USD Women’s Basketball; Feb. 22, 2006 Chris Loucks, Assistant Director of Media Relations 2005-2006 USD SCHEDULE 8-17, 4-7 WCC TOREROS CLOSE OUT REGULAR- DATE OPPONENT RESULT SEASON AT HOME WITH A PAIR 11-18 UC Riverside L, 56-63 11-20 #15 Arizona State L, 63-67 11-22 San Diego State W, 67-57 11-26 Washington& L, 61-77 This Week's Game 11-27 Pennsylvania& W, 70-59 12-1 Cal St. Fullerton W, 64-46 USD vs. Gonzaga (14-13, 9-3 WCC) 12-5 Fresno State L, 50-56 Thursday, February 23, 2006, 7 p.m. 12-9 Georgia Tech L, 51-56 12-11 Clemson L, 68-72 Jenny Craig Pavilion 12-18 Boise State L, 51-68 12-28 Montana State% W, 53-48 USD vs. Portland (4-21, 1-11 WCC) 12-30 #2 Duke% L, 52-119 Saturday, February 25, 2006, 2 p.m. 1-2 UC Irvine W, 78-48 Jenny Craig Pavilion 1-6 LMU* L, 57-70 1-8 Pepperdine* L, 61-84 1-14 Santa Clara* W, 85-70 1-19 Gonzaga* L, 81-86 1-21 Portland* L, 65-54 1-26 Saint Mary's* W, 70-58 WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE: The University of San Diego women's basketball 1-28 Santa Clara* L, 67-63 team (8-17, 4-7 WCC) will return to the friendly confi nes of the Jenny Craig Pavil- 2-2 Pepperdine* L, 73-55 ion on Thursday as they close out their regular-season with a pair of West Coast 2-4 Loyola Marymount* L, 61-58 Conference games against second-place Gonzaga University on Thursday and 2-11 San Francisco* W, 69-66 2-15 San Francisco* L, 59-56 against the University of Portland on Saturday. Thursday's game will begin at 7 2-17 Saint Mary's* L, 63-58 p.m. and Saturday's game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start. USD will be honoring 2-23 Gonzaga* 7:00 PM its senior class on Saturday prior to tip-off. USD seniors to be honored are: Tiara 2-25 Portland* 2:00 PM Harris, Polly Dong, Brandi Collato and Lindsay Helvey. 3-2 WCC First Round Spokane 3-4 WCC Semi-Finals Spokane 3-5 WCC Championship Spokane LAST TIME OUT: The University of San Diego Toreros dropped a pair of road conference games this past week, losing to the University of San Francisco, 59- ^exhibition; &Husky Classic 56, on Thursday and on Saturday, the Toreros late rally fell short against Saint All home games played at USD’s JCP Mary's College, losing 63-58. On Thursday, after holding a nine-point advantage at the break, 32-23, the Toreros allowed USF to climbed back into the contest, WCC TOURNAMENT allowing the Dons to take a 42-41 lead with 13:57 remaining. After shooting .500 HEADS TO NORTHWEST (10-20) from the fi eld in the fi rst half, USD went cold, converting on just .320 (8-25) after the break. Meanwhile the Dons shot .536 (15-28) in the second period and .511 (24-47) for the game. Freshman guard Kelly Winther led the Toreros with 15 The 2006 WCC Tournament will be held points on 6-of-11 shooting off the bench, while senior guard Polly Dong added for the fi rst time at Gonzaga University's eight points for San Diego and senior guard Tiara Harris had seven points, ending McCarthy Athletic Center in Spokane, her eight-game double digit scoring streak. On Sunday, USD, who was trailing Washington. The women's games by two at the half, was able to come out on fi re in the second half and took the will begin on Thursday, March 2nd, lead shortly into the period. USD would hold the lead until the 5:44 mark, when with all eight teams playing fi rst round SMC regained the lead and did not surrender it for the reminder of the contest. games. Following a day off on Friday, San Diego was led offensively by Harris' 22 and Winther added 11 points as the the semi-fi nal contests will be held on only other USD player in double digits. Sabine Loewe grabbed a game-high 13 Saturday, March 4th, and the champi- rebounds to go along with fi ve points. onship game on Sunday, March 5th. For tickets, contact the USD ticket offi ce (619.260.7550) or visit USD's website at www.usdtoreros.com. 