Despite big game from Conners, Toreros fall short

After suffering a gut-wrenching overtime loss to St. Mary’s at home less than a month ago, the USD women’s basketball team found itself in prime position to earn a little revenge in last Saturday’s game with the Lady Gaels in Moraga. Another tremendous chance, another wasted opportunity.
St. Mary’s overcame a ten-point USD first-half lead and held on to defeat the feisty Lady Toreros 60-54 behind a huge combined effort between Louella Thompson and Jontelle Smith. Thompson contributed a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Smith was the Gaels’ leading scorer with 18 points, in addition to her 8 boards.
USD seized control with a 15-6 run throughout the middle stages of the first half that put them up 28-18 with 6:54 remaining.  However, the Lady Gaels quickly responded with a run of their own to narrow the gap to 33-32 at the break.
The Gaels opended the second half by going on a huge 16 to 5 run and pulled ahead 48-36 with less than thirteen minutes left in the contest.
St. Mary’s appeared ready to put the game away, but USD refused to quit.  Sophomore guard Dominique Conners, the game’s high scorer with 20 points, slashed through the defense for a lay-up which ignited a furious comeback that cut the  Lady Gaels lead to 50-47 with 8:37 to go.
It was a back-and-forth finish from there on out, but unfortunately for USD, that three-point deficit was the smallest they’d see for the duration of the game.  Saint Mary’s was able to make enough free throws down the stretch to keep the Lady Toreros at bay as they put themselves in a position to secure the second seed in the upcoming WCC Tournament with a win over Pepperdine on Thursday night.
In addition to Conners’ efforts, USD had two other players score in double digits. Morgan Woodrow had 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting while junior Sam Child put in 11. 
The team, now .500 in conference at 6-6, heads to Loyola Marymount University today before closing out the regular season at when they travel to take on the Waves of Pepperdine, who currently sit third in the WCC.