Jan. 12, 2012

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Behind a17-point performance from Amy Kame, and 20-point effort from Dominique Conners, the University ofd San Diego women's basketball team cruised to a 80-58 victory over Loyola Marymount University Thursday evening in a West Coast Conference game at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

With the win, he Toreros improve to 12-3 overall, matching the best start in program history with the 2006-07 team, and they remain perfect in the WCC with a 3-0 record. USD also runs their winning streak to three with the win. With the loss, the Lions fall to 4-13 overall, and 0-5 in the WCC.

"I thought our defense was outstanding at times tonight, and I thought our team did a good job of attacking the basket, and getting to the foul line" stated head coach Cindy Fisher. "Our defense did a good job of allowing us to get out and run, and really push the ball, and I thought Amy (Kame) and Dominique (Conners) did a good job of getting to the rim, and finishing at the foul line. I was also really, really pleased with Kameron (Knutson) tonight, I thought she came in and gave us great minutes and did exactly what we asked her to do."

Conners led all scorers with her 20 points on 6-for-15 shooting from the field, while pulling down four rebounds and recoding three steals. Kame scored her 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field, while recording two steals, four rebounds and two assists. Morgan Woodrow was the final USD player in double figures, as she recored 13 on 4-of-10 shooting, while Izzy Chilcott poured in nine points, and pulled down five rebounds. Kameron Knutson had a monster day on the boards, as she came off the bench to lead the team with 11 rebounds, and she recorded six points and had three blocks. As a team, USD shot .456 from the field, but were out rebounded for only the third time this season at 44-41.

In the early going, it was a close battle, as LMU grabbed the early lead at 6-5, and managed to hold onto the lead for about three minutes. Then with USD trailing10-7, a Woodrow lay-up sparked a 15-0 San Diego run over the next four minutes to give the Toreros all the momentum and a 22-10 lead with 11:42 to go.

The Lions and Toreros then began to trade basket-for-basket over the next several minutes, and LMU would manage to cut the deficit back down to single digits on a a Hazel Ramirez lay-up with 7:09 to go, moving the score to 26-18. However, that is as close as they would get, as a pair of Conners free throws then sparked a 19-9 run to close out the frame and give USD a comfortable 45-27 lead heading into halftime.

Out of the break, USD did not slow down, as they managed to maintain the double-digit margin, and didn't allow the LIons to get any closer than 14 for the rest of the game. USD would hold a 16-18 point lead for a majority of the half, before finally being able to break the 20-point lead barrier on a Conners jumper at the 12:46 mark, and USD never looked back, as they cruised their way to a 80-58 victory.

For the Lions, Ramirez led the way as she scored 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Alex Cowling was the only other LMU player to record double digits, with 17 on 7-of-23 shooting. As a team, USD held the Lions to a .310 shooting performance.

The Toreros will return to action on Saturday when they host WCC newcomer Brigham Young University in a 2 p.m. game at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.