Toreros Host Portland State in Home Opener

San Diego, 1-1, starts a 17-game home slate Tuesday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion

SAN DIEGO — San Diego women's basketball (1-1, 0-0 WCC) opens a 17-game home schedule Tuesday night against Portland State (0-2, 0-0 Big Sky) at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Toreros are coming off a 90-88 overtime loss to UC San Diego in the inaugural National University Bill Walton Classic, in which Eva Ruse scored all 10 of their overtime points and finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Tipoff is 6 p.m. PT on ESPN+, and tickets are available at USDToreros.com. It is the first of two home games this week for the Toreros, who host CSUN on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Live statistics will be available on USDToreros.com.

LAST TIME OUT: TOREROS FALL 90-88 IN OVERTIME TO UC SAN DIEGO
• Eva Ruse scored all 10 of San Diego's overtime points, but Michaela Fairwell's jumper in the lane with six seconds left gave UC San Diego a 90-88 win Saturday in the inaugural National University Bill Walton Classic at Pechanga Arena. The Toreros led for 37:52 of the 45 minutes and by as many as 16 points before the Tritons rallied from 10 down in the final 1:16 of regulation.

• Ruse had a double-double of 20 points, matching her career high, and a game-high 13 rebounds, with six offensive rebounds and three blocks. She made 7 of 10 free throws and scored 16 of her points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

• Five Toreros scored in double figures. Jessica Ajayi had a career-high 18 points off the bench with four 3-pointers in a team-high 37 minutes, and Olivia Owens had 15 points and five assists, four of them on Ajayi baskets. Kylie Ray added 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Sammie Wagner scored 11.

• Ajayi's 3-pointer put USD ahead 5-3 with 6:46 left in the first quarter, and the Toreros did not trail again until overtime. Owens and Lilly Amor hit 3-pointers in an 8-0 run for a 26-14 lead, and after UC San Diego answered with 10 straight points, Owens' three-point play started a 7-0 run. USD led 38-30 at halftime.

• Ajayi hit two more 3-pointers early in the third quarter, the second after a Wagner steal, for a 48-32 lead with 6:49 left, and USD led 57-47 entering the fourth. After the Tritons scored nine straight to get within 59-56, Wagner hit two 3-pointers and Ray added another, each answering a UC San Diego basket, and Ruse's putback made it 75-65 with 1:16 to play.

• UC San Diego, which shot 11 of 16 in the fourth quarter, hit two 3-pointers 10 seconds apart and a second-chance layup to get within 75-73 with 29 seconds left. Ruse and Lev Feiman traded pairs of free throws, Ray fouled out with 25 seconds left, and Kiera Pemberton's free throw made it 78-75 before Alexandra Cummins' 3-pointer tied it with 10 seconds remaining.

• Feiman's layup on the first possession of overtime gave UC San Diego its first lead since the first quarter. Ruse answered with four straight free throws and blocked two shots on the Tritons' next trip, hit a 3-pointer off a Wagner assist for an 86-84 lead with 1:34 left and tied it at 88 with a layup with 44 seconds to go. Overtime had five lead changes and four ties.

• USD outrebounded UC San Diego 45-32, with Ruse grabbing six of its 15 offensive rebounds, held a 15-2 edge in second-chance points and made 11 of 24 3-pointers. The Tritons scored 23 points off 19 USD turnovers and outscored the Toreros 52-32 in the paint. Feiman led UC San Diego with 21 points, Erin Condron had 19 in 45 minutes and Fairwell scored 17 off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting.

ALL-TIME SERIES: USD LEADS 4-1
• The Toreros lead the all-time series 4-1, per the USD record book, and won the last two meetings: 57-47 at Portland State's Viking Pavilion on Nov. 12, 2022, and 71-43 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Nov. 11, 2023. Tuesday is the first meeting in three years.

• Kylie Horstmeyer scored a career-high 18 points and Kasey Neubert had 16 points and 12 rebounds, her second straight double-double, as San Diego beat Portland State 71-43 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion to improve to 2-0 under head coach Cindy Fisher.

• USD opened on an 11-0 run, never trailed and led by as many as 28. The Toreros shot 52.5 percent (31 of 59), outrebounded the Vikings 43-28 and outscored them 44-12 in the paint and 14-0 in fast-break points, while Portland State made four field goals in the second half and shot 23.6 percent for the game.

• Lauren McCall, then a freshman, had four rebounds and an assist in 17 minutes. She and Portland State senior Laynee Torres-Kahapea, who scored seven points as a freshman, are the only players on either current roster who appeared in the game.

• The Toreros also won the 2022-23 meeting, 57-47 at Viking Pavilion on Nov. 12, 2022. Amanda Olinger scored 13 points, Myah Pace 12 and Neubert 10, and USD forced nine turnovers in the fourth quarter and outscored the Vikings 38-18 in the paint.

FAMILIAR FACES
• Portland State associate head coach Kerri Nakamoto played at USD from 1999-2003 and was a Torero assistant coach from 2003-05. She earned All-WCC honors twice, left as the program's career leader in 3-pointers (200) and set the single-season record with 64 as a junior in 2001-02, when she led the WCC in 3-point percentage (.460).

