Torero Athletics: USD Faces No. 1 Gonzaga Thursday; Sports Roundup

The USD men’s basketball team is no stranger to its opponent this Thursday. Gonzaga, actually, really needs no introduction.

For USD players, coaches and anyone else competing in basketball in the West Coast Conference, the Bulldogs are the standard. But what is different this year is a 28-0 overall and 16-0 WCC record and the fact that Gonzaga is ranked No. 1 in the nation. They’re the lone undefeated Division I team left. Gonzaga enters the 91st meeting with USD — a sold-out 7 p.m. tipoff in the Jenny Craig Pavilion — with a 68-22 series lead. The Bulldogs beat the Toreros, 79-43, on Jan. 26 in Spokane, Wash.

The last time USD defeated Gonzaga was Feb. 23, 2014, a 69-66 triumph in the JCP over the then-22nd-ranked Bulldogs. Gonzaga has since won the last five meetings.

Thursday’s game will be broadcast on TheW.tv, Spectrum Sportsnet (ROOT Northwest) and on ESPN Radio 1700 AM.

Coach Lamont Smith’s Toreros, owners of a 12-16 overall mark and 5-11 in WCC play, will show up and be ready. Sophomore Olin Carter led USD with 12 points in the teams’ first meeting. Carter, Brett Bailey, who is USD’s lone senior and a Spokane native, and Cameron Neubauer, a junior, are among the key Torero players.

USD does come into the game on a bit of a high. Sophomore guard Tyler Williams' 17-foot jumper at the buzzer gave USD a double-overtime 60-58 win at Santa Clara on Feb. 18. The win snapped a five-game skid — USD had lost to BYU 82-70 on Feb. 16 — and it avenged USD’s Jan. 12 home loss to the Broncos.

After Thursday’s game, USD closes out the regular season with a 6 p.m. home game Saturday against Portland. Bailey will be feted on Senior Night.

Women's Basketball: Senior Hamilton's Shot Sinks Santa Clara

After a 65-47 home loss against BYU on Feb. 16, the USD women's basketball team needed a pick-me-up going into its regular-season home finale on Feb. 18. On Senior day, against Santa Clara, not only did Katherine Hamilton — and Cori Woodward and Edi Utibe — get feted by the Torero team, family and fans, but she also made it memorable with a game-winning shot with three seconds left to lift USD to a 60-58 WCC victory.

The wild win came after there were 12 lead changes and neither team led by more than five points. Hamilton's shot gave her 11 points. Woodward led the Toreros with 16 points, including nine points in the game's last five minutes.

In the loss to BYU, USD was led by Aubrey Ward-El's 15 points and Caroline Buhr's 12. Buhr and Sydney Williams each had seven rebounds.

USD (12-14, 6-10) finishes WCC regular-season play this week with road games at Gonzaga on Thursday and at Portland Saturday.

Baseball: Toreros Win Opener, But Lose Series vs. Vanderbilt

The USD baseball team came into its season-opening series, at home, against the No. 6 ranked team in the nation, Vanderbilt. In Game 1 on Feb. 16, moved up a day due to the forecasted rain, the Toreros' top starter, sophomore left-hander Nick Sprengel, delivered. He struck out nine in five innings of work and USD topped the Commodores, 3-2. Sprengel received WCC Pitcher of the Week honors for his effort.

Then came Game 2 and 3 which, due to rain, turned the weekend into a messy schedule. The teams played six innings on Feb. 17 before the game was halted and suspended. Vanderbilt led 8-2 at the time. Saturday's continuation never materialized and pushed completion of the second game to Sunday where the 8-2 lead held up for Vanderbilt. Then later that same afternoon, Vanderbilt won 11-1 to take the series.

So USD (1-2) enters this weekend's Tony Gwynn Memorial Classic looking to improve. USD will be joined by Oregon, UC Irvine and Notre Dame at Fowler Park for games starting Friday. USD opens with Notre Dame at 6 p.m. Friday. USD will oppose either Oregon or UCI at 5 p.m. Saturday. The tournament's consolation and championship games will be played Sunday and 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. USD also plays a single game Monday at 6 p.m. against Oregon.

