USF Women's Basketball Heads To San Diego On Saturday :: Dons Take On Toreros In Only Game Of The Week

Feb. 4, 2008

USF TRAVELS TO SAN DIEGO ON SATURDAY FOR ONLY GAME OF THE WEEK: San Francisco has a bye on Thursday this week, playing it's only game in San Diego on Saturday. Tip-off against the Toreros at Jenny Craig Pavilion is set for 2:00 PM. The Dons finished week four of league play 1-1, downing Pepperdine 81-75 on Thursday (1/31). Senior Dominique Carter earned her 10th career double-double with 23 points and 13 rebound. Sophomore Heidi Heintz scored 21 on the night, with five rebounds and three assists. On Saturday, USF fell to Loyola Marymount, 68-64. Carter put up 23 in the loss.

CARTER CONTINUES ASSAULT ON CAREER SCORING CHART: A three-time West Coast Conference First Team selection, senior guard Dominique Carter enters Saturday against USD with 1,694 career points, good for second place on the USF career scoring list. The Tracy, CA native trails USF Hall-of-Famer Mary Hile (1977-81), who holds a comanding lead with 2,324 career points. In Conference charts, Carter surpassed Loyola Marymount's Bryn Britton (1998-2002/1,662), and now resides firmly in the number eight spot. She needs nine points to take the seventh spot from Gonzaga's Ivy Safranski (1991-95/1,702), and 10 to overtake Gonzaga's Jessica Malone (1998-2002/1,703), currently in sixth. Carter is second in the league in scoring this season at 19.6 points per contest and is third in free-throw percentage (.829/60-72).

SMILES FOR SIMMONS: Junior transfer Necolia Simmons continues to impress in her first year with USF. The 2007 JC Kodak All-American is a force for the Dons, averaging 11.4 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game this season. Simmons poured in a career-high 24 points with 10 rebounds in a triple overtime win at Colorado State (11/13/07). She then posted three consecutive games of 20 or more points, starting with 23 versus San Diego (1/12/08), 20 against Portland (1/17/08) and posted a double-double versus Gonzaga with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Heidi Heintz BREAKS OUT: Sophomore forward Heidi Heintz is enjoying an outstanding year for USF. The Dons fourth-leading scorer (10.0), Heintz has poured in 220 points through 22 games after scoring 199 in 31 games as a freshman. A 2007 West Coast Conference Freshman Team pick, Heintz scored a career-high 23 points in the Dons thrilling 101-96 triple overtime win at Colorado State (11/13/07), and earned her first ever triple-double in a 80-68 win over Saint Mary's (1/24/08) with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. She added a 21 point game in the 81-75 victory over Pepperdine (1/31/08).

ROLLINS CONTINUES TO ROLL FOR THE DONS: Junior Shay Rollins continues to produce as a floor general for USF. A 2007 All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention selection, Rollins poured in a career-high 22 points against Sacramento State (12/5/07). The Bay Area native poured in 18 points with four assists in 28 minutes in San Francisco's 80-62 victory against San Diego (1/12/07). On the year, Rollins ranks third on the team in scoring (11.6) and leads the team in assists (3.1) to go along with 3.6 rebounds per game.

IT'S RAINING THREES: In the preseason, head coach Tanya Haave challenged her team to improve its three point shooting. So far they've listened. Through 22 games of the 2007-08 season, USF has made 117 3-pointers - beating last season's tally of 89. The Dons are currently hitting threes at a .341 (117-343) clip, good for fourth place in the West Coast Conference standings. Last season San Francisco shot an anemic .254 from deep. Senior guard Dominique Carter leads the WCC from beyond the arc, shooting .476 (30-for-63).

A LOOK AHEAD: The Dons travel north next week, heading to Spokane, WA to meet the Gonzaga Bulldogs at 7:00 PM on Thursday (2/14) and then move on to Portland, OR to take on the University of Portland Pilots at 2:00 PM on Saturday (2/16).

GAME #23 - SAN DIEGO TOREROS

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO: The Toreros enter Saturday's game with USF with an 11-10 overall record and are 2-5 in conference play. In week four, USD earned their two conference wins by defeating Loyola Marymount 75-56 (1/31/08) and Pepperdine 83-72 (2/2/08). The Dons took the 80-62 win in the Toreros earlier visit to the Hilltop (1/12/08). On the leaderboard for San Diego, junior center Amber Sprague averages 16.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. Junior forward Kiva Herman earns 12.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game. Through 21 games, USD averages 70.2 points on .430 from the field, and a .713 (330-463) clip from the free-throw line. Cindy Fisher is in her 3rd year at the helm for the Toreros. She owns a 41-38 record at USD and is 100-119 for her 8 year career.

TEAM COMPARISONS - 2007-2008 SEASON (As of 2/4/08):
Team	PPG	Margin	FG%	3-FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	TOPG	SPG	BPG
USF	69.5	+1.1	.422	.341	.720	38.8	14.1	16.7		6.0	1.7
USD	70.2	+5.3	.430	.289	.713	41.8	14.5	18.1		7.0	3.7

USD PROBABLE STARTERS (As of 2/4/08)
G.   2 Amanda Rego, 5-10, Sr. (9.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 8.2 apg)
C.  21 Amber Sprague, 6-5, Jr. (16.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.2 bpg)
G.  24 Sam Child, 6-0, Fr. (10.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.2 apg)
F.  32 Kiva Herman, 6-0, Jr. (12.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.2 apg)
F.  50 Morgan Henderson, 6-1, So. (9.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.2 apg)

2008 SERIES MEETINGS: at USF 80, USD 62 (1/12/08)

SERIES RECORD/STREAK: USD leads 24-21/USF won two

Toreros AND DONS - THE SERIES: USD holds a 14-7 advantage in games played at San Diego... In their first meeting of 2008, junior Necolia Simmons led all scorers with 23 points, adding seven rebounds and a block... Junior Shay Rollins scored 18 points with three rebounds and four assists in the Dons and Toreros last meeting... Senior Dominique Carter also scored in the double figures, with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB:
Radio Broadcast: KUSF 90.3	Television: None
Internet Audio: Yes - USFDons.com (Yahoo Broadcast)
GameTracker: Yes
San Diego Official Website: www.USDToreros.com