Jan. 10, 2014
Complete Release in PDF Format 
TIP OFF: The 24th-ranked University of San Diego women's basketball team (15-1, 4-1 WCC) will look to return to their winning ways on Saturday, as they remain on the road and travel to Spokane, Wash. to take on the 9-time defending West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga Bulldogs in a 2 p.m. WCC game inside the McCarthey Athletic Center.
LAST TIME OUT: The 24th-ranked University of San Diego women's basketball team saw their undefeated season come to an end with a 72-51 loss to the University of Portland Wednesday evening in a West Coast Conference game at the Chiles Center. With the loss, the Toreros fall to 15-1 overall, move to 4-1 in the WCC and saw their program record 15-game winning streak come to an end. With the win, the Pilots improve to 9-6 overall, and 2-2 in the WCC. Senior forward Felicia Wijenberg scored a career-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field, while pulling down seven rebounds. Amy Kame was the next highest scorer with eight points, and she dished out six assists. Sophia Ederaine pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with six points. As a team, USD had its worst shooting night of the season, shooting 29.4% from the field, and they were out rebounded for the first time all season long, 45-33.
A LOOK AHEAD: San Diego returns home to take on travel partner Brigham Young University next Saturday, Jan. 18, in a 2 p.m. WCC game inside the friendly confines of the Jenny Craig Pavilion. This will be one of two W.TV broadcasts that USD is involved with. This game will have a live full high definition broadcast. A watch link for this game will be on the USD women's basketball schedule page.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Gonzaga enters the game with an overall record of 13-3, and they have a 3-1 mark in the WCC, while riding a three-game winning streak. The Zags lead the all-time series at 36-20, including winning the last 12 meetings. USD's last win against Gonzaga came in the championship game of the 2008 WCC Tournament, a 70-66 decision in San Diego. The Bulldogs offense is paced by senior guard Haiden Palmer, who is scoring 15.1 ppg. The only other starter to average double figures is junior forward Sunny Greinacher, who is scoring 11.8 ppg.
LAST TIME VS. GONZAGA: The No. 2 seeded University of San Diego women's basketball team fought hard, but fell to No. 1 seeded Gonzaga University 62-50 in the championship game of the West Coast Conference Tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 11, 2013. Offensively for the Toreros, Amy Kame led the way, as she recorded 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field, while Maya Hood was the only other Torero in double figures, as she recorded 10 on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. As a team, USD shot .388 from the field and were even in rebounds with 34 a piece.
RANKED!: The University of San Diego women's basketball team, under the direction of head coach Cindy Fisher, has made program history by cracking into the Associated Press, and USA Today Coaches Top-25 polls for the first time ever. San Diego, who began the week with a perfect record of 15-0, moved into both of the polls in at the No. 24 spot. San Diego has surpassed any other USD team in the Division I era by starting off 15-0, and are currently sitting at 15-1. The 15-0 start was only matched by No. 1 ranked Connecticut when the rankings came out on Monday. San Diego has defeated four post-season teams from a year ago along the way in Northern Colorado, Idaho, San Diego State and Saint Mary's. USD has also knocked off Arizona State, who is currently ranked No. 23 in the top-25 this week. USD currently stands as one of ASU's two losses on the season, and the Sun Devils have knocked off the likes of No. 11 North Carolina, and No. 20 Syracuse.
KAME TABBED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior guard Amy Kame of the 24th-ranked University of San Diego women's basketball team has been named the NCAA National Player of the Week, after helping lead USD to a perfect 3-0 record this past week, and keeping the Toreros undefeated at 15-0. Kame, a 6-0 guard from Grand Junction, Colo., paced the Toreros offense, averaging 20.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 4.0 assists-per-game, and six total steals. Kame began the week with a 9-point performance in the win over Loyola Marymount University, while dishing out three assists and pulling down seven boards. She then scored 23 points on 6-of-17 shooting form the field against Saint Mary's College, while pulling down eight rebounds and tying a career-high with seven assists. Kame then capped the week with a season-high 28 points in the win over the University of the Pacific, and she tied a career-high 11 boards, to post her first double-double of the season.
