Spring Break recap

Torero athletes remained diligent over the break

Amara Brooks / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

While many students took off to Europe, Cabo and various other spring break hot spots to relax this past week, the work did not stop for student athletes. Both women’s and men’s basketball closed off their season in Las Vegas at the WCC Tournament, and softball and baseball hit it out of the park as their spring season kicked into full swing. 

Women’s Basketball 

Women’s basketball had an electric regular season, finishing with a 17-12 winning record. The team traveled to Las Vegas and started the 2023 WCC Tournament as No. 3 seed, with their first game against No. 6 seed Portland. Just a week before, the Toreros hosted Portland at the Jenny Craig Pavilion for their senior game, where they had an electric 74-58 win. However, the team fell to Portland after they stole the game at the free throw line, with a score of 57-71. USD seniors Kiera Oakry and Kasey Neubert led the Toreros offense, as both scored  12 points. This was also a big game for USD senior Myah Pace, whose two steals in the game placed her third on the Toreros all-time steals list. 

USD senior Ayanna Khalfani was named WCC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, making her the second consecutive Torero to win the honor. Since Jan. 28, Khalfani has averaged 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 17.1 points per game in her last eight games of the season. Khalfani has proven herself to be an integral part in both defensive and offensive efforts on the team. Oakry was also awarded the WCC’s All Academic Team and her first All-WCC honors. Oakry had the strongest season of her career and was a reliable scorer for the Toreros. At her career best, she averaged 10.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.

On Monday the team announced they will be hosting the WNIT Opening Round.   

Men’s Basketball 

Along with the women’s team, the No. 9 seed men’s basketball headed to Las Vegas where they faced No. 8 seed Portland during the first round of the WCC Tournament. The team had a crushing 92-74 defeat after Portland managed to score 10 free throws in the last three minutes of the game. USD fifth-year guard Marcellus Earlington led the team with 15 points and eight rebounds during the game. In his return after being out for the past six games, USD graduate guard Eric Williams Jr. placed 15 points, five rebounds and two assists on the board. The team ended their season with a 11-20  record. 

The league named Earlington to All-WCC Second Team. Earlington is ranked fifth in the conference, averaging 17.3 points per game and ninth in rebounds, averaging 6.8 per game. Earlington became the first player in program history to score at least 30 points in back-to-back games this season. Earligton was impressive at the free throw line, shooting 80% on high volume.

Softball 

Softball stayed busy with eight games scheduled over the duration of spring break. The team went into the break with the San Diego Classic. The San Diego Classic was co-hosted by USD and San Diego State University, with the games played between the two universities’ stadiums. The Toreros finished the tournament with a 3-1 record, defeating SDSU, Montana twice, and suffering a crushing loss against Boston University. The team’s dominant pitching allowed them earn back-to-back shutouts against State (4-0) and Montana (12-0) day one of the tournament. The win over Montana marks the first time since 1999 that the Toreros have recorded their largest margin of victory in a shutout.   

Following the San Diego Classic, the team had a San Diego Tournament where they were scheduled to face three opponents. Saturday’s games against Michigan State and Western Carolina were canceled due to weather and field conditions. The team picked back up the next day with games against Western Carolina and Yale. The Toreros had an impressive 8-1 win over Western Carolina and a defeating 1-4 loss against Yale. 

Baseball

Baseball traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, for a series of games against No. 10 Texas Christian University (TCU). The team competed in a three-game against TCU at Lupton Stadium and started the series with an impressive 14-2 victory against the Frogs. The Toreros secured their victory by scoring multiple runs in each of the first five innings of the game, with a high of five runs in the fifth inning. Redshirt Junior James Sashin had his best start yet, keeping TCU to just one run in six hits, striking out six and walking none. The Toreros lost the last two games of the series by close margins, a 1-3 defeat for game two and 4-5 in game three. USD junior infielder Kevin Sim had a home run in game two and was responsible for the team’s only run scored. 

Men’s Golf

Men’s golf competed in the Lamkin San Diego Classic. San Diego golf placed sixth out of the 15 teams competing.

USD junior Andi Xu and redshirt senior Harrison Kingsley both carded five-under 211s in the event. Xu improved each time out with rounds of 74, 69 and 68, while Kingsley recorded rounds of 72, 65 and 74.

This coming weekend the team heads to Arizona to compete in the two day Arizona NIT.