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USD vs BYU Box

SAN DIEGO â€" Behind a career-high 18 points from sophomore guard Ana Ramos the Toreros earned an outstanding 70-69 victory over the BYU Cougars. Ramos was joined in a balanced offensive attack by Aubrey Ward-El (16 points), Madison Pollock (10 points), Caroline Buhr (9 points) and Maya Hood (8 points, 13 rebounds). The win improved USD's record to 12-7 overall and 5-3 in the WCC standings.

In the first quarter the Toreros took a 21-16 lead behind some hot shooting as they made 9-of-13 baskets (69.2%). Madison Pollock (3-3) and Ana Ramos (2-3 on threes) paced the Toreros with six points each. BYU's Malia Nawahine paced all players in the first quarter with seven points.

In the second quarter the Toreros continued their solid play as they used a balanced offensive attack to take a 35-30 lead into the intermission break. Ramos led the Toreros with nine points and was followed by Aubrey Ward-El (7 points), Caroline Buhr (7 points), Maya Hood (6 points) and Madison Pollock (6 points). USD made 13-of-28 shots (46.4%) and 4-of-6 threes, but more importantly held a 17-13 rebounding advantage. BYU was paced by guard Brenna Chase.

The Toreros continued their impressive play through the third period in taking a 58-52 lead with ten minutes left in the game. The catalyst was Ana Ramos who added seven points and headed into the final period already with a new career-high of 16 points. Aubrey Ward-El also hit some big baskets and chipped in seven more points. USD connected on 9-of-19 shots during the third period.

Early in the final period a three-ball and lay-in from Cassie Devashrayee pulled BYU to within 60-58. A long three from the top by Brenna Chase gave the Cougars a 63-62 lead but the Toreros answered with an 8-0 run capped off by Sydney Williams for a 70-63 advantage. A lay-in by Chase pulled the Cougars to within one at 70-69 with 1:48 left and neither team would score the rest of the way.

A key statistic for the game was the final rebounding totals with the Toreros coming out on top, 38-25. USD shot 43.1% for the game (28-65) and connected on 6-of-14 threes (42.9%) and 8-of-12 free throws. Ramos finished 6-of-10 from the field and buried 3-of-6 threes. Pollock was a perfect 5-of-5 in shooting and Ward-El connected on 6-of-9 shots. BYU (11-8, 6-2 WCC) was led by Devashrayee who scored a game-high 23 points.

Up next for the Toreros is a road trip to Santa Clara on Thursday, January 25th (7:00 p.m., TheW.tv).