Jan. 28, 2006
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -The University of San Diego women's basketball team's late rally fell short in a 67-63 West Coast Conference loss to Santa Clara University Saturday afternoon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
With the loss the Toreros fall to 7-13 overall and 2-5 in the WCC, while Santa Clara improves to 11-9 overall and 5-2 in the WCC.
The Broncos closed out the first half with a 10-0 run and opened the second half with the same run to take a commanding 20-point lead with 16:19 to play in the second half.
The Toreros didn't go away easily as USD's defense stiffened up and the offense exploded with a 21-2 run to pull within one with 7:42 remaining in the game. The run was sparked by freshman guard Kelly Winther, who scored 11 of the Toreros 21 points. Winther finished with game-high 17, tying her career-best.
The Toreros then managed to take the lead at 56-55 with 5:29 remaining much to the delight of the Jenny Craig Pavilion crowd. The Broncos then clamped down on defense and outscored the Toreros 12-7 through the remaining five and half minutes to claim the victory.
The Toreros held the WCC's leading scorer Michelle Cozad to 12 points, six points under her season average. The Broncos shot 43 percent for the game and USD shot 37 percent for the game.
Senior guard Tiara Harris was the only other Torero in double figures as she scored 11 points, to make it five consecutive games of 10 or more points. Freshman forward Kiva Herman also had a big day for the Toreros as she posted career-bests in both points with four and was huge on the glass for USD with five rebounds.
The Toreros will return to the hardwood on Thursday as they hit the road for a pair of Southern California WCC games against Pepperdine University at 7 p.m. on Thursday and conference-leading Loyola Marymount University on Saturday at 2 p.m.
