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USD women finally living up to early billing

By: TOM SHANAHAN - For The North County Times | Saturday, February 9, 2008 10:58 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- The University of San Diego's women's basketball team was ready for UCLA on Dec. 8 when it beat the Bruins by 14 points.

The Toreros were ready for then-No. 19 Texas on Dec. 30 when they took the Longhorns down to the final seconds before falling by two points.

But USD learned the hard way that it wasn't ready to wear the bull's-eye of preseason favorite at the start of West Coast Conference play in January.

After a baffling 0-5 conference start, the Toreros beat the University San Francisco 67-48 Saturday afternoon for their third straight WCC victory before 425 fans at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

"We've always been hunters and now we're being hunted," said senior guard Amanda Rego, who had a triple-double. "Now we're stepping up to playing against that type of pressure."

The Toreros (12-10, 3-5 WCC) turned the tables on San Francisco (13-10, 4-4) after opening conference play on Jan. 12 with an 80-62 loss against Dons.

That defeat was followed by four more against Gonzaga, Portland, Santa Clara and St. Mary's before the Toreros stopped the bleeding last weekend with home wins against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine to finish the first round of conference play.

USD coach Cindy Fisher shouldered some of the blame, saying her team wasn't ready for defensive and lineup changes she employed in hopes of crossing up WCC scouting reports.

"We did some full court stuff that we weren't ready for with our young kids," she said. "We went back to playing the way we're comfortable with."

Rego, a Mission Bay High alumnus and the team's only senior, finished with 10 points, 10 assists and 10 steals.

USD led 32-26 at halftime before putting San Francisco away with a 15-4 run for a 47-30 lead with 12:24 left in the game.

Fisher said she liked the confidence her team played with, especially after the Dons had cut the Toreros' lead to 27-26 at one point in the first half.

USD's Kiva Herman, a 6-foot junior forward, scored 10 of her team-high 16 points in the second half.

Amber Sprague, USD's 6-5 center from Mission Bay, added a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

"I think that was the best game we put together this year," Fisher said. "We played (with) great confidence the whole time. We knew they would make some runs at us, but we withstood it. We had good focus from beginning to end."