March 7, 2009

Box Score

(Las Vegas, NV) - Senior Kiva Herman scored 20 of her game-high 30 points in the second half in leading the USD Toreros to a come-from-behind 76-69 victory over No. 3 seed Pepperdine (16-13) in the quarterfinals of the 2009 WCC Tournament. With the win the Toreros (18-12) advance to Sunday's second semi-final (approx. 2:20 p.m.) where they will take on No. 2 seed Portland Pilots. Down 37-30 at intermission, Herman finished a perfect 8-for-8 from the field in the second half and finished 12-of-16 overall and 6-for-8 from the free throw line.

"Just an amazing effort by this group to dig in, especially in the last 8 minutes of the game," said USD head coach Cindy Fisher. "At every timeout I kept telling them that this was our time. You need your seniors to step up in tournament play and that is what we are getting from our senior leaders."

Herman matched her career-high of 30 points which she set earlier this season in a 78-65 win over Illinois-Chicago on December 28th. Morgan Henderson finished with 16 points and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line, including 8-for-8 after intermission. Senior center Amber Sprague chipped in 13 points and 8 rebounds in the winning effort. Besides shooting 51.9% from the field in the second half, USD cashed in on 17-of-20 free throws over the final 20 minutes. For the game the Toreros were an impressive 28-of-34.

Early in the second half the Toreros fell behind by as many as 11 points (43-32) with 18:01 to go. Over the next 10 1/2 minutes the Toreros went on a 25-15 run to pull to within one at 58-57 with 7:24 to go. Herman made five jumpers during this stretch to key the comeback. At the 6:12 mark Herman converted on a lay-up to knot the score at 59-all, and she put the Toreros ahead for the first time in the 2nd half at 61-59 with a jumper with 3:09 to go. Over the final three minutes USD cashed in on 11-of-12 free throws to hold off the Waves.

Pepperdine was paced by Taylor Smith with 16 points off the bench, and 10 points each from Miranda Ayim and Joy Lelo. USD split their series with Portland this season, losing 74-66 in San Diego, then earning a 71-64 win in Portland on February 26th.