Defense guides USD to win versus LMU

Toreros hold Lions under 30% shooting, force 26 turnovers in 51-43 victory

Eric Boose / Sports Editor

The University of San Diego women’s basketball team’s characteristically strong defense meant that an 18-point fourth quarter was enough to get the hosts over the line against the visiting Loyola Marymount University in Thursday’s low-scoring contest. Neither team made more than a third of their shots and, after trailing 19-18 at halftime, the Toreros mustered more offense than the Lions could in the second half to earn the win. 

USD, who leads the West Coast Conference in steals (187), steals per game (14.38), and turnover margin (+7.23), racked up 16 steals and forced 10 additional turnovers, but could not score enough to ever pull too far away from LMU. San Diego’s largest lead of the game, 10 points, came well into the fourth quarter, as their shooters had finally found some rhythm. 

The Toreros won the tip to start the game and started the first quarter well, hitting an early shot and stifling LMU. It took over three minutes for the Lions to get on the board and over five to make their first field goal, but USD’s missed shots and fouls let the visitors finish the quarter up 13-10. 

The second quarter was more of the same for San Diego. They played tenacious defense, frequently unleashing a full-court press to contain LMU’s offense and force turnovers. But the Toreros still missed plenty of shots, including all four of their free throws in the quarter, and a wide-open three at the buzzer. Having made only a quarter of their shots in the first half, redshirt senior guard Jordyn Edwards explained how hard it was for the team to avoid frustration and stay focused.

“Sometimes I do get a bit frustrated, but my teammates are really good at picking me up,” Edwards said. “Whenever we see someone down or frustrated we try to pick each other up.”

Despite their rough first half on Thursday, head coach Cindy Fisher stood by her team’s shooting, saying that it comes down to confidence.

“You know, shooters are just rhythm, they could come out on Saturday and shoot at 45, 50%, so I think it’s just continuing allowing them to shoot, making sure they are comfortable shooting, giving them the confidence to shoot it, and continuing to work hard,” Fisher said. “It will come, because I see it in practice every day … Any time that you’re confident that you have good offensive rebounders, it gives you the confidence to shoot the ball, so it will continue to get better.”

And in the second half, it did get better. San Diego shot 37.5% from the field in the third quarter, and 42.86% in the fourth, taking the lead and slowly building it until the game was just out of the Lions’ (who improved on their first-half shooting as well) reach. 

Fisher and Edwards agreed that the Toreros’ scoring came from a more aggressive offense, attacking the paint more frequently. 

“I thought all of them did a really good job, especially Jordyn, getting inside the paint and getting a couple of those floaters,” Fisher said. “Myah (Pace) had a couple nice pull-up jumpers, Kendall (Bird) had some good attacks, that nice high-low with Laura (Erikstrup), I thought we just had more opportunities to get nice shots in the paint, and I thought they worked really hard for those.”

“In the beginning of the game I was a little timid, I think I was a little more passive,” Edwards said. “I was getting to the rim and to the middle of the key but I was just more passive, and then my coaches just told me I need to be more aggressive. Once I did that, just changed my mindset, I was able to still get into the key and make those little floaters.”

Edwards, despite scoring only two points in the first half, finished with a game-high 13, plus nine rebounds, five assists, and five steals, all team highs. 

However, as good as USD’s defense was, and even though their second-half offense got the Toreros to a win, there was still room for improvement for Fisher’s team, especially with two games in the following four days, including a rematch with LMU in Los Angeles.

Three-point shooting was at the top of Fisher’s list of improvements to make after San Diego’s 0-9 performance beyond the arc on Thursday, as were limiting fouls (USD committed 16) and second-chance opportunities. LMU pulled down seven offensive rebounds in the first half, which Fisher called “not normal.” 

San Diego blew out the Pepperdine Waves in a 70-45 home win on Saturday, but the real test was Monday’s game in LA.

Fisher’s team allowed only six offensive rebounds over the entire game in Los Angeles on Monday, giving up only three second-chance points in their 74-64 win over the Lions. San Diego’s three-point shooting improved as well. The Toreros drained five of their 13 shots from beyond the arc, with guard Steph Gorman leading the way with four. Gorman added seven steals as the San Diego defense stayed aggressive, forcing a total of 17 turnovers. 

At the time of printing, the Toreros are scheduled to begin a three-game road trip today, Feb. 11, against St. Mary’s before returning home on Feb. 18 against the Portland Pilots in a rematch of last year’s WCC Tournament championship game, which the Pilots won in last-second fashion in overtime. Today’s game against the Gaels in Moraga is scheduled to tip off at 6:30 p.m.