USD Women's Basketball 2007-2008

TOREROS LOCKED, LOADED AND READY FOR NCAA TOURNAMENT RUN The 2007-08 University of San

fill Winther's role. One of those players is junior Kiva Herman. Her– man became another weapon in the USD arsenal this past season as she had flashes of brilliance, drop– ping in a career-high 17 points in a win against Saint Mary's. For the season, Herman averaged 5.4 points per game as well as 2.7 rebounds. Along with the slashing Her– man, senior guard Alcha Strane expects to have a breakout type of year. Strane is known for her sharp shooting and with her on the court along with Rego, USD can do some interesting things with one run– ning the break and the other on the wing. In her first season in a Torero uniform, Strane averaged 1.3 points per game and had 10 assists. Fisher and her staff are confident those numbers will rise in her senior cam– paign. Fisher is confident that the Tore– ros' post game could develop into one of the strongest in the WCC. Along with Sprague, junior Kaila Mangrum makes her return for the Toreros for year three. Mangrum is a big and strong player, who has done a lot of work over the off-sea– son improving her offensive skills. Her defensive skills came in big for USD down the stretch this past sea– son and coach Fisher only expects her to grow from last season. As a sophomore, Mangrum averaged 1.0 points per game and 1.7 rebounds per game. The coaching staff is also excited about redshirt freshman Erica Carl– son. Carlson, a 6-4 Tucson, Ariz. na– tive, was a first-team All-4A Sonoran League honoree her senior season at Canyon Del Oro High School. As a senior, she averaged a double-dou– ble with 14.6 points per game and 12.9 rebounds per game. The remaining two returners for the Toreros, Hannah Morgenstern and Sarah VanderHorst, will not play this season, as each has suf-

Diego women's basketball sea– son will be much like a new sea– son of a popular television series. Each season, a television show has the same name and airs on the same network but often in– troduces new characters and new storylines. While the prem– ise and main characters of the show remain the same from year to year, each season is filled with new adventures, new drama and a whole lot of entertainment. Over the years, USD women's basketball has provided many chills and thrills. It's a storyline that seems to get better and better with each season. While the past two seasons have been vastly different, with the 2005-06 squad, Fisher's first season at the helm, posting a 9-19 mark, then this past season, USD posted the biggest turn around in program history, a 12-game improvement to finish 21-9, the program's first- 20 win season. Each season had its' own cast of players who cre– ated their own storylines and style of play. Gone from last season's record-setting team are defensive specialist Ashley Voisi– net and Sabine Loewe, but USD's cupboard is far from bare. Highlighting the returners for the Toreros this season will be the defending West Coast Con– ference Co-Player of the Year, Amanda Rego. Rego became the first player in the history of the program to take home confer– ence Player of the Year honors, after leading the nation with 8.1 assists per game. Rego set a new program single-season record with 230 assists, and steals with 80. "I know that with Rego being a senior, she wants to end her career on a high note and she definitely wants to win a cham-

pionship here and go to the NCAA tournament," stated Fisher. Another key returner for the To– reros will be the return of first-team AII-WCC performer Amber Sprague. Sprague returns after leading the team with a 14.8 points per game average and team-leading 7.9 re– bounds per game. Sprague also ranked in the conference's top-three in both scoring (14.6 ppg-3rd) and rebounding (7.9 rpg-2nd) . "Amber has made such a big step in the off-season. She has become a stronger leader, more vocal, and I think Amber will have a breakout type year," said Fisher. Another AII-WCC performer who returns is sophomore forward Mor– gan Henderson. As a freshman she played a huge role in helping lead USD to a 20-win season. Hender– son averaged 8.6 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game, not to mention becoming a huge threat from beyond the arc, as she tallied the second most threes on the team with 33. A blow to the Toreros was the loss of junior guard Kelly Winther to the season with an injury, but coach Fisher and her staff are confident that several players can step up and