Dec. 27, 2016

Complete Release in PDF Format

TIP OFF: The University of San Diego women's basketball team (6-4) will open West Coast Conference play at home this week. On Thursday, USD will host the University of San Francisco in a 6 p.m. game inside the friendly confines of the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Then on Saturday, USD will close out the 2016 calendar year with a 1:30 p.m. game against the Gaels of Saint Mary's College.

LAST TIME OUT: The University of San Diego women's basketball team dropped a 65-61 non-conference game to the University of North Dakota Wednesday evening, December 21, 2016, at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. With the loss, the Toreros fell to 6-4 overall, and dropped their first home game of the season. With the win, the Flying Hawks improved to 5-6 overall. Cori Woodward led the Torero offense with a game-high 15 points, on 5-of-8 shooting, all five field goals came from beyond the arc, and she dealt out four assists, and had one steal. Katherine Hamilton added in 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field, while Sydney Williams also scored 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Williams and Aubrey Ward-El led the team with six rebounds apiece, while Ward-El also scored eight points in her first start of the season. As a team, USD shot 35.5% from the field, while UND shot 44.2%. San Diego out rebounded North Dakota 41-34, and USD committed only 13 turnovers, to UND's 15. For the Flying Hawks, Makailah Dyer led the way, as she scored 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, while Chastity Franklin added in 10 more points on 3-of-5 shooting. Lexi Klabo led all players with nine rebounds.

ABOUT THOSE WINS: San Diego has now posted a 20-win season for five consecutive years. During this five-year stretch, USD has recorded 122 wins, the second most amount of wins among any division I school in California, only trailing Stanford. USD has also managed to make the postseason for five consecutive seasons, making the Final Four of the WNIT in 2011-12, then making two more trips to the Sweet 16 of the WNIT, including this past season.

SCOUTING THE DONS: San Francisco enters the game with an overall record of 6-5, after dropping their first home game of the season to UC Davis, 78-58, back on Dec. 21. USD leads the all-time series at 39-28, but the Dons have won three of the last four, including knocking the Toreros out of the WCC Tournament in each of the last two years. USF's offense is paced by Rachel Howard, who is averaging 13.1 ppg, while shooting .431 from the field. Anna Sielund is the only other Don averaging double figures at 10.2 ppg, while Kalyn Simon is just under double figures at 9.8 ppg. USF is under the direction of first-year head coach Molly Goodenbour.

LAST TIME VS. THE USF: Despite a career-high 33 points from Malina Hood and a 22-point outing from Maya Hood, the University of San Diego women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 84-80 overtime decision to the University of San Francisco Thursday evening, March 3, 2016, in the quarterfinal round of the West Coast Conference Tournament at the Orleans Arena. After USD held a lead by as many as 12 in the third quarter, the Dons managed to chop the lead down to three with just 13 seconds left. Then Taylor Proctor hit a leaning 3-pointer with just 0.7 seconds left to stun everyone in the building and force overtime. In the extra period, USD was outscored 11-7 by the Dons, as USF was able to hit free throws down the stretch to claim the win. Malina Hood led all players with her 33 points on 13-of-25 shooting from the field, while also pulling down eight rebounds. Maya Hood recorded 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting, and she pulled down 11 rebounds to post a double-double. Sydney Williams just missed double digits with nine points, while Cori Woodward recorded five assists. As a team, USD shot 44.1% from the field, while the Dons shot 50.0% from the floor.

SCOUTING THE GAELS: Saint Mary's College enters the week with an overall record of 5-6 after suffering a 71-63 loss to CSUN back on Dec. 19, 2016. SMC leads the all-time series at 43-27, and have won the last six meetings. The Gaels offense is paced by Stella Beck, who is averaging 13.5 ppg. Two other Gaels are averaging double figures, in Megan McKay (12. 5 ppg), and Sydney Raggio (12.3 ppg). Saint Mary's is under the direction of eighth-year head coach Paul Thomas.

LAST TIME VS. THE SMC: The University of San Diego women's basketball team saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end Thursday evening, February 4. 2016 with a stunning 68-60 loss to Saint Mary's College in a West Coast Conference game at McKeon Pavilion. Sydney Williams led the Toreros with a team-best 17 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field, while also pulling down eight rebounds. Aubrey Ward-El was the final Torero to score in double figures, as she had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. Ward-El has now scored in double figures in three of the last four games. Maya Hood led the team in rebounding with 12, while also scoring eight points.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: USD as a team, ranks third in the WCC in points-per-game (72.8), second in scoring defense (60.9), second in scoring margin (+11.9), third in field goal percentage (.436), and second in steals-per-game (9.0)...Cori Woodward is second in the WCC in assists-per-game at 4.9.

