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SAN FRANCISCO – Down by 16