Toreros Get Off to Roaring Start by Running Past Athletes in Action

Having lost only two players from a team that set a school record for scoring last year, many anticipate some high-scoring games from the University of San Diego this season.

That’s exactly what they got Friday night in the Toreros’ first exhibition game. USD routed Athletes in Action, 120-92, in front of 1,544 at the USD Sports Center.

Point guard Wayman Strickland and forward Anthony Thomas led the way with 24 points each. Center Dondi Bell added 22, and newcomers Reed Watson 14 and Michael Brown 11. Strickland added a game-high 10 assists. Bell and Watson had six rebounds each.

AIA (5-5) led 29-21 midway through the first half before USD went on a 9-0 run and took a 30-29 lead on a Pat Holbert (eight points) layup. USD pulled away in the second half, shooting 77% from the floor. The Toreros took a 111-83 lead, their biggest of the game, with 3:11 to play.

Lorenzo Romar, AIA’s player/coach, led his team with 16 points. Zack Jones, a former San Diego State standout, had 12, and Brad Soucie, who helped Christian Heritage to the 1990 National Christian College Athletic Assn. championship, added 11.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Christina Adams, who led the state in scoring with a 38.3-point average last season, said Friday she plans to play women’s basketball for UC Irvine and will sign a national letter of intent Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.

Adams, a 5-6 guard who transferred from Grossmont High School to Granite Hills this year, had narrowed her choices to Irvine, Dartmouth, Yale, San Diego State and Arizona.

Adams said she made her decision last Wednesday after visiting SDSU. She had previously visited Dartmouth and UCI.

Adams said UC Irvine, which had a 1-27 record last season, had been one of her top choices since the end of her sophomore year, when she received her first recruiting letter from the school.

Adams said she likes the way Irvine coaches forsee her fitting into the Anteater offense. She said she expects to fill the point guard position that will be vacated by senior Jenny Lee.

“I’ve been a scoring guard and already done a lot of shooting. I wanted to be in charge of the floor and make things happen. Other schools saw me as just a scoring guard.

“Irvine runs a fast-break offense. They like outside shooting and three-point shooting. That’s the kind of game I play.”