March 7, 2003

Quotes

(San Diego) - It is often said it is difficult to beat a team three times. Unfortunately for the USF, San Diego encountered little trouble dispatching the Lady Dons 66-54 in the quarterfinals of the 2003 West Coast Conference Tournament Friday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. San Francisco (12-17), the #4 seed once again could not find a solution to a strong inside outside game featured by the Toreros (13-16).

USF took a 9-6 lead on a pair of free throws by junior forward Carey Sauer at the 11:59 mark, but it was all San Diego from there. The Toreros took a 29-23 advantage into the locker room at halftime. USD extended their lead to as many as 15 points in the second half and the Lady Dons looked completely out of it for much of the half.

San Francisco cut the lead to six points, 58-52 with 3:39 remaining on a jumper by freshman guard Joy Hollingsworth, but USF would get no closer as the Toreros improved to 3-0 against USF this season.

One of the few things keeping the Lady Dons in the contest was a nearly perfect night at the charity stripe, where USF went 20-21. Sauer, who entered the game ranked in the top-five among NCAA Division I leaders in free throw percentage, drained 10-of-10 and finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Hollingsworth scored 13 points, while junior center Mary Jane Krueger added 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

NOTES: Sauer finished the season with 1,106 career points, good for 13th place in the career scoring charts. Sophomore guard Toni Russell finishes the season with 95 steals, good for third place on the single-season list and her 173 career steals is good for eighth place on the all-time chart.