Jan. 7, 2014
Complete Release in PDF Format 
TIP OFF: The 24th-ranked University of San Diego women's basketball team (15-0, 4-0 WCC) will look to remain perfect on the season, as they make their annual Pacific Northwest road trip this week. On Wednesday, USD will square off against Portland in a 7 p.m. game at the Chiles Center.
LAST TIME OUT: Senior point guard Alysse Barlow scored the final four points of the game to help lift the University of San Diego women's basketball team to a thrilling 75-70 overtime win over the University of the Pacific Saturday afternoon in a West Coast Conference game at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. With USD clinging to a 71-70 lead with 17.1 seconds remaining, the Tigers in bounded the ball in front of their bench, and Barlow leaned in close to Halie Eackles, and managed to steal the in bounds pass, then hit the jets and flew up the court, recording the lay-up, and Eackles committed an intentional foul, giving Barlow a pair of free throw and USD possession with eight seconds left. Barlow then hit both free throws and sealed the win for USD. Senior guard Amy Kame led the scoring effort for the Toreros, as she had a season-high 28 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the field, while tying a career-high 11 rebounds to post her first double-double of the season. Malina Hood scored 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, while Felicia Wijenberg was the final USD player in double figures with 10 points, and she pulled down 11 rebounds to post her second double-double of the season. Sophia Ederaine came off the bench to score nine points and recorded a season-high six blocks. As a team, USD shot 41.8% from the field, and out rebounded the Tigers 44-35.
PACIFIC HIGHLIGHTS:
A LOOK AHEAD: San Diego will remain on the road Saturday, as they head over to Spokane, Wash. to take on 9-time defending WCC champion Gonzaga University in a 2 p.m. game at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
SCOUTING THE PILOTS: Portland enters the game with an overall record of 8-6, and they have a 1-2 mark in the WCC after dropping a 56-24 decision to Gonzaga this past Saturday. The Toreros lead the all-time series at 32-31, including winning the last six meetings. The Pilots offense is paced by Cassandra Brown, who is scoring 15.4 ppg coming off the bench. The next leading scorer is junior guard Kari Luttinen, who is scoring 14.1 ppg, while shooting .402 from the field. The only other player averaging double figures is junior guard Jasmine Wootan, who is scoring 12.9 ppg.
LAST TIME VS. PORTLAND: The University of San Diego women's basketball team defeated Portland 72-54 on January 24, 2013 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Toreros had a hot hand all night, shooting 53 percent from the field while holding the Pilots to just 38 percent shooting. The Toreros were, once again, led by junior guard Amy Kame. After scoring 14 points in the first half, Kame finished with a game-high 16 points to go along with her four assists. Freshman Maya Hood continued her impressive rookie campaign, scoring 12 points, and senior Klara Wischer chipped in 13 points to round out the Toreros' double-digit scorers. Sophomore Katelyn McDaniel hauled in a team-high nine rebounds. With the win, USD completed a season sweep over the Pilots.
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 Top-25 poll for the first time ever. San Diego, with a perfect record of 15-0, enters 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 is one of five undefeated schools left in Division I. The 15-0 start is only matched by No. 1 ranked Connecticut. 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 current 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.
BEHIND THE CAPE:
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. 7 overall with 1,210 points, and is just one point behind Candida Echeverria (1986-90) for sixth all-time. However, Kame's game is not limited to scoring, as she is currently tied for fourth all-time in career steals with 177 with Lori Morris (1980-84). Kame also is 10th all-time in career assists at 255.
DOUBLE DIGIT WIN STREAK SNAPPED: With the 75-70 overtime win over Pacific, San Diego saw its winning streak of double-digits come to an end at 11. Over those 11 games, USD was averaging a 20.6 ppg margin of victory, 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 12.9 ppg. Consider this, Hood became an everyday starter for USD over the last five games, and in these games, she is averaging 17.2 ppg. Her point totals are as follows, 23 against UC Irvine, seven against Pepperdine, 27 against LMU, 15 against Saint Mary's and 14 against Pacific. How is she doing this? She has developed her outside shot, and leads the team in three-point shooting (33-for-80 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.
INTERESTING STATISTICS: San Diego is off to a 15-0 start, and how are they doing this? The Toreros rank seventh nationally in rebounding margin at 13.5, 23rd nationally in scoring defense at 56.5, and 28th nationally in scoring margin at 17.1.
ABOUT THE RECORD: San Diego is 15-0 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 15 wins in a row also happens to set a program record for longest winning streak. USD is also only one of five 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 15-game winning streak to begin the season. During this streak, USD has 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 has 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.
