Feb. 19, 2003

Carey Sauer 15th Member Of USF 1,000 Points Club Krueger Posts Third Straight Double-Double vs. Zags

ON THE ROAD AGAIN... THANK GOODNESS: USF makes a welcome return to the one place they have enjoyed more consistent success this season: the road. The Lady Dons place their 6-6 overall record and 3-2 West Coast Conference record on the line when they square off against Bay Area rival Santa Clara Thursday at the Leavey Center and Saturday in San Diego when they play San Diego in the final road contests of the 2003 WCC regular season. The task will not be easy as San Francisco seeks their first win against Santa Clara on their home floor since the 1997 campaign. Last season the two teams split the season series as USF downed the Broncos at home, snapping a 10-game losing streak. Santa Clara dispatched USF 57-41 Jan. 25. The Lady Dons have enjoyed more success against San Diego and swept the 2002 season series. The Toreros beat USF 61-57 Jan. 24 for their first win in War Memorial Gym since the 2000 campaign. As the league season enters its second to last week, the conference standings are a jumbled mess as competition for the top four seed and the coveted byes that come with an upper echelon finish intensifies. Santa Clara currently ranks alone in second place at 7-5, while USF and USD enter the weekend tied for fourth at 4-6.

LADY DONS AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS: Two Lady Dons rank in the top-15 among NCAA Division I statistical leaders, as released Feb. 17 Junior forward Carey Sauer, who finished the 2001-2002 season ranked third in free throw percentage at .918 (90-98), currently ranks sixth at .899 (80-89). Sophomore guard Toni Russell is 11th in steals per game with 3.6 swipes per outing.

PLAY THEM ALL ON THE ROAD: With a 71-61 victory at Pepperdine Jan. 31 and a 56-47 win at Loyola Marymount the next night, USF evened their 2002-2003 road record at 6-6, 3-2 during West Coast Conference action. Last season when the Lady Dons tallied a 18-12 overall record, they went 7-6 on the road, but posted a sparkling 10-5 mark at War Memorial Gym. USF is just 3-9 at home so far this season.

USF ON THE RADIO AND THE NET: USF women's basketball begins its seventh season on the radio and in cyberspace for the 2002-2003 season. All 28 USF Lady Dons regular season games will be broadcast this year on both the air (KUSF, 90.3 FM) and the web, courtesy of YahooBroadcast. Women's hoops fans can access the internet broadcasts from their personal computers from the official website of the USF Athletic Department, www.usfdons.com. George Devine, the Dean of women's basketball broadcasters in the West Coast Conference returns for his seventh season of bringing all the exciting play-by-play from his position courtside.

PROBABLE SANTA CLARA BRONCOS STARTERS (AS OF 2/18/03):
G. #30 Quinn Thomas, 5-9, So. (11.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.0 assists)
G. #20 Tammy Annas, 5-11, Sr. (11.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.5 steals)
G. #33 Kayla Huss, 5-7, So. (11.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 5.3 assists)
F. #44 Julie Butler, 6-2, Sr. (9.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.9 assists)
F. #52 Kendra Rhea, 6-0, Sr. (8.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.2 assists)

PROBABLE SAN DIEGO TORERO STARTERS (AS OF 2/18/03):
G. #3 Kerri Nakamoto, 5-6, Sr. (7.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.1 assists)
G. #12 Polly Dong, 5-6, Fr. (4.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 3.3 assists)
C. #34 Marta Menuez, 6-1, Jr. (11.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.7 assists)
F. #42 Erin Malich, 6-1, Sr. (14.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.8 assists)
F. #21 Marie Plocher, 5-9, Jr. (6.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.3 assists)

USF LADY DONS Probable Starters - (As Of 2/18/03):
G. #2 Toni Russell, 5-3, So. (8.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.7 assists, 3.6 steals)
G. #22 Joy Hollingsworth, 5-10, Fr. (10.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.0 steals)
G. #13 Merisa Leatherman, 5-10, Jr. (4.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.4 assists)
C. #5 Leeane Jensen, 6-3, So. (6.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.2 assists)
F. #42 Carey Sauer, 6-0, Jr. (15.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.0 assists)

SCOUTING SANTA CLARA: The Broncos are 16-7 so far in the 2002-2003 season and own a 7-3 West Coast Conference record, good for sole possession of second place in the league standings. Santa Clara has lost two out of their last four games with a home win against Gonzaga (65-41), followed by a loss at San Diego (80-77). The Broncos got back on track winning at Loyola Marymount last weekend (57-49) and dropped a thrilling loss in Malibu the next night to Pepperdine (66-64). The Broncos boast a high octane offense averaging 70.2 points per game on a remarkable .460 (611-1328) field goal percentage. The key to Santa Clara's success is balance. Three players average in double figures, led by sophomore guards Kayla Huss at 11.3 points per game and Quinn Thomas at 11.1. Senior guard Tammy Annas averages 11.0 points per game. Santa Clara has posted a 7-3 record at the Leavey Center this season. Michelle Bento is in her first season as the head coach of the Broncos in her first Division I coaching stop. Bento served as the top assistant at Big East power Syracuse.

