 5-7 WCC) drilled 50 percent of their shots, while the Toreros threw in 51.7. Yet the two squads went in opposite directions after the break, as USD shot 65.6 percent, and the Gaels only 36.
St. Mary's did supply the contest's overall high scorer, guard Jontelle Smith who recorded 23 points and a pair of assists. Forward Loeulla Tomlinson and guard Lauren Shaughnessy also turned in double figures, scoring 13 and 11 respectively.
The loss bumps the Gaels down to seventh place in the West Coast Conference. San Diego currently owns the number three seed, which can change for better or worse based on their last two games, both away meetings with Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine.
With the WCC Championships set for Jenny Craig Pavilion in March, the Torero women say with home court advantage, their last two contests will be of utmost importance.
"Coming back here for the championship, that's what it's about," says Child. "We need to go up to LMU and Pep and get big wins, those are great teams up there."
"Your seeding going into conference play is crucial," Rego adds. "We'd like to end with a 2 or 3 seed."