RPI RELEASED: The NCAA released their latest RPI rankings for the 2013-14 season on Jan. 6, and USD carries an RPI of No. 22. Of USD's opponents this season, three are ranked ahead of them, in Arizona State (#9), Gonzaga (#13) and Saint Mary's (#15). USD is 2-0 against these three teams, having defeated Arizona State (61-53) and Saint Mary's (80-70). USD will square off against Gonzaga on Saturday in their first meeting of the season in Spokane, Wash.
MOVIN ON UP: Senior guard Amy Kame continues to move her way up the all-time scorers list at USD. She currently sits at No. 6 overall with 1,218 points, and is just 15 points behind Marta Menuez, (2000-04) for fifth all-time. However, Kame's game is not limited to scoring, as she is currently third all-time in career steals with 181, and ninth all-time in career assists at 261.
UNDEFEATED SEASON ENDS: With the 72-51 stunning upset loss to Portland, the Toreros saw their undefeated season come to an end. However, look at the positive, the Toreros opened the season 15-0, better then any other sport in the Division I era at USD. The 15 consecutive wins was also a program record, and USD cracked into the top-25 for the first time in program history.
WIJENBERG DROPS A CAREER-HIGH 28 ON PORTLAND: Senior forward Felicia Wijenberg was an unstoppable force against Portland in Thursday's stunning loss, as the Maple Ridge, British Columbia native poured in a career-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field, while pulling down seven rebounds. This marked the fifth consecutive game that Wijenberg has scored in double figures, and second time this season she has scored 20 or more points. On the season, Wijenberg is averaging 12.0 ppg, good for third best on the team.
WHERE ARE THEY NATIONALLY: Entering the Saturday's game, the Toreros ranked eighth nationally in rebounding margin at 11.9, 29th nationally in scoring defense at 57.5, and 32nd nationally in scoring margin at 14.7.
ABOUT THE RECORD: San Diego is 15-1 overall, marking the best start in program history. The Toreros have set the record for the best start of any sport at USD in the Division I era. The 15 wins in a row also happens to set a program record for longest winning streak.
GOING STREAKING: San Diego saw its program-record 15-game winning streak come to an end Thursday with a stunning 72-51 loss to Portland. During this streak, USD out rebounded every opponent by a margin of 13.5 (679-476), while out scoring them by an average of 17.1 ppg (1104-848). San Diego had three active players averaging double figures, paced by Amy Kame's 15.8 ppg, followed by Malina Hood's 12.9 ppg, and Felicia Wijenberg's 10.9 ppg. Twelve of USD's 15 wins have come by a double-digit margin, with the other three victories having come by less than 10 points, a 61-53 win over Arizona State, a 48-45 win over cross-town rival San Diego State and a 75-70 overtime win over Pacific.
W.TV BROADCASTS: The West Coast Conference has announced its 2013-14 women's basketball broadcast schedule on its dynamic new platform, TheW.tv. USD will be featured on two of the five broadcasts, and both contests will be home games. TheW.tv delivers West Coast Conference live games, regular studio programming, and exclusive live coverage from every WCC championship free of charge, featuring the tagline, "All the action. Anytime. Anywhere." The first women's basketball broadcast on TheW.tv will take place on Saturday, January 18 when BYU visits San Diego at 2 p.m. PST. The following day, defending West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga plays at Santa Clara, and on January 30, BYU travels to Saint Mary's. February's featured match-ups include Pacific at Saint Mary's (Feb. 8) and Gonzaga at San Diego (Feb. 13).
McDANIEL OUT FOR REMAINDER OF THE YEAR: The University of San Diego women's basketball program received disheartening news this week, that junior forward Katelyn McDaniel will have to miss the remainder of the 2013-14 season, after suffering a season-ending injury at practice this past Monday. McDaniel, a 6-1 junior from Littleton, Colo., had an MRI on Wednesday, revealing that she tore her ACL, in a routine practice drill on Monday. The projected recovery period is 8-to-12 months after surgery, which is scheduled in the next few weeks. McDaniel was just tabbed the West Coast Conference Player of the Week on Monday Dec. 16, after recording her fourth double-double in the past five games, with 11 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in a 68-51 win against Long Beach State on Dec. 13. She also dished out a season-high three assists and tied a career-high with three steals. McDaniel has been averaging 10.3 points-per-game, 8.1 rebounds-per-game, and is tied for fourth among WCC double-double leaders with four.
