Jan. 3, 2014
Complete Release in PDF Format 
TIP OFF: The University of San Diego women's basketball team (14-0, 3-0 WCC) will look to remain perfect on the season, as they welcome the newest member of the WCC to town, the University of the Pacific, on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. inside the friendly confines of the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
LAST TIME OUT: Behind a season-high 23 points from senior guard Amy Kame, the University of San Diego women's basketball team dealt the Saint Mary's Gaels an 80-70 loss in a West Coast Conference game at the Jenny Craig Pavilion Thursday evening. With the win, the Toreros remain perfect on the season at 14-0, mark the best start for any sport at USD in the Division I era, extend the program's longest winning streak, and are now one of six undefeated schools left in Division I. The Toreros also improved to a perfect 3-0 in the WCC to remain in first place in the league. With the loss, the Gaels fall to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in the WCC. Kame scored her game-high 23 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field, while also tying a career-high with seven assists, and she pulled down eight rebounds. Malina Hood scored 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, while Felicia Wijenberg scored 14 points, and pulled down seven rebounds. Sophia Ederaine scored 14 points and tied a season-high with four blocks, and the final USD player in double figures was Brooke Jelniker, who scored 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field, and she recorded a career-high three blocks. As a team, USD shot 48.4% from the field, and out rebounded the Gaels 40-38.
A LOOK AHEAD: San Diego will hit the road for the first time since opening up conference play next week, as they make their annual road trip to the Pacific Northwest. On Wednesday, USD will square off against the University of Portland at 7 p.m., then head over to Spokane, Wash. to take on the defending WCC champion Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday at 2 p.m.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Pacific enters the game with an overall record of 6-7, and they have a 1-2 mark in the WCC after defeating BYU in Provo this past Thursday, 75-62. USD leads the all-time series at 10-2, including winning the last eight meetings. The Tigers offense is paced by junior forward Kendall Kenyon, who is averaging a double-double at 17.6 ppg, while pulling down 11.2 rpg. Kiki Moore, a senior transfer from Fresno State, and the reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, is the second leading scorer at 15.2 ppg, and the last starter to average double figures at 10.5 ppg is junior guard Madison Parrish.
LAST TIME VS. PACIFIC: The USD women's basketball program is heading to the Sweet Sixteen of the WNIT after a 83-75 home victory over the Pacific Tigers on March 18, 2012. The USD senior tandem of Morgan Woodrow (27 points) and Dominique Conners (23 points) was just too much for UOP, who finish with a record of 18-14. Woodrow scored her game-high 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, including hitting seven free throws. Conners scored her 23 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field, including hitting 13 free throws. Amy Kame was the third USD player in double figures, as she scored 10 points. As a team, USD shot 47.1% fro the field, and out rebounded the Tigers 41-35.
RECEIVING VOTES: The University of San Diego women's basketball team continues to receive votes in both the Associated Press and USATODAY top-25 polls, marking the fifth consecutive week that USD is receiving votes in the top-25 polls. USD has received 33 votes in the Associate Press poll, just two spots out of the top-25, and in the USAToday poll the have received 23 votes, just three spots away from the top-25. San Diego has surpassed any other USD women's basketball team in the history of the program by starting off 14-0, and is one of six undefeated schools left in Division I, and the West Coast Conference's lone undefeated team. 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 just jumped into the top-25 this week. USD currently stands as ASU's lone loss on the season, and the Sun Devils have knocked off the likes of No. 11 North Carolina, and No. 20 Syracuse.
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. 9 overall with 1,182 points, and is just five points behind Chris Enger (1989-93) for seventh all-time. However, Kame's game is not limited to scoring, as she is currently sixth all-time in career steals with 173, just one behind Lori Morris (1980-84) for fifth all-time. Kame also is 10th all-time in career assists at 253.
11 STRAIGHT DOUBLE DIGIT WINS: San Diego has not only opened up the season 14-0, but they have now won 11 straight games by double-digits, thanks to Thursday's 80-70 win over Saint Mary's. In fact, over these 11 games, Thursday's was by far the closest, as USD is averaging a 20.6 ppg margin of victory during this stretch, and they are out rebounded their opponents buy a 14.8 margin during these 11 games.
WE LOVE OUR HOOD: San Diego sophomore guard Malina Hood continues her break-out sophomore season, as she is currently USD's second leading scorer at 12.8 ppg. Consider this, Hood became an everyday starter for USD over the last four games, and in these games, she is averaging 18.0 ppg. Her point totals are as follows, 23 against UC Irvine, seven against Pepperdine, 27 against LMU and 15 against Saint Mary's. How is she doing this? She has developed her outside shot, and leads the team in three-point shooting (31-for-75 from beyond the arc). But her game is not limited to just jump shots, she has also learned how to attack the rim, use back door cuts, and hit floating jumpers in the paint. Hood is doing it all, and she is just a sophomore.
TWIN TOWERS: Since junior forward Katelyn McDaniel went down with a season-ending injury,both Sophia Ederaine and Felicia Wijenberg have stepped up and become USD's twin towers, an almost unstoppable force. Over the last three games, Wijenberg is averaging 16.0 ppg, while pulling down 10.0 boards-per-game. Ederaine on the other hand, has averaged 10.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg. Ederaine has also second in the WCC in blocked shots over the last three games with 10 during this stretch.
JELNIKER'S PLAY INCREASING: Junior guard Brooke Jelniker has also been stepping up her game in order to help lead USD to a perfect record. In Thursday's win over Saint Mary's, Jelniker scored 11 points, and pulled down six boards. Jelniker also recorded nine points in the win over LMU and she had 11 rebounds in the WCC opener against Pepperdine. These are just the numbers you see on the stat sheet. But off the ball, Jelniker's defense has also been key for the Toreros, as she causes offenses to think twice about putting up a shot on her, and she may poke loose a ball, or block a shot. In fact, Jelniker recorded a career-high three blocks in Thursday's win over Saint Mary's. On the season, Jelniker is averaging 6.2 ppg, while pulling down 5.1 boards per game
INTERESTING STATISTICS: San Diego is off to a 14-0 start, and how are they doing this? The Toreros was ranking seventh nationally in rebounding margin at 17.9, 15th nationally in scoring defense at 55.6, and 26th nationally in scoring margin at 17.9.
ABOUT THE RECORD: San Diego is 14-0 overall, marking the best start in program history. The Toreros have set the best start of any sport at USD in the Division I era. The 14 wins in a row also happens to set a program record for longest winning streak. USD is also only one of six division I schools left with a perfect record, and the lone WCC school left to be undefeated.
GOING STREAKING: San Diego is riding a program-record 14-game winning streak to begin the season. During this streak, USD has out rebounded every opponent by a margin of 13.8 (635-441), while out scoring them by an average of 17.9 ppg (1029-778). San Diego has three active players averaging double figures, paced by Amy Kame's 14.9 ppg, followed by Malina Hood's 12.8 ppg, and Felicia Wijenberg's 11.0 ppg. Twelve of USD's 14 wins have come by a double-digit margin, with the other two victories having come by less than 10 points, a 61-53 win over Arizona State, and a 48-45 win over cross-town rival San Diego State.
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.
