SAN DIEGO - San Diego women's basketball will return to the Jenny Craig Pavilion to face Pacific and St. Mary's, after beating out BYU to secure second place in the West Coast Conference.
 
Thursday's game against Pacific marks National Women and Girls Day inside the JCP, and the Toreros will host their annual Pink Game against St. Mary's on Saturday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• San Diego defeated BYU inside Jenny Craig Pavilion, 51-45 in its last one-game week of the 2019-20 regular season. With the win, the Toreros now sit in second place in the West Coast Conference.
• The Toreros defense prevailed in a tough battle in a contest that saw six tie-ups and three lead changes. In all four quarters, only one to three points separated BYU and San Diego's scoring efforts. The Toreros also held the Cougars to only 10 percent from beyond the arc and 32.7 percent from the field.
• San Diego out rebounded BYU 38-28 in the contest, led by senior Leticia Soares' 10 boards. The Toreros cleared 26 defensive rebounds to hold the Cougars off the offensive glass, as they managed only four second chance points.
• Three players reached double figures, led by Soares, who tacked on 13 points to her 10 boards for her first double-double of the season. Jordyn Edwards added 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks, and Madison Pollock chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds.
• The Cougars widened their lead to a 39-35 advantage in the fourth quarter, before San Diego went on an 8-0 run, punctuated by a clutch three from Edwards. San Diego kept expanding their margin to coast to the 51-45 victory.
 
INSIDE THE DEFENSE
• The defense has highlighted San Diego's season thus far, as the Toreros rank in the top five in multiple statistical categories in the WCC.
• The Toreros rank third in scoring defense and thee point field goal percentage defense. The Toreros are holding opponents to only .285 from deep and rank right behind top 25 ranked Gonzaga.
•  In rebounding defense, the Toreros rank second in the conference behind the Zags averaging 31.9 boards per game. San Diego edges out the Zags for the top spot in defensive rebounding percentage at .736 on the year. Defensive rebounding efforts have been led by seniors Pollock and Patricia Brossmann and junior Myah Pace. All three players have accumulated more than 80 defensive boards on the season.
• San Diego also ranks second in the WCC in steals and turnover margin. In NCAA Division I, the Toreros still rank among the country's best ranking 17th overall in steals per game.
• Myah Pace continues to lead the team in takeaways with 72 on the year and has cracked the top 10 in the single season category with four games remaining in the regular season. Edwards ranks second collecting 53 on the season. As a team, San Diego has forced 478 turnovers.
• This season San Diego has won 11 contests when out rebounding opponents and 12 when holding opponents to scoring in the 50's or less.
 
OFF THE BENCH
• Senior center Soares earned a breakout performance against the Cougars with her first double-double of the season. San Diego has relied on the center in a reserve role as Soares is averaging 19 minutes per game.
• The performance marked Soares' first in double digits for rebounding during the 2019-20 season. She previously had three contests with eight boards.
• Off the bench, Soares ranks fourth in total rebounds, splitting almost even between offensive and defensive boards at 50 and 53. She also ranks first in field goal percentage at .467 with 183 points on the year.
• Erica Martinsen and Ayanna Khalfani have also continued to play important roles in reserve with Martinsen averaging 14.4 minutes per game and Khalfani averaging 8.9.
• The freshman guard has seen action in all 23 contests for the Toreros and has been key from the charity stripe shooting .600 from the free throw line.
• Martinsen has helped boost San Diego's three-point percentage nailing down five threes in seven contests.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST PACIFIC
• San Diego will look to sweep the Tigers, after beating Pacific by a two-point margin in Stockton earlier this season. San Diego owns the all-time series against Pacific at 17-7.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST ST. MARY'S
• The Toreros are also on a one-game winning streak against the Gaels, as St. Mary's holds advantage in the all-time series at 48-29.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
• San Diego will face its final travel tests of the regular season next week at San Francisco and Santa Clara.