Head coach Cindy Fisher has released the 2008-09 schedule.

Sept. 5, 2008

Complete Women's Basketball Schedule in PDF Format

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Fresh its West Coast Conference Tournament Championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament a year ago, the University of San Diego women's basketball team has released its 2008-09 schedule.

The Toreros schedule features USD on their home court for 15 games, but it will be no cake walk for the Toreros as head coach Cindy Fisher and her staff have put together a tough schedule. Some of the highlights of the non-conference schedule include UCLA, Arizona, Seton Hall and New Mexico State.

"This may be the most challenging non-conference schedule that we have had since I have been at USD. For us to continue to grow as a program we have got to get out and schedule some of the top conferences in the country," stated Fisher. "The WCC has the most talent that it has ever had and we need to be prepared and tested before the conference season starts."

The Toreros will open their schedule at home this season with a Nov. 14th game against cross-town foe UC San Diego at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Toreros will then hit the road to face a pair of Big West Conference opponents in UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge on Nov. 16th and 19th before returning home to begin a four-game home stand.

USD will begin the home stand against Cal Poly on Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. inside the friendly confines of the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Toreros will then take on its heated cross-town rival San Diego State with a 7 p.m. contest on Nov. 25 and will conclude the home stand against Seton Hall and UC Irvine on Nov. 28th and 30th.

San Diego will then say aloha to the main land and head to the BYU Hawaii Tournament for a pair of games against BYU - Hawaii and Utah Valley State on Dec. 5th and 6th. USD will then take on a pair of Pac-10 opponents on the road in Arizona and UCLA before returning home to face Cal State Fullerton in the final tune-up before hosting the Maggie Dixon Surf N Slam Classic.

On Dec. 28th and 30th, the Toreros will once again host the Maggie Dixon Surf N Slam classic and will take on Illinois - Chicago in the first game at 6 p.m. and will then play either Long Island or New Mexico State on the 30th at 8 p.m.

After a week off, USD will gear up to begin play in the strong West Coast Conference with a pair of home games against Bay Area rivals San Francisco (Jan. 8) and Santa Clara (Jan.10). USD will then depart on a three-game road trip to play Pepperdine (Jan. 15), Loyola Marymount (Jan. 17) and travel partner Saint Mary's on Jan. 24.

The Toreros will then welcome the Pacific Northwest WCC foes in Portland and defending champion Gonzaga to the JCP to conclude play in January on the 29th and 31st of the month.

USD will then play the second half of the WCC schedule with tough road contests at Gonzaga and at Santa Clara, while also hosting Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

Then after the regular-season is over, the Toreros will begin their WCC tournament title defense in Las Vegas, Nev. This year the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament heads to the bright lights of Las Vegas and the Orleans Arena in 2009 as 16 teams battle for two chances to "Advance to the Dance". This will mark the first time in WCC history that the conference's premier event will be held at a neutral site. The 2009 basketball championships will be the 23rd annual event on the men's side and the 17th annual women's tournament, and will take place March 6-9, 2009.

The women will change formats for the 2009 tournament, adopting the same format the WCC men have used since 2003. The #5 through #8 seeds will compete in the opening round to determine who will advance to the next round of the tournament. Waiting for the winners in the quarterfinals will be the #3 and #4 seeds, who will have first round byes. The winners of the quarterfinal match-ups will go head-to-head with the #1 and #2 seeds, who will have byes through the first two rounds of the tournament.