Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- Three Portland players scored in double figures, but the San Diego Toreros shot a torrid 53 percent from the floor en route to a 72-54 win over the Pilots in a West Coast Conference women’s basketball game played on Thursday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Freshman Ellen Nurmi led the way offensively for Portland with a team-high 11 points.
But it was the Toreros who had it going offensively all night long. San Diego shot 32-for-60 from the field and used a big 48-22 advantage in points in the paint to open up a 20-point lead in the second half. Amy Kame scored a game-high 16 points, which allowed the Toreros to build upon a 37-28 lead at the half.
The game was close early as the two teams exchanged the lead several times during the first 15 minutes. Portland’s biggest lead came when sophomore Alexis Byrd followed a Nurmi jumper with a pair of free throws to push the score to 25-21 in UP’s favor. But the Toreros answered with a 16-3 run to end the first half, and San Diego entered the locker room with a nine-point advantage.
The Toreros continued their offensive outburst in the second half and would soon lead 61-41 with about nine minutes left to play. The lead would swell to 24 points, and Portland would get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
Nurmi hit five of seven from the field to lead the Pilots in scoring for the fourth time this season. She also added four assists. Byrd scored 10, as did freshman Annika Holopainen, and Byrd handed out a team-best five assists.
Kame, Klara Wischer and Maya Hood each shot 6-for-10 from the floor, and Kame was four of six from the free throw line en route to game high in points. Wischer finished with 12 points and Hood has 12.
San Diego’s Katelyn McDaniel had a game-high nine rebounds to help the Toreros claim a 38-31 edge on the glass.
Portland combined to shoot 38.6 percent (22-for-57) overall, was 4-for-14 on three-pointers and went six of 10 at the foul line. USD hit two of four three-point attempts and was six of 14 from the charity stripe.
The Pilots next head north for a WCC game against the Santa Clara Broncos on Saturday. Tip-off at the Leavey Center is set for 2 p.m.
