SAN DIEGO – Using a big second half and some tenacious defense throughout, the San Diego women's basketball team (2-4, 0-0 WCC) earned a 57-48 victory over New Mexico State (1-3, 0-0 CUSA) on Monday afternoon in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Olivia Owens broke out in a big way by scoring all 17 of her points in the second half, and Ysabella Von Seipler scored 11 key points off the Torero bench as USD bested the Aggies on their home floor.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Up and at it bright and early on Monday, the Toreros answered NMSU's initial bucket when Helen Holley forced a steal and took the ball coast-to-coast for the easy layup to even the score at two.
- Answering a New Mexico State run midway through the quarter, Eva Ruse put home a layup and Von Seipler netted a mid-range jumper that made it a 7-6 Aggie lead.
- Ending the first quarter, Von Seipler continued her strong start as she made her first three of the game as the Toreros trailed 12-11 at the end of the first quarter.
- Getting the next period going, Hallie Rhodes made a nice move to the basket and benefited from a great pass from Owens for an layup that evened the game at 14.
- Later in the quarter, the USD twins came through as H.Rhodes set up Jayden Rhodes for an open three point hit that gave the Toreros a three point lead.
- The Aggies would go on to make a late run at the end for the quarter as they held a 24-21 lead heading into the locker room.
- Getting the third quarter going, Owens started to make her impact felt as she scored eight of her team's first 10 points as USD led 31-26 and forced NMSU into a timeout.
- Later in the quarter, Ayla Williams made a nice move to the basket and earned a pair of free throws which she sank and pushed the USD lead up to eight.
- H. Rhodes would score one more fast break bucket for San Diego as the Toreros led 39-31 through the first three quarters of play.
- New Mexico State attempted to get back into the contest as they started the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to make it a one point game.
- USD was able to set back in a bit as buckets from Von Seipler, Williams and Ruse pushed the lead back up to seven at 45-38.
- With less than a minute remaining in the game, Von Seipler was able to get open and J. Rhodes found her on the wing as she hit a game-sealing three as the Toreros picked up the 57-48 victory on Monday afternoon.
TORERO TIDBITS
- Owens put together another tremendous game as she totaled 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals against NMSU.
- Williams made her first career start and provided a great spark for San Diego as she scored seven points, grabbed 14 massive rebounds and blocked a pair of shots in the victory.
- Von Seipler did it all for her team off the bench as she was a game high +14 in her minutes as she collected 11 points, forced three steals, grabbed a trio of boards and dished out a pair of assists.
POST GAME WITH THE TOREROS
NEXT UP
San Diego now looks forward to heading to the desert for the first of two games of Arizona State's Thanksgiving Tournament. USD will begin their holiday weekend by taking on Little Rock (1-3, 0-0 OVC) on Saturday, November 29 at 3:00 p.m. from Desert Financial Arena. Neither of this weekend's games will be streamed, but live statistics links can be found via the team's schedule page.
