Feb. 23, 2012
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - On senior night, the Torero senior's were shinning, as Dominique Conners' season-high 25 points helped pace the University of San Diego women's basketball team to a thrilling 74-59 win over visiting Saint Mary's College Thursday evening in a West Coast Conference game at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
With the win, the Toreros recorded their 20th win of the season, improving to 20-7 overall, set a program record for most WCC wins with an 11-4 mark in conference play, and more importantly, USD has locked up the third seed in the upcoming WCC Championships in Las Vegas next week. With the loss, the Gaels fall to 19-9 overall, 10-5 in the WCC ,and have secured the fourth seed in the WCC Tournament.
"I am just so excited for our seniors tonight," stated USD head coach Cindy Fisher. "They have just worked so hard, and I just thought our senior's tonight willed this win, and I thought Dominique Conners was absolutely spectacular tonight."
Conners led the team with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor, while also recording four steals and dishing out three assists. Amy Kame also has a spectacular evening, as she recorded 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting form the field, while pulling down three rebounds and recording two assists. Felicia Wijenberg was the final Torero in double figures, as she recorded a career-high 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. As a team, USD shot .500 from the field, but were out rebounded 44-30.
In the first half, the Toreros came out firing on all cylinders, as a Conners jumper ignited a 10-4 San Diego run over the first four minutes of play to give USD the early edge. After the Gaels managed to but that deficit in half at 10-7 on a Morgan Hatten 3-pointer, San Diego responded with a 7-0 run that was sparked on a Izzy Chilcott lay-up and capped on a Klara Wischer lay-up to give USD its first double-digit lead of the game at 17-7 with 11:16 to go.
However, SMC then fought back, as they put together a 8-0 run of their own to pull back to within two at 17-15 on a Amanda Arter jumper with 9:29 to go in the half.
The Toreros were then tired of this close game, and a Kameron Knutson lay-up at the 8:40 mark ignited a 13-2 San Diego run over the remainder of the period to give USD a 13-point lead at halftime, as they were up 30-17.
In the second half, it was a more even battle, as they two teams began to trade basket-for-basket over the first few minutes, and USD would manage to open the gap up to 17 points on a Conners lay-up with 14:55 to go. SMC would then put together a few spurts over the remainder of the half, but never managed to get any closer than 10 points, as USD simply cruised its way to victory No. 20 on the season.
For the Gaels, Jackie Nared led all players with 28 points on 7-of-15 shooting, while Danielle Mauldin was the final Gael in double figures, as she had 12 points. As a team, the Gaels shot just .351 from the field
San Diego will return to action on Saturday as they conclude the regular-season at the University of Portland. The tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
