Rosary Redeems Itself With a Rout of San Diego University

The last three days have been long ones for the Rosary High girls’ basketball team, and only a chance at redemption would pull the Royals out of the doldrums.

That chance came Tuesday night and Rosary took full advantage.

The Royals, in a performance as much therapeutic as it was dominant, trounced San Diego University, 66-42, in a Southern California Division III Regional playoff opener at Rosary.

The Royals (23-10) advanced to play at San Diego Kearny Thursday in the second round.

Rosary acknowledged that a lack of heart had a lot to do with a 69-56 loss to Torrance Bishop Montgomery Saturday in the Southern Section Division III-AA final, and wanted to make sure the intensity was there Tuesday.

Blitzing the Dons (19-10) with a menacing full-court press from the start, Rosary forced 18 first-half turnovers and led 42-14 at halftime.

Rosary created 23 total turnovers, including 16 steals, and held University to 19 of 59 (32%) shooting.

“We needed this to get past Saturday’s loss,” Rosary Coach Rich Yoon said. “We came out with intensity and a lot of heart. That’s what I was hoping for and it’s what we haven’t had the last three or four games.”

Junior forward Jen Farner led the Royals with eight steals, all in the first half, to go along with seven points, six rebounds and five assists. Farner had six steals in a 17-4 second quarter run by Rosary that gave the Royals a 36-8 lead.

“That’s what we’ve been doing all season,” Farner said. “We came out with our pressure and played with a lot of intensity. Our offense stems from our defense.”

The Rosary offense struggled at times Tuesday, missing layups and easy put-back shots throughout the game. The Royals let University creep to within 42-20 with four minutes left in the third quarter by missing its first five shots and turning the ball over five times in the first four minutes.

But Maggie Barnett scored eight of her 23 points in a 14-2 Rosary run to close the quarter and give Rosary a comfortable 56-22 cushion.

“We had some lapses there,” Yoon said. “But we managed to regain our intensity and attack them again.”

University’s center Caroline Jensen finished with 22 points but had 16 of those in the fourth quarter. Rosary center Bridget O’Connell had 16 points and 13 rebounds.