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, California 92110-2492 619/260-7930 Fax: 619/260-2990 E-Mail: [email protected] - www.usdtoreros.com SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Gonzaga University, last season's regular-season 2005-06 WCC champions, enter the week with a 14-13 overall record and a WCC STANDINGS 9-3 mark in the WCC, which places them in a tie for second place thru Feb. 9 with Loyola Marymount University and one game behind Santa Clara School WCC Overall University for fi rst place and a No. 1 seed in the WCC Tournament Santa Clara 10-2 16-9 next week on their home court in Spokane, Wash. The all-time series LMU 9-3 15-10 is tied between the USD and GU at 19 wins a piece after GU defeated USD 86-81 Gonzaga 9-3 14-13 in Spokane earlier this season. The Zags are led offensively by a pair of double Pepperdine 7-5 10-15 digit scores in Stephanie Hawk (12.5 ppg) and Ashley Anderson (10.6 ppg). Hawk Saint Mary's 6-6 11-14 is shooting 44% from the fl oor and Anderson is shooting 49%. The Bulldogs are SAN DIEGO 3-9 8-17 coached by Kelly Graves, who is in his sixth season at the helm of the women's San Francisco 3-9 7-18 Portland 1-11 4-21 basketball program. During his tenure he has posted a 94-82 overall record to become the all-time leader in wins at GU. 2005-06 WCC Preseason Coaches Poll TEAM COMPARISON 2005-06 SEASON 1. LMU - 59 (4) TEAM PPG FG% 3-FG% FT% RPG TOPG SPG BPG 2. Gonzaga - 56 (3) GON 60.1 .396 .338 .655 39.2 20.0 8.2 4.2 3. Santa Clara - 43 (1) USD 61.4 .388 .339 .695 32.6 17.8 10.4 0.8 4. Pepperdine - 36 Saint Mary's - 36 SCOUTING THE PILOTS: The University of Portland enter the week with a 4-21 6. San Francisco - 25 overall record and a 1-11 record in the WCC. Offensively for the 7. SAN DIEGO - 21 Pilots, Whitney Grant leads the way averaging 15.9 points per game, 8. Portland - 12 good for seond in the WCC. The Pilots also have two other double (1st Place Votes) digit scorers in Rachel Warren (11.0 ppg) and Megan Bermingham (10.9 ppg). USD dropped the fi rst meeting between the two schools FINAL 2004-05 in Portland, 65-54. The Pilots are coached by Jim Sollars, who is in his 30th sea- WCC STANDINGS son at the helm of the women's basketball program and has amassed a 271-274 Gonzaga* 14-0 28-4 record during his tenure at Portland. LMU 9-5 16-13 Santa Clara# 7-7 17-14 TEAM COMPARISON 2005-06 SEASON Saint Mary's 7-7 15-13 TEAM PPG FG% 3-FG% FT% RPG TOPG SPG BPG Pepperdine 7-7 12-17 POR 62.1 .392 .320 .715 37.0 20.8 8.96 4.1 San Francisco 6-8 12-16 USD 61.4 .388 .339 .695 32.6 17.8 10.4 0.8 SAN DIEGO 4-10 9-19 Portland 1-13 6-22 * WCC regular season champion # WCC Tournament champion SAN DIEGO PROBABLE STARTERS Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Pts. Reb. Sabine Loewe C 6-4 JR 7.9 5.5 THE JENNY Kaila Mangrum F 6-0 FR 3.2 3.0 CRAIG PAVILION: Ashley Voisinet F 5-10 JR 6.5 5.6 'Home of Torero Basketball' Tiara Harris G 5-10 SR 13.5 3.6 * The Jenny Craig Pavilion opened its Polly Dong G 5-6 SR 4.6 1.6 doors in October of 2000, and ever since has earned a sparkling reputation as one GONZAGA PROBABLE STARTERS of the fi nest athletic venues of its size. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Pts. Reb. Ashley Anderson F 6-1 SR 10.6 6.3 * Between 2001-03, the JCP hosted Stephanie Hawk F 6-3 FR 12.5 6.8 the West Coast Conference Basketball Juliann Laney G 6-0 SR 2.9 2.0 Championships for three straight years. Katy Ridenour G 5-11 JR 6.7 3.5 Jami Bjorklund G 5-11 FR 7.6 3.1 * The JCP, with a seating capacity of 5,100, is home to both women's and PORTLAND PROBABLE STARTERS men's basketball, as well as the women's Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Pts. Reb. volleyball squad. Megan Bermingham F 5-11 SO 10.9 5.3 Allyson Sievers F 6-2 FR 5.8 4.0 * The USD women's basketball team Rachel Warren C 6-3 JR 11.0 7.4 opened the JCP in grand fashion with the Whitney Grant G 5-6 SR 15.9 3.5 Torero Tip-Off on Dec. 2, 2000 against Rachel Stratton G 5-7 SO 3.8 0.9 the USC Trojans of the Pac-10.