Jan. 8, 2010
Box Score
San Diego, Calif.- The University of San Diego women's basketball team outscored Santa Clara 37-16 in the second half to cancel a five-point halftime deficit and guide them to a 60-44 victory in the WCC opener on Friday evening at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Junior forward Sam Child scored a game-high 15 points for the Toreros (9-6, 1-0), who currently find themselves as owners of a four-game winning streak. Sophomore guards Dominique Conners, with 12, and Morgan Woodrow, with 11, contributed double-digit point efforts as well. Junior forward Emily Hatch grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to help USD out-rebound Santa Clara 43-34.
The Toreros were able to negate their 29.4% field-goal percentage in the first 20 minutes of the game by hitting 14 of their 29 shots in the second half. San Diego also stepped up their defensive efforts by forcing the Broncos into a 24.1% percentage for the second half after Santa Clara efficiently hit seven of their 15 field goals in the opening 20 minutes.
USD, despite missing their first six shots to open the game, kept Santa Clara within reach, only allowing the visitors a 12-7 lead before Danesia Williamson hit USD's first three in eight attempts with 7:23 left, tying the game at 12.
A Julia Bennett three from the left wing with 5:17 remaining in the opening half provided USD with their first lead in the game, 17-15. Child quickly extended the lead to 19-15 with a lay-up 40 seconds later.
The Broncos, however, recaptured control of the game by taking a 21-19 lead with 2:23 left. Nya Mason, who led USD in scoring in the first half with six points, evened the score at 21 with bank shot at the 2:14 mark, but San Diego entered the halftime break down 28-23.
Child hit a 10-foot jumper along the baseline four minutes into the second half to cut the Santa Clara lead to 32-30. Alyssa Shoji of Santa Clara responded by hitting a three-pointer to put the Broncos up 35-30. The three by Shoji at the 15:41 mark, though, was the last successful field goal for Santa Clara for a span of over 14 minutes.
Child drilled a deep three from the top of the key, and Dominique Conners converted a lay-up to nod up the score again, this time at 35, with 13:36 left. Two treys from Woodrow and a fastbreak lay-up from Morgan Henderson capped the 15-3 USD stretch that placed the game in the Toreros' favor.
The Broncos closed it to 45-40, but an 11-0 run in response by the Toreros stretched the USD lead to its highest margin of 16, sealing the victory in the process.
USD will return to action on January 10th when they face off against the University of San Francisco (4-14, 0-1). Tip-off on Sunday is set for 2 p.m. PT at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
