SAN DIEGO – Earning every bucket and fighting hard until the final horn, the San Diego women's basketball team (6-19, 2-14 WCC) picked up a conference week sweep as they took down the Santa Clara Broncos (14-13, 8-8 WCC) by a 63-57 final score on Saturday afternoon at Jenny Craig Pavilion. 

Kylie Horstmeyer was the catalyst once again for the Toreros as she poured in 20 points on 9-of-17 from the field while grabbing eight key rebounds to take down the Broncos. 

Truitt Reilly starred as well for USD as she put together an 18 point and 18 rebound double-double as the Toreros earned their second conference victory of the season. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After Santa Clara scored the first points of the game, the Toreros didn't wait long to respond as Horstmeyer knocked down a pull-up mid-range jumper to even the game at two apiece.
• Midway through the quarter with the Broncos holding an early lead, USD started to creep a little closer as Dresha Moore scored a layup following a nice assist from Reilly to make it 14-10.
• SCU would score the final four points of the quarter as they held an early 20-12 lead following the first 10 minutes.
• Getting out in transition on a fast break, Hallie Rhodes scored on a driving layup to cut the Torero deficit back down to eight at 22-14. 
• USD went on a mid-quarter run to take a one point lead as Ava Ranson grabbed an offensive board and put it back and Reilly made a layup as USD led 23-22. 
• Trailing late in the first half, Malia Tharpe scored on another mid-range jumper as the Broncos held a 30-29 advantage going into the locker room.
• After the Broncos made a three to start the second half, Horstmeyer picked up where she left off and made a driving layup to make it a two point game at 33-31. 
• She would then hit a go-ahead bucket at the 6:52 mark in the quarter to give the Toreros a 37-35 lead that they wouldn't look back from. 
• Both defenses hung on strong throughout the later stages of the third quarter as USD held tight to a 41-40 advantage with only 10 minutes remaining in the game.
• Santa Clara appeared to be taking control in the fourth quarter as they started stringing stops together and built a four-point advantage at 49-45 before Horstmeyer grabbed another offensive rebound and put it home to get the deficit back down to two points. 
• The Broncos kept hanging around until Reilly started to exert control of the game as she netted two free throws and made a paint jumper on consecutive possessions putting the Toreros ahead 57-54 with 2:05 remaining in the game. 
• With under a minute to go, the USD defense made one more crucial play as H. Rhodes intercepted the Bronco outlet pass and scored to make it a five point game to put it on ice.
• Following Ranson making four clutch free throws, the final buzzer sounded and the Toreros earned their second consecutive victory by besting the Broncos 63-57. 

TORERO TIDBITS

• Horstmeyer recorded her second consecutive 20 point game while corralling eight rebounds as the Toreros did a tremendous job crashing the glass all game in the victory.  For Kylie, 16 of her 20 points were recorded in the second half of play.
• Exerting her will throughout Saturday's game Reilly scored 18 points and grabbed a new career-high 18 rebounds while dishing out three assists and coming away with a trio of steals in her 40 minutes of action against the Broncos. 
• Making the play of the game at excelling in the starting lineup, H. Rhodes scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting to go along with three assists and a pair of steals as well. 

• To view today's post game press conference with Kylie Horstmeyer, please click here.
• To view today's post game press conference with head coach Cindy Fisher, please click here. 

NEXT UP
The Toreros now head back out on the road for the first of two in the state of Oregon. USD will take on the Portland Pilots (24-3, 13-3 WCC) on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 6:00 p.m. from the Chiles Center  Live video and live statistics links can be found on the team's website.