By Jeff Faraudo
#WCChoops columnist | ARCHIVES
 
San Diego senior guard Jordyn Edwards knows she is a different person once she steps onto the basketball court. And that isn’t always pleasant for those on the other team.
 
“My main goal is to try to frustrate whoever I guard. Make people uncomfortable,” Edwards says. “I love defense. I always have, ever since I started playing basketball. Being on a team where defense is the main focus has been a dream for me.
 
“I have fun with it. I think it’s my basketball persona. I like to think I’m a pretty chill person. But whenever I get on the court, it’s a switch I flip. A different mindset.”
 
Led by the 5-foot-8 native of Lynnwood, Washington, the Toreros are one of the nation’s most disruptive defensive teams. They are second in the NCAA in steals per game (14.1) and fourth in turnovers forced (24.1). 
 
Poor San Diego Christian probably wondered what hit them back in December when USD used a school-record 26 steals to create 34 turnovers that led to 35 points.
 
Perhaps most telling is that San Diego has forced 70 more turnovers (409) than its opponents have managed field goals (339). 
 
“That’s a stat that has been kind of fun to talk about. The players get exited about that. We make it a goal going into games,” says coach Cindy Fisher, whose team plays 94 feet of pressure defense. 
 
Six different Toreros have at least 20 steals through 17 games this season, topped by Edwards, who has 55. Myah Pace, who missed five games earlier this season, led the team with 92 steals in a 31-game season a year ago while Edwards collected 74. Fisher gives her squad an “A” for its work on the defensive end. 
 
San Diego’s depth is a key to its success pressuring opponents. Fisher typically uses anywhere from nine to 11 players in a game, allowing them to stay fresh and minimizing the impact if one of them cannot play on a particular night.
 
Fisher starts a lineup with four guards, allowing players to extend their defense and get into passing lanes. The team uses a mix of zone and man-to-man defense.
 
“It all starts with Jordan — her ball pressure and having the athleticism and tenacity and will to want to play that kind of defense for 40 minutes,” Fisher says.
 
The Toreros forced Portland into 20 turnovers on Thursday night in a 62-55 victory that keeps USD in third place in the West Coast Conference standings.
 
USD (12-5, 9-3) plays the biggest game of its schedule Saturday at home against 16th-ranked Gonzaga (18-3, 13-1), which will be coming off its first conference loss of the season, a 61-56 setback at BYU.
 
Adding to the occasion is the fact that the game is on TV — on Fox Sports San Diego for hometown viewers and on Root Sports Northwest for Gonzaga fans. A USD athletic department spokesperson says it will be the Toreros’ first regular-season televised game in at least five years.
 
San Diego has not faced the Zags this season and has lost nine straight in the series. But Edwards says she and her teammates are eager to test themselves against a team that typically keeps its turnover numbers low.
 
“They’re definitely a smart team with good press breakers,” Edwards says. “But they haven’t seen us this year. It’s one thing to go over it on film, another thing going against it. We kind of get on other teams’ nerves. We’re excited for the challenge.”
 
RESUME BOOST IN PROVO: BYU did more than hand the Gonzaga women their first loss of the WCC schedule on Thursday night. The Cougars’ 62-56 victory kept gave their NCAA tournament chances a lift.
 
“This win is huge for us,” said guard Shaylee Gonzales, who had 16 points and seven assists. “After we played Gonzaga the first time, we told ourselves that we don’t lose at home and we were going to beat Gonzaga at home. We really locked down because we wanted to fight and win this game. 
 
“We knew it was super important for us if we wanted to go to the NCAA tournament and to potentially win the WCC tournament.”
 
The Cougars (15-3, 11-2) sat at No. 49 in the NCAA’s NET rankings on Thursday. With the win over Gonzaga, they inched two spots higher to No. 47.
 
It was the first hiccup by the Zags (18-3, 13-1) since a loss to South Dakota State back on Dec. 6. Gonzaga, which had won 17 straight games, saw its NET ranking slip from No. 19 to No. 22.
 
THE FAMILY PLAN: On the occasion of wrapping up the WCC regular-season title with an 87-65 win over Saint Mary’s on Thursday, the top-ranked Gonzaga men (21-0, 12-0) allowed a couple dozen family members into the Kennel for the first time this season.
 
Senior forward Corey Kispert, who scored 20 points, enjoyed having his parents on hand. “It’s been kind of big hole in the season for me up to this point, but looking up and seeing them at different points was really nice.”
 
Coach Mark Few stopped short of suggesting that a sprinkling of fans created a more traditional atmosphere. “No, I can’t tell you that I really heard any,” he said. “You can see on the guys’ faces how much it means to them to have their parents here, their siblings here. But as far as crowd noise, no, I wasn’t feeling that.”
 
ROARING LIONS: First-year coach Stan Johnson has Loyola Marymount (11-6, 6-3) pointed in the right direction. The Lions beat USF 68-63 on Thursday night in San Francisco for their first four-game WCC win streak in nine seasons. 
 
Senior forward Eli Scott continues to excel for LMU, which has won nine of its past 12 games. He had 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists against the Dons.
 
NICE NUMBERS: A few standout stats from Thursday night worth noting: 
 
— Freshman Caleb Lohner had a career-high 19 points along with nine rebounds in BYU’s 80-52 win at Pacific. The 6-foot-8 forward from Dallas was 5 for 6 on 3-point attempts. Through the first 17 games of his college career, he was just 7 for 34 (20.6 percent) from deep. Over the past three games, he is 7 for 8 (87.5 percent).
 
— Junior guard Joey Calcaterra scored a career-best 23 points as San Diego, playing for the first time since Jan. 28 after six postponements or cancellations, won 71-60 at Santa Clara.
 
— In his 122nd career game at USF, senior guard Jamaree Bouyea scored a career-high 33 points against Loyola Marymount. 
 
— BYU sophomore forward Lauren Gustin contributed to the win over Gonzaga with 10 points and 10 rebounds for her league-leading 11th double-double of the season.
 
— Pacific senior Valerie Higgins posted 14 points and 15 rebounds in the Tigers’ 73-64 win at Pepperdine, racking up her eighth double-double this season, the 33rd of her career.