TOREROS TABBED TO FINISH SECOND IN PRESEASON POLL: The University of San Diego women's basketball team, who received one first place vote, was tabbed to finish second in the West Coast Conference, according to a poll of the league's coaches. Gonzaga, the defending WCC champion, was picked to finish first, while Saint Mary's was picked to finish third and BYU fourth. WCC newcomer Pacific was picked to finish fifth, with Loyola Marymount picked sixth. Portland, San Francisco, and Santa Clara were tied for seventh and Pepperdine was picked to finish 10th, respectfully.
Maya Hood TO REDSHIRT SEASON: Maya Hood, a sophomore guard for the University of San Diego women's basketball team, will redshirt during the 2013-14 season because she is expecting a baby in early November. Hood will return to action for the Toreros beginning with the 2014-15 season, and will have three years of eligibility left. Hood, a 5-10 guard from San Diego, Calif., was the West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year as a freshman, in addition to being named All-WCC honorable mention. Hood managed to crack into the USD starting line-up just 10 games into the season, and remained in the starting line-up the rest of the way. Hood was USD's second leading scorer at 10.3 points-per-game, while leading the team in shooting at 54.3 percent from the field. Hood scored in double figures in 18 of the 32 games she played in, with a career-high of 21 coming in a win against Loyola Marymount on February 14, 2013. She also managed to record a pair of double-doubles this past season in scoring and rebounding.
A PAIR OF TOREROS SELECTED TO THE PRESEASON ALL-WCC TEAM: The Toreros had two players named to the preseason All-WCC team in the form of senior guard Amy Kame and sophomore guard Maya Hood.
- Kame, a 6-0 junior guard from Grand Junction, Colo., paced the team's scoring effort last season with an average of 15.1 ppg, while shooting 40.2 percent from the field, en route to a first-team All-WCC distinction. Kame was named the WCC Player of the Month for November, and took home one WCC Player of the Week award this past season. Kame scored 20 or more points in seven games last season, and scored in double figures in all but seven of the 32 games she has played in.
- Hood, a 5-10 guard from San Diego, was tabbed the WCC Newcomer of the Year after an impressive freshman campaign in which she was the team's second leading scorer with 10.3 ppg, while leading the team in field goal percentage at 54.3 percent. Hood was named the WCC Player of the Week once this past year and managed to score in double figures in 18 of the 31 games she played in. Hood quickly went from bench player to starter just 10 games into the season. Hood will be redshirting this season, and will return next season with three years of eligibility left.
GAMETRACKER AVAILABLE: All San Diego women's basketball home and select road games can be followed live via Gametracker on the Toreros athletic web site at www.usdtoreros.com. Gametracker is a service of CBS College Sports, the official web provider for San Diego athletics, and is a real time update of the action.
CAN YOU SEE ME?: All USD home games, as well as select road games, will be streamed live via video on the athletics department website. Fans can watch all the action live from the comfort of their home by logging onto usdtoreros.com. Former USD basketball standout Paula Bott provides all the live play-by-play this season. This service a free of charge for all who wish to watch the broadcast.
MEET THE COACH: Head coach Cindy Fisher is entering her ninth season at the helm of the Toreros program. She was named the program's third head coach on April 19, 2005. Last season, Fisher managed to do something no other coach in USD history could, she posted a second consecutive 20-win season, as USD advanced to the second roud of the WNIT, and posted a 22-10 overall record. The 2011-12 season was a historical one for the Toreros, as it is now the greatest season in program history. Under Fisher's tutelage, the Toreros soared to new heights, and were in uncharted waters. USD posted a program best 26-9 overall record, posted a 12-4 mark in WCC play (the most wins in WCC play in program history) and they recorded the program's first ever post season win. Not only was the first ever post season win, but the Toreros advanced all the way to the Final Four of the WNIT, before falling to eventual WNIT champions Oklahoma State. In 2008, Fisher led USD to the WCC Tournament championship and back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight seasons. In only her second season at the helm of the program, Fisher orchestrated the biggest turn around in school history, a 12-game improvement from 9-19 in the 2005-06 season to a 21-9 record in 2006-07 season. The turn around was the fourth best in the nation. Under her tutelage, the Toreros placed three players on the All-WCC lists highlighted by Amanda Rego being named the WCC Co-Player of the Year. For her efforts, Fisher was named the 2007 WCC Co-Coach of the Year.