• Nakamoto started as a freshman on USD's 1999-2000 team, which won the WCC championship and played in the NCAA Tournament, and was the Toreros' MVP in 2000-01. She spent the four seasons before joining Portland State as an assistant and defensive coordinator at Santa Clara (2021-25).

• Vikings head coach Karlie Burris is also a WCC alum. She played at Portland from 2005-09, earning All-WCC honorable mention twice, and spent four seasons as a UNLV assistant (2021-25), when the Lady Rebels won four straight Mountain West regular-season titles.

• Portland State sophomore Sara Barhoum and USD graduate student Sammie Wagner were teammates at Oregon in 2025-26, when the Ducks reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

• Vikings junior Teagan Colvin and USD's Lauren McCall both won Idaho Class 5A state championships: McCall at Timberline in 2022 and Colvin, the 2024 Gatorade Idaho Player of the Year, at Coeur d'Alene in 2023 and 2024.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
#6 KYLIE RAY | JUNIOR | 5-8 | GUARD | LA CRESCENTA, CALIF. | CRESCENTA VALLEY | UTAH
2026-27 Season
• Ray leads the Toreros in scoring (16.5 ppg) and minutes (36.2 per game) through two games, adding 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, and she has made all nine of her free throws this season. She is 94 of 104 (90.4 percent) at the line as a Torero.

• Ray had 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists against UC San Diego. She scored seven points in the first quarter and hit a 3-pointer off an Amor assist with 2:11 left in regulation for a 73-65 lead.

• She scored 19 points with four rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes at New Mexico State, opening the game with a 3-pointer off her own steal and sealing it with two free throws with three seconds left.

• She had the fourth double-double of her career against UC San Diego, matching her career high with 20 points and grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds, six of them offensive, with three blocks. Ruse scored all 10 of USD's overtime points, including a 3-pointer for an 86-84 lead and a tying layup with 44 seconds left, and blocked two shots on one Triton possession.

• Ruse had a team-high 10 rebounds, four of them offensive, with an assist and a steal in 22 minutes at New Mexico State. Her feed set up Pemberton's layup for a 59-54 lead with 2:18 left, and she came up with a steal on the Aggies' next possession.

• She had 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, five rebounds and five assists against UC San Diego, assisting on four of Ajayi's six field goals. Her three-point play late in the second quarter started a 7-0 run, and she scored seven points in the third quarter.

• Owens had eight points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal in 26 minutes at New Mexico State. Her third-quarter 3-pointer cut a five-point deficit to 35-33, and she assisted on Pemberton's 3-pointer later in the quarter and on Ray's layup that made it 55-52 with 4:56 left.

• She played 10 minutes against UC San Diego, finishing with a point and two offensive rebounds, and her free throw with 21 seconds left in regulation made it 78-75.

• Pemberton scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting in her USD debut at New Mexico State, adding seven rebounds, two steals and a block without a turnover in 32 minutes. She made all five of her shots in the third quarter for 11 points, and her steal and fast-break layup with 3:30 left, followed by a block on the Aggies' next possession, helped close out the 61-56 win.

• She scored a career-high 18 points against UC San Diego, shooting 6 of 10 from the field and 4 of 7 from 3-point range in a team-high 37 minutes. Her 3-pointer gave USD a 5-3 lead in the first quarter, and the Toreros did not trail again until overtime.

• Ajayi played 14 minutes off the bench in the season opener at New Mexico State.

• She scored 11 points against UC San Diego, with two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and added two steals, a block and the assist on Ruse's go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime. Her driving layup with 7:21 left in regulation ended a 9-0 Triton run.

• Wagner started her USD debut at New Mexico State and played 27 minutes with two rebounds and a steal. Her layup with 4:42 left in the second quarter gave the Toreros a 22-20 lead, their first since the opening minutes.

• She scored four points in six minutes against UC San Diego, making two free throws in the first quarter and a layup in the third.

• Barnett scored five points in eight minutes in her USD debut at New Mexico State. Her two free throws tied the game at 35 with 6:59 left in the third quarter, and her 3-pointer off a Ray assist with 6:20 left put the Toreros ahead 38-37 — they did not trail again.

• She had three points, three steals and two assists in 31 minutes against UC San Diego. Her 3-pointer capped an 8-0 run for a 26-14 lead in the second quarter, and she assisted on 3-pointers by Wagner and Ray in the fourth.

• Amor hit a fast-break 3-pointer off a Ray assist in the first quarter at New Mexico State and played 21 minutes without a turnover.

• She had two points and six rebounds, three of them offensive, against UC San Diego, scoring on a putback of her own miss for a 35-26 lead late in the second quarter.

• Williams had two points and three offensive rebounds in seven minutes off the bench at New Mexico State. Her two free throws with 1:43 left in the third quarter made it 49-43.

#5 LAUREN MCCALL | GRADUATE | 5-6 | GUARD | BOISE, IDAHO | TIMBERLINE
2026-27 Season
• McCall has played off the bench in both games, returning at New Mexico State for her first game action since the 2024-25 season, and had a rebound against UC San Diego.

• She is the only Torero who played in the last meeting with Portland State, with four rebounds and an assist in 17 minutes as a freshman in USD's 71-43 win on Nov. 11, 2023.

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