Dec. 30, 2009

Box Score | Photo Gallery

San Diego, Calif.- Sophomore guard Dominique Conners scored 20 points and senior forward Morgan Henderson delivered a three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining to put a dagger in the game, leading the University of San Diego women's basketball team past Boston College 61-56 to capture the Maggie Dixon Surf N Slam Classic championship on Wednesday evening at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Conners, the Tournament MVP, was 7-of-16 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, to lead the Toreros (8-6) in scoring while also adding four rebounds. Henderson hit three of her five attempts from beyond the arc and was 3-of-4 from the charity stripe to total 12 points for the game. Junior guard Sam Child was the final Torero to reach double-digits in points with 10.

USD built a 37-28 advantage entering halftime after going on a 12-3 run in the opening minutes of the game and a 14-5 run midway through the first half. The Toreros opened up their lead to as high as 14 when Conners nailed a three at the 3:36 mark.

San Diego, despite shooting 33.3% from the field in the second half after hitting 48% of their shots in the first, staved off a Boston College (7-6) charge by limiting the Golden Eagles to a 25% shooting percentage in the final period.

The Toreros let their lead slip to two with 5:23 to go in the game, but behind two lay-ups from Erica Carlson, the Toreros stretched the lead to 56-50 with less than three minutes left.

After four straight points from Boston College free throws over a minute and twenty seconds in the closing moments of the game, Henderson drilled her wide-open three from the right wing to seal the win and tournament championship for USD. Henderson went on to add a free throw with five seconds left to ice the win.

San Diego will enter the new calendar year riding a three-game winning streak and looking to take on their next opponent, Santa Clara University, to open conference play. Tip-off against Santa Clara on January 8th is set for 7 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Tournament MVP

Dominique Conners - USD

All-Tournament Team

Sam Child - USD

Shavon Moore - Nevada

Carolyn Swords - Boston College

Stefanie Murphy - Boston College

Mickel Picco - Boston College