SAN DIEGO – Back in action at Jenny Craig Pavilion, the San Diego women's basketball team (4-18, 0-13 WCC) battled hard and put together a tremendous effort before ultimately coming up short against the Portland Pilots (21-3, 10-3 WCC) 66-64 Thursday evening. 

Truitt Reilly was tremendous as she recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Kylie Horstmeyer scored 19 points against the Pilots at home. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• San Diego got off to a fast start on Thursday evening as the Toreros forced a turnover on Portland's first possession and Horstmeyer knocked down an open three to open the scoring.
• The Pilots were able to rattle off a run to build a seven point lead before USD was able to storm back with an 8-0 spurt of their own capped off by a Hallie Rhodes driving layup to make it 15-14 Toreros. 
• Ending a strong first quarter on a high note, Horstmeyer knocked down a pull up mid-range jumper to give her team a 24-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.
• Picking up where they left off, Malia Tharpe hit an open jumper following another Pilot turnover as San Diego increased their lead to six.
• After Portland began applying full-court pressure, USD delivered a great cross court pass to Reilly who found Ava Ranson streaking for a layup that pushed the Torero lead to double digits at 30-20. 
• Horstmeyer would continue her phenomenal first half by scoring the final bucket of the half with a layup as the clock was expiring to give USD a 41-30 lead heading into the locker room.
• Portland came out ready to play in the second half as they scored the first four points before San Diego responded with a Ranson layup to make it 43-34. 
• Midway through the quarter with the game tightening, the Toreros got another clutch basket from Horstmeyer who connected on a middy to make it 49-44 USD with 4:36 left in the quarter.
• Portland was able to stabilize as they took a three point lead heading into the fourth at 55-52. 
• Continuing to battle, Reilly got to work as she made a turnaround jumper in the paint to make it a one point game yet again. 
• The Pilots began to pull away from the see-saw game as they grew their lead to five, but the Toreros weren't settled as Reilly would net a pair of free throws and Dresha Moore would knock one down to put the deficit back down to two.
• USD would take the lead once more late in the game as Reilly was fouled and connected on a pair of free tosses, but Portland would gain control of the game as they picked up a 66-64 road victory. 

TORERO TIDBITS

• Reilly did it all again for her team in the front court as she scored 15 points, collected 12 boards, dished out a trio of assists and came away with a steal and a block against Portland. 
• Horstmeyer once again led San Diego in scoring as she poured in 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor to go along with four rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals against the Pilots.
• Providing a key spark for her team off the bench, Tharpe scored nine points, pulled down three boards, came away with a steal and was +3 in her 24 minutes on Thursday evening. 

NEXT UP
The Toreros will be back in action at home this Saturday, Feb. 8 at 2:00 p.m. when they welcome Oregon State (12-13, 8-6 WCC) to Jenny Craig Pavilion. Saturday's game will be the program's Play4Kay game as well as celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Live video, live statistics and ticket links can be found on the team's website.