CORI DROPS 15 ON NORTH DAKOTA: San Diego senior guard Cori Woodward paced the San Diego offense in the 65-61 loss to North Dakota, as she scored a season-high 15 points. Woodward scored her 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, all five field goals came from beyond the arc, and she dealt out four assists, and had one steal. This marked the third game this season, that Woodward has scored in double figures, having scored 10 in the season-opening win over Cal State Fullerton (11/11/16) and the other was 11 points in a win over Nevada (12/10/16). On the season, Woodward is averaging 7.0 ppg, and leads the team with 4.9 assists-per-game.

WARD-EL GETS FIRST START: Junior guard Aubrey Ward-El got her first start of the season in USD's 65-61 loss to North Dakota. How did she respond? Great, as she scored eight points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field. This marked the third consecutive game Ward-El has score eight points. Ward-El also pulled down a team-best, and career-high, six rebounds. On the season, Ward-El is now USD's second-leading active scorer at 8.3 ppg.

SHOOTING SLUMP OVER: Junior forward Sydney Williams recorded double figures in USD's stunning 65-61 loss to North Dakota, as she scored 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field. Williams, who averaged 10.5 ppg last season, has only reached double figures three times this season. Torero fans are hoping that the 10 points is a sign that she has returned to the double-digit performances we have all come to love her for. On the season, Williams is averaging 7.8 ppg.

HOOD OUT FOR REMAINDER OF THE SEASON: The University of San Diego women's basketball program received disheartening news on December 19, 2016, that senior forward Maya Hood will have to miss the remainder of the 2016-17 season, after suffering a season-ending injury in USD's 67-44 win over Seattle University on December 12, 2016. Hood, a 5-10 senior forward from San Diego, Calif., had an MRI, which revealed she tore her ACL during a rebound in the second quarter vs. Seattle. Hood has played an integral part of the Toreros recording 20-win seasons over the past four years. Hood is currently USD's leading scorer with a 18.1 ppg average, and she leads USD in rebounds-per-game as well at 8.1. Hood also leads the West Coast Conference in steals-per-game at 2.1, and she is shooting .575 from the field. With her 163 points on the season, Hood has managed to move herself into seventh all-time at USD in career points with 1,301, just 92 points away from sixth all-time. Hood has also moved up to fourth all-time in career rebounds, now with 756, just 18 behind former teammate Sophia Ederaine (2011-15) for third all-time.

THEW.TV: This season San Diego will be featured on the West Coast Conference's digital platform, several times. All of these home productions will have a multi-camera high definition broadcast with Paula Bott calling all the live play-by-play. USD will have all 16 home games live on TheW.tv, as well as a select few road games. The Toreros will also be on BYUTV when they travel to in Provo on Feb. 18, as they take on the defending WCC Regular-season champs, BYU.

TOREROS TABBED FOURTH: Gonzaga has been selected as the favorite to win the 2016 title in the annual preseason poll of the WCC's 10 head coaches. The Bulldogs claimed five of 10 first place votes to earn the preseason favorite moniker by one point ahead of defending champion BYU. Saint Mary's (24-8, 14-4) received the other first place vote and was the preseason pick to finish third. San Diego (25-8, 13-5) and Santa Clara (23-9, 13-5) were picked fourth and fifth after the two teams tied for third in the standings last season. Two points separated the sixth through eighth spots on the poll. Loyola Marymount was selected sixth, while San Francisco was picked to finish seventh. Pepperdine and Portland tied for ninth in the preseason poll with 13 points each.

THE SCHEDULE: The University of San Diego women's basketball program, under the direction of 12th-year head coach Cindy Fisher, will take on six postseason teams from a year ago. San Diego's schedule features 16 home games as USD tries to build off last season's postseason success. Some of the highlights of the schedule include home games against NCAA Tournament participants BYU, and San Francisco, as well as WNIT participants Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and Santa Clara. USD will also take on North Dakota, who played in the Women's Basketball Invitational postseason tournament a year ago. FOLLOW THE TOREROS! Fans can keep up with the latest in Torero athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/USDToreros), Twitter (@USDToreros), Instagram (USDToreros) and YouTube.com (YouTube.com/USDToreros). The women's basketball team has also established its own official Facebook (Facebook.com/USDWBB), and Twitter (@USDWBB).