Women's Swim/Dive: School Record Performances at MPSF Championships

The USD women's swim and dive team finished seventh in the MPSF Championship meet Feb. 15-18, but a few individuals and a two relay teams set school records and senior Bri Jurries won the 200-yard breaststroke for the second year in a row on the meet's final day at East Los Angeles College.

Jurries' time of 2 minutes, 13.15 seconds enabled her to become the first Torero to win the same event back-to-back since Keenan Lineback won the 1650 freestyle in 2013 and 2014.

The Toreros' 200 medley relay (Missy Beall, Jurries, Danielle Taylor and Alex Hubel) and 800 free relay (Mackenna Briggs, Danielle Deiparine, Taylor and Hubel) set school records on the first day of the competition. The 200 medley relay time was 1:42.57 while the 800 free relay actually had two school record-setting efforts. The team finished in 7:18.58 and Briggs' 200 leg of the relay (1:48.24) set a new mark.

On the second day, Briggs set another school record in the 500 free, breaking a 12-year-old record in a time of 4:51.08. On the third day, Briggs broke her own 200 free record in the individual event in 1:48.13.

Softball: Team Goes 1-2 in Rain-Shortened Tournament

Rain washed out a full day of play and the USD softball team could only muster one win in three games it did play in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif., last weekend.

The Toreros fell, 6-2, to Kent State but then topped Utah Valley, 10-9, in games played on Feb. 17. In the win against Utah Valley, USD had a seven-run fourth inning and Olivia Sandusky's game-winning single drove in the tying and winning runs in the eighth inning. Sandusky also had a two-run double in the fourth inning.

Rain then wiped out potential games with Arkansas and Cal Poly on Feb. 18, but USD and Arkansas were able to get in their game on Feb. 19 with Arkansas coming away with a 13-1 triumph in five innings.

The Toreros (3-5) host the San Diego Classic I March 3-5 at the USD Softball Complex.

Men's Tennis: Team Blanks Hawaii in Lone Match

The rain in Southern California affected two of the three scheduled home matches for the USD men's tennis team, but the one they did play, against the University of Hawaii on Feb. 19, was a satisfying 7-0 victory.

Rain cancelled matches against North Carolina Wilmington and Fresno State, but USD quickly won the doubles point against Hawaii with a pair of 6-0 wins from No. 1 doubles Filip Vittek and Guus Koevermans and No. 3 doubles Joshua Page and Alexandros Araouzos.

Singles victories were then turned in by Koevermans, Page, Gui Osorio, Joel Gamerov, Araouzos and Garrett Kurtz for USD.

The Toreros (4-2) play a doubleheader on Saturday against UC Irvine at 10 a.m. and then open West Coast Conference play against Saint Mary's at 2 p.m. Both matches are at USD's Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center, located behind the Mother Rosalie Hill Hall building.

Golf: Team Finishes 8th in Home Tournament

The men's golf team opened its spring season by hosting its own tournament, the PRO Compression Invitational at The Farms Golf Club (par-72) in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., Feb. 13-14.

The Toreros shot a three-round total of 895 to finish eighth place, 31 strokes behind the winner, UC Santa Barbara, which finished at 12-under-par (852). Senior Nick Baines was USD's top golfer, finishing 11th overall with an even-par 216 (72-69-75). Daniel Lopez tied for 26th overall at 224 (75-76-73).

The golf team is playing in The Prestige tournament at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif. Feb. 20-22.

Sport Shorts: Men’s Crew, Women’s Tennis, Football

The USD men's rowing team will kick off its spring season by competing in the City Championship races against UC San Diego beginning at 7 a.m. this Saturday at Mission Bay … USD Football will have its annual Blue and White spring game at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Torero Stadium … The women’s tennis team returns to action after two weeks off with a noon home match Sunday against Arizona State.

For all USD Athletics news, scores and information, visit the website and follow on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.