HONOLULU, Hawai'i â€" Fueled by a fast start, the USD women's basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season with a convincing 72-52 win over Boise State (1-1) in the first game of the Bank of Hawai'i Classic Friday evening. The Toreros began the game on an 11-0 run and never looked back; it was the second consecutive game USD has never trailed.
Four Toreros scored in double-digits, led by Aubrey Ward-El's 20. Ward-El has scored at least 17 points in all three of the Toreros' games. Alexandra Hagen posted double-digits for the second game in a row, scoring 13 on 6-for-9 shooting. Sydney Williams had 12 points and Maya Hood had 10. Freshman Myah Pace had a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Toreros put up another strong defensive performance, holding the Broncos to six points or less in both the first and fourth quarter, while also forcing Boise State in to 20 turnovers.
The Toreros started and finished the first quarter on scoring runs, opening up a 19 point lead in the first ten minutes. Aubrey Ward-El scored seven points in the first three minutes of the game to help the Toreros start on an 11-0 run. USD would also close out the quarter on a 7-0 run. The Toreros ended up shooting 50 percent (11-for-22) in the first quarter while holding the Broncos to just two field goals as they opened up a 25-6 lead at the end of the first. The Toreros have scored at least 20 first quarter points in every game this season.
After extending their lead to as much as 23 points (31-8) early in the second quarter, the Broncos closed the first half on a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to 40-25 Toreros at half. USD forced Boise State to miss all nine of their three point attempts in the first half.
The Broncos hit their first three on their first possession of the third quarter to cut the Torero lead to 12, but the Toreros responded with a run 10-2 run to push their lead back to 20 points (50-30).
After committing just three turnovers in the first half, the Toreros committed five in the final six minutes of the third quarter, allowing the Broncos to close out the quarter on a 7-0 run, bringing the score to 54-41.
Every time the Broncos made a run, the Toreros had an answer. In the fourth quarter, USD held the Broncos without a basket for the first minutes and pushed their lead back over 20 points before ultimately winning 72-52.
The Toreros have one more game in the Bank of Hawai'i Classic, taking on the host school, Hawai'i Sunday at 7:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on BigWest.tv.
