Box Score
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A virtual tale of two halves, the San Francisco Dons opened up West Coast Conference action with an 81-72 loss at the Leavey Center Monday night.
The Dons (5-7, 0-1 WCC) were led by
Taj Winston's 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, and an 11-point outing from
Zhané Dikes. Winston and
Taylor Proctor paced the team in rebounding, each picking up six. Proctor finished with a season-best four assists for the Dons and
Paige Spietz hustled for a career-high four steals.
USF jumped out to a 42-35 halftime lead after and led by as many as 12 points after Denae Mary Williams' layup with 15:37 remaining in the game capped a 8-1 run. After Santa Clara posted the first two buckets of the second, USF's
Rachel Howard and
Aundrea Gordon hit back-to-back threes and Williams' basket put the score at 50-38.
The Dons then watched Santa Clara quickly erase their advantage, as the Broncos went on a 17-4 run, helped by a 10-for-10 effort from the stripe in the nearly five minutes of game action. Santa Clara's Vanessa Leo hit both ends of the 1-and-1 with 10:38 to play to give the home team the 55-54 lead, its first in the game since the score was 4-2.
USF battled to regain the advantage and nabbed a five-point lead when Howard's jumper found the bottom of the net with 8:35 to play and the score reading 62-57 in favor of the Dons. But the Broncos continued to earn trips to the line as USF fouls mounted and Santa Clara used a 14-2 run to streak to a 71-64 lead with 4:11 remaining.
The Dons eventually succumbed to the Broncos by a final tally of 81-72. The Broncos earned 20 of its points from the line in the second half and 26 for the game. After three first half turnovers, USF lost the ball on 11 occasions in the second, leading to 21 Santa Clara points.
The Dons and the Broncos both stand at 5-7 on the season. Perpetually a pickle for USF, the Dons have not won at the Leavey Center since Feb. 20, 2003.
Ruta Zurauskyte got the first six Santa Clara points of the night, working the inside for the Broncos. The 6-4 redshirt senior from Siauliai, Lithuania finished with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds, with teammate Nici Gilday adding 20 in the game.
After Jo Paine drained a 3-pointer the game was tied at 9-9, but USF would score the next six points, including two offensive rebounds for the score by Williams. The Dons grew the lead to 10 points with a Winston putback made it 27-17 with 8:48 remaining in the half. Santa Clara edged the game closer with two more long-range shots to get the score within four, but the Dons finished the first period with the nine-point lead.
The Dons enjoyed a 22-18 rebounding edge in the first half, including a 13-6 advantage on the offensive glass. USF earned 21 second-chance points in the first, but only managed three in the second half, losing the battle of the boards 37-33 on the night.
USF continues its opening week of WCC play on the road, facing Loyola Marymount Jan. 2 at 7 p.m., to ring in the New Year.
