Dec. 30, 2007
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The University of Texas' Carla Cortijo hit a jumper with 3.7 seconds left to lift the 19th-ranked Longhorns to an 81-79 win over the University of San Diego women's basketball team on Sunday night in the Maggie Dixon Surf 'N Slam Classic championship game at USD's Jenny Craig Pavilion.
With the loss, the Toreros saw their four-game winning streak come to an end and fall to 8-5 overall. With the win, the Longhorns improve to 11-2 overall.
Amanda Rego led the Toreros offensively as she had a season-high 22 points, racked up a game-high 11 assists and also managed to pull down eight rebounds. Amber Sprague, the tournament's MVP, recorded a game-high 23 points on 10-for-19 shooting from the floor and freshman Sam Child was the third USD player in double figures as she had 10 points. As a team, the Toreros shot 45 percent from the floor and were out rebounded 42-34.
Texas jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first half, but a Morgan Henderson lay-up sparked a 7-2 USD run to pull the Toreros back to within five at 12-5 with 16:17 remaining in the first half.
The Toreros would manage to keep things within nine for a majority of the first half, until Texas took their first double-digit lead at 27-17 with 11:41 to go on a Ashley Lindsey jumper.
After Brianna Estell recorded the next four points on a 3-pointer and a free throw to pull USD back to within six at 21-21, the Longhorns would go on an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 35-21 with just 8:24 remaining in the first half.
The Toreros then outscored the Longhorns 14-6 over the next eight minutes to go into the break only down six at 41-36.
In the second half, the two teams were again in a sea saw battle right out of the gates as they began to trade basket-for-basket, but Texas would eventually build their lead back to double-digits at 41-50 with 15:08 remaining.
But the Toreros wouldn't allow Texas to get to far ahead as they continued to battle behind the inspired play of Rego, who seemed to take over offensively for the Toreros in the second half as she scored 13 of her 22 points in the frame.
The Toreros continually remained with in 7-9 points behind the Longhorns. Then with 6:09 remaining in the game and the Toreros trailing 71-62, Rego hit a pair of free throws that sparked a 12-2 Toreros run that was capped off on back-to-back jumpers by Sprague to give the Toreros their first lead of the game at 74-73 with just 2:04 remaining.
After a Texas timeout, the Longhorns would score the next four points to take a three-point lead at 77-74 on a pair of Brittainey Raven free throws.
The two teams then traded a basket each and with 0:21 seconds remaining, Rego drove down the lane and was fouled on a lay-up attempt. Rego then in turn hit both free throws to tie tings up.
However, Texas' Cortijo was able to get a shot off with 3.7 seconds remaining to give Texas the win. Rego had a last second three-point shot from near mid court that just missed to put the game at its final of 81-79.
The Toreros will return to action on Sunday as they head to Irvine for a 2 p.m. showdown with UC Irvine in their final preseason tune-up.
All-Tournament Team
Amber Sprague - USD (MVP)
Amanda Rego - USD
Brittainey Raven - Texas
Carla Cortijo - Texas
Ashley Linsdey - Texas
Allie Quigley - DePaul
