USD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Rego carries Toreros to Dance

By TOM SHANAHAN - For the North County Times | Monday, March 10, 2008 3:51 PM PDT ∞

University of San Diego players and coaches pose with the WCC Championship Trophy after beating Gonzaga 70-66 in the women's championship basketball game at the West Coast Conference tournament Sunday, March 9, 2008, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

SAN DIEGO ---- First, they posed for traditional celebration photos wearing freshly minted T-shirts proclaiming them "West Coast Conference Tournament Champions."

Then, University of San Diego women's basketball players, celebrating the WCC tournament title earned with a 70-66 win over Gonzaga on Sunday, pulled out white hard hats with "GO TO WORK" painted in USD blue for more photos.

That had been the theme all season for the preseason conference favorites, and never was the attitude more important than after USD stumbled to a 0-5 start in WCC play. Well, actually, it might have been more important in the final moments of Sunday's tournament final.

The Toreros withstood a furious comeback by Gonzaga, the regular-season conference champion and defending WCC tournament champion, to upset the Bulldogs before 3,371 fans at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Next up for the 19-12 Toreros: an NCAA tournament berth thanks to the automatic bid that goes to the conference tournament champ. It will be their first NCAA appearance since 2000.

USD senior point guard Amanda Rego, the hometown kid from Mission Bay High just down the hill from the Alcala Park campus, was named tournament MVP.

"This whole thing feels so surreal," Rego said. "This is something I wanted to do since the moment I first stepped on campus. All the hours of work and all the tears paid off. This is absolutely amazing."

Rego finished with 10 points and 12 assists, but her final stats don't tell the whole story. She played the entire 40 minutes, committing only two turnovers against Gonzaga's pressure defense.

Many USD baskets came as a result of Rego passing to a teammate who was in a better position to relay a second pass for a field goal. She also frequently found a teammate in position to drive to the basket.

"It starts right here with our point guard," USD coach Cindy Fisher said. "It always has and always will until she walks out of this program, and hopefully that won't be anytime soon. Amanda Rego had another outstanding game."

USD jumped to a 27-10 lead in the game's first 10 minutes as sophomore forward Morgan Henderson buried three 3-pointers during a 12-2 run. Rego would penetrate, wait for the defense to collapse on her, then find Henderson open behind the arc.

"Rego does such a good job of penetrating, and then we helped on her too much," Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves said. "We were late getting back to Henderson. She hasn't made a lot 3-pointers this year, but she's a good shooter."

Henderson, a 6-1 forward from Leawood, Kan., finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. She was 6-of-8 from 3-point range, although she entered having made only 36 in 30 previous games.

Joining Rego and Henderson in double figures were junior guard Kiva Herman (16), junior center Amber Sprague (14) and freshman Sam Child (10).

Gonzaga (24-8), which will hope for an NCAA at-large berth, received a game-high 25 points from sophomore forward Heather Bowman, the WCC player of the year.