Women’s basketball starts season off strong

Big wins over San Diego State and Hawaii critical to USD’s early success 

MARI OLSON / SPORTS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

The University of San Diego women’s basketball team started their season on Tuesday, Nov. 9 with a big win over the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and their early success continued as the games started to stack up. 

The Toreros’ big win over the San Diego State University (SDSU) Aztecs on Wednesday, Dec. 1, was yet another stepping stone towards a highly successful season for USD. The team won 63-51 against SDSU at Viejas Arena, outscoring the Aztecs in all but the second quarter.  

Senior guard, Steph Gorman, led the Toreros with 14 points on Wednesday evening, while graduate student guard, Sydney Hunter, had 11 rebounds to propel USD to the win. 

The City Championship, as the rivalry game is known locally, is a big deal for the team’s season. Head coach, Cindy Fisher, described what it meant for the team to topple the Aztecs. 

“It was a big win, that’s a big rival,” Fisher said. “I think especially for our super seniors, who are back and wanted to go out with a big win against San Diego State, I think it was really special to them.” 

Coming out of a tough preseason with a 5-2 record in their first seven games of the season puts the Toreros in a good place going forward. Fisher discussed the team’s mentality and focus for these first few games. 

“I’ve been really, really pleased with the effort, we’re a big defensive team. [The team] really [believes] in that and they know that’s what makes us successful,” Fisher said. “It’s something we work on every day and continue to get better at.” 

There were some losses in these first few weeks, however, the team figured out how to overcome them. Fisher notes that players stepped up when asked to perform new roles for the good of the team. 

“Losing [redshirt senior guard] Myah Pace, who is obviously one of our key players and has been for four years, in the first game against Hawaii to a torn Achilles, you know, it was a little shocking for us,” Fisher admitted. “But the team has really rallied together and other people have stepped up big in her absence.” 

The Toreros were also without graduate-student point guard, Jordyn Edwards, for the SDSU game as well as the matchup against the University of Nebraska, which has affected the team as well. 

“Having those two people not on the floor has been an adjustment for everybody,” Fisher said. “We’ll be really excited to get Jordyn back and back on the floor for us.”

Pace and Edwards were both picked as part of the All-West Coast Conference (WCC) Preseason Team, voted on by the coaches in the league. 

Even without the two experienced guards, though, the Torero women’s basketball team is still finding ways to win games, which is the best way to achieve the goals they have set for the end of the season. 

“Our goals are to win the WCC championship and also be regular season champions outright and then also to be a postseason team,” Fisher explained. “Having a 20-win season and putting ourselves on the top of the WCC going into the tournament is very important to us.”

The Toreros are already more than a quarter of the way to that 20-win season, with 29 games in the season, but there is still a lot more work to be done, something Fisher emphasizes to her players. 

“With that goal comes a lot of games and a lot of practices and we just have to continue to grow and grow as a unit,” Fisher said. 

That growth will come in the team’s focus on their defensive tactics, which Fisher said is something she “preaches every day.” 

“Getting our younger players, freshman and even sophomores from last year up to speed with what our defensive system is and what our philosophy is and really understanding how to execute that,” is key to the Torero’s continued success, Fisher said. “Our defense produces the offense for us. Defensive rebounding, for us to be successful, we’re going to have to continue to do that well.”

The Toreros played California State University, Northridge (CSUN) away on Sunday, Dec. 11. USD ground out yet another win, beating CSUN 83-70 in overtime. Gorman led the team again with 22 points, while Hunter had six of the team’s 37 total rebounds. The win was Fisher’s 300th with the USD program.

USD’s WCC season will kick off on Dec. 30 against Brigham Young University (BYU), who was picked to win the WCC championship in the preseason poll. The Toreros were picked to finish third.

The women’s basketball team will look to capitalize on their early success by continuing to win games. USD will be back at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Dec. 18 against Arizona State University.