Lauren Ceballos / Sports Editor

With two games left in the season, the Lady Toreros are celebrating their accomplishments, in addition to their wins, this basketball season so far.

USD women’s basketball tipped off their season with a blowout game against Chapman University, ending in favor of Toreros with a score of 92-38 on Nov. 6, 2023. USD junior Kylie Horstmeyer held the first season high for points scored within a game, 14 points against Chapman. Redshirt senior Kasey Neubert worked for her first double double of the season and seventh of her career, as well as the team’s first this season. USD graduate student, Dylan Horton, scored the first points of the season with a three pointer. This game was the most points scored by Toreros since Dec. 11, 2020 and the third season- opener that Toreros have won, with 49 fast break points and 28 assists among the team, according to USD Athletics.

Following their first game and win of the season, the women’s team wanted more, resulting in a win against Portland State on Nov. 11, 2023, with a final score of 71-43. Horstmeyer was the lead scorer for the second game in a row while Neubert notched another double double, making it the eighth of her career. With help from lead scorers: Horstmeyer, Neubert, USD juniors Harsimran Kaur and Courtney Wristen, the lead grew to 28 points within the game.

A few games later, in Torero’s game against Princeton on Nov. 19 2023, USD sophomore Veronica Sheffey tallied a career high of five steals. Kaur already logged nine blocks by this point and had 10 rebounds, a career high. At the Dana on Mission Bay Thanksgiving Tournament, USD fought to keep the lead against Weber State, 56-53. USD first-year Mila Wawszkowicz had a season high of seven points.

On Nov. 29, 2023 in their game against Nevada, Sheffey scored a career high of 18 points and Wristen a career high of 17.

USD junior guard Claire Gallagher made her return to the court after a knee injury in Toreros’ game against currently ranked No.7 USC but at the time ranked No. 6 on Dec. 3, 2023. Toreros came in hot during the first half, having a tied game of 17-17 in the first half. Toreros ultimately lost the lead but played competitively against one of the top teams in the nation.

The game against SDSU on Dec. 7 featured Sheffey’s career high of 23 points and eight assists. Toreros lost but made it a close game with a final score of 67-63.

USD first-year Lauren McCall matched her high of seven points within the first 10 minutes of the Winter Classic Opener in late December 2023. When Toreros played Pepperdine at the start of the New Year, Toreros had 48 rebounds, “the most by the program against a Division I team this season,” according to USD Athletics, with a close game ending in favor of the waves with a final score of 53-52.

On Jan. 6, 2024, against Saint Mary’s, Neubert scored her 800th point. In Toreros’ game against Portland on Jan. 11, Neubert made her seventh double double, the most since Patricia Brossman’s 10 in the 2018- 2019 season, according to USD Athletics. Kaur joined the club in getting her first double double of her career during this game. Sheffey scored 20 points against Gonzaga, carrying the offense on Jan. 13, with the team putting up a total of 67 points against a team who is currently 14-0 in conference play and are bearing a winning streak of 21 games, meaning Toreros put up a good fight against a leading team. Toreros also had the least amount of turnovers this game.

Toreros played Pacific on Jan. 18. Sheffey led the offense once again, with 17 points and Neubert had six steals, the most since Steph Gorman in 2022 as well as 700 rebounds, her career high, according to USD Athletics. LMU hosted San Diego on Jan. 20. During the game, Toreros made their highest amount of free throws, 19, and Horton reached the 900 club, scoring beyond that number throughout her career according to USD Athletics.

On Feb. 3, Toreros beat San Francisco at the Jenny Craig Pavilion (JCP) with a score of 77-66. Toreros tallied points across the board to earn a win for their record. USD Athletics shared how Horton had nine field goals, the most by a Torero along with Wawszkowicz earning a career high of eight rebounds. Toreros hosted Santa Clara on Feb. 8. During the game, Kaur scored a career high of 18 points.

On Feb. 15, Toreros tallied another win for their season against Pepperdine, scoring 69 points to the 49 scored by Pepperdine waves, keeping them from getting closer than 13 points amid the win. Scoring was once again across the board, with five players scoring a double-digit number of points: Horstmeyer, Neubert, Sheffey and Horton. The team also scored 20 free throws, a new high.

After conquering the waves, Toreros continued to ride the tide with a win against LMU on Feb. 17, scoring 66 points against the Lions’ 50.

“With six assists on the day, Sheffey (129) moved into the single season top-10 in assists, matching Polly Dong (2003- 04) and Lori Morris (1983-84) for the seventh-best total in program history. Next up is Jane Gilpin (130) in sixth,” according to USD Athletics.

Sheffey beat this new record not long after, in the next game against Santa Clara.

“With five assists on the day, Sheffey (134) took over sole possession of fifth on single season top-10 in assists. Next up is Cori Woodward (137) in 2015-16 in fourth,” USD Athletics stated.

The final home game of the season for the Lady Toreros was against Saint Mary’s on Saturday Feb. 24. With two games left this season against Pacific on Thursday Feb. 29 and San Francisco on Saturday March 2 at their home gyms, our Toreros celebrate their season victories and accomplishments with pride and excitement.

Lady Toreros not only won their games against Chapman, Portland State, Weber State, CSUN, San Francisco, Pepperdine, LMU and St. Mary’s, but also broke records and accomplished individual goals throughout the duration of the 2023-2024 season with the ability to continue to do so within the next two games.

USD women’s basketball is set to play their next game at Pacific on Thursday, Feb. 29. Photo courtesy of @usdwbb/Instagram