The USD women’s basketball team defeated Point Loma Nazarene College 65-56 in an exhibition match-up on Halloween to prepare for the home opener against UCSD Friday, Nov. 14, at the Jenny Craig Pavilion at 7 p.m. Towering over the Lady Toreros’ hopes this season is senior Amber Sprague, who played her prep basketball at Mission Bay High. The 6-foot 5-inch center rallied USD from a halftime deficit with a 23-point, 13-rebound performance against the Lady Sea Lions. Sprague’s 8-for-10 shots from the floor boosted the Toreros’ 52 percent shooting accuracy in the second half. She also shot 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. With the score knotted at 50-50, Sam Child hit a 3-pointer that sparked a 11-2 scoring run that put USD on top for the remainder of the game. The Lady Toreros have 14 games scheduled through the end of the year, including UCLA and Arizona. The regular WCC season begins when USD hosts San Francisco Jan. 8. The WCC is made up of USD, University of San Francisco, University of Portland, St Mary’s, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and Gonzaga. Sprague is high on the 2007 NCAA charts in rebounds and blocked shots. Sprague and long-time teammate Amanda Rego were named to the WCC All-Conference Team after their WCC tournament victory performance last season over Gonzaga. Only Rego and one other senior graduated from the championship team. Sprague, who sat out a year with a foot injury as a red-shirt player, is now in her fifth year of maturing her game with the Lady Toreros. Point guard Rego is now playing professionally for the Hale, Germany, Lions who are 7-0 early in their season. The success of the USD women’s program is a credit to Cindy Fisher who is starting her 4th year as head coach of the Toreros. Sprague and Rego led Mission Bay High to two CIF Championships and were heavily recruited nationally, but choose USD to be impact-players throughout their careers, a goal which they accomplished. USD basketball information will be available at www.usdtoreros.cstv.com.