SERIES RECORD/STREAK: Santa Clara leads 31-29/SCU won one

LAST MEETINGS: Santa Clara 57, at USF 41 (1/25/03)

TEAM COMPARISONS (AS OF 2/18/03):
Team    PPG     Margin  FG%     3-FG%   FT%     RPG     APG     TOPG    SPG     BPG
USF     58.2    -2.9    .384    .330    .742    34.2    11.5    17.1    9.0     2.1
SCU     70.2    +9.0    .460    .348    .726    37.0    19.4    21.7    10.8    3.4

LAST TIME AGAINST THE LADY DONS: USF dropped their fourth straight game with a poor showing against Santa Clara. The Lady Dons did little right, scoring a season low 41 points in a truly ugly game. Junior forward and freshman guard Joy Hollingsworth were the only players to reach double-digit scoring for San Francisco, each finishing with 10 points. Sauer pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO: The Toreros are off to a 10-13 start and have posted a 4-6 record in West Coast Conference play, which places them in a tie for fourth place with San Francisco. San Diego continued to it's strange season beating league contender Santa Clara (80-77) at the Jenny Craig Pavilion and but the next week got blown out at Pepperdine (90-52) and then lost the next night at Loyola Marymount ( 67-47). San Diego is vulnerable at home with a 5-6 record, but are 3-2 during WCC play. Senior forward Erin Malich leads a talented group of Torero post players and averages 14.4 points and a team-best 6.2 rebounds per outing. Junior center Marta Menuez adds 11.1 points and 5.7 rebounds to the mix, while senior guard Kerri Nakamoto chips in 7.1 points and dishes out 4.1 assists per night. As a team, San Diego averages 62.0 points per game, while converting at a .396 (515-1300) clip from the floor, including .321 (110-343) from 3-point range. The Toreros do not take care of the basketball very well and average 20.6 turnovers a night. Head coach Kathy Marpe is in her 23rd season at Alcala Park and has amassed 275 wins at USD and has 362 in her 29 year career.

SERIES RECORD/STREAK: USF leads 18-16/USD won one

LAST MEETING: San Diego 61, at USF 57 (1/24/03)

TEAM COMPARISONS (AS OF 2/18/03):
Team    PPG     Margin  FG%     3-FG%   FT%     RPG     APG     TOPG    SPG     BPG
USF     58.2    -2.9    .384    .330    .742    34.2    11.5    17.1    9.0     2.1
USD     62.0    -2.0    .396    .321    .671    36.9    14.8    20.6    9.0     2.3

LAST TIME AGAINST THE LADY DONS: USF could not make a 35-28 halftime lead stand and dropped a 61-57 decision against San Diego in their third straight league loss. USF shot the ball poorly (.344) and lost the battle of the boards 39-34. In addition, San Diego entered the game averaging more than 20 turnovers per game and the Lady Dons forced only 15, while committing 17. Junior forward Carey Sauer scored a team-high 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

SAUER NEWEST MEMBER OF GRAND CLUB: Junior forward Carey Sauer continued her assault on the USF career scoring charts and eclipsed 1,000 career points with a 13-point night against Portland (2/14/03). Sauer passed 900 points at Portland (1/18/03). So far in two-plus seasons, Sauer has scored 1,015 points and is the 15th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points and first since Lindsey Huff (1997-2002) achieved the plateau last season. Sauer ranks 14th on the USF career scoring charts and needs 72 points to surpass former teammate Sarah Wanless (1995-2000) in 13th place. Wanless scored 1,086 points in her career on the Hilltop. Sauer has reached double-figures in scoring 51 times on the Hilltop in 82 career games. A 2002 All-West Coast Conference First Team selection, Sauer scored an amazing 2,100 points during her prep career in Washington.

MARY JANE KRUEGER DOUBLE-DIPS CONTINUE: Junior forward Mary Jane Krueger made a welcome return to the lineup against Saint Mary's, turning in her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Krueger began practicing last week after recovering from a staph infection in her knee. Her contest against the Gaels was her first since Jan. 3 at UC Irvine. Since making her return against Saint Mary's Krueger has posted three consecutive double-doubles for the Lady Dons, including a 15 point, 12 rebound effort in a win against Gonzaga (2/15/03).

LADY DONS LAY-UPS - Junior forward Carey Sauer continues her assault on the USF career scoring charts. Sauer currently has 1,015 points in three plus seasons on the Hilltop, becoming the 14th Lady Don to surpass 1,000 career points against Gonzaga (2/15/03). Sauer needs 71 points to pass Sarah Wanless (1995-2000) for 13th place on the all-time scoring list.

- San Francisco snapped an eight-game home losing streak when they beat Gonzaga 59-57 (2/15/03). It was the first win at Memorial Gym since Nov. 29 for the Lady Dons and just the third of the season. USF is 3-9 at home in 2002-2003.

- With 87 steals this season, sophomore guard Toni Russell already ranks fourth in the USF single-season record books. Russell also holds the sixth spot with 78 last season. Current USF coach Mary Hile-Nepfel (1979-80) is the single-season record holder with 135.

- Sophomore guard Toni Russell leads the West Coast Conference and ranks 11th nationally with 3.6 steals per game. Before being shutout against UC Irvine, Russell had recorded at least one steal in 13 straight contests this season and 19 straight games looking back to the 2001-2002 season. In her career Russell has failed to record a steal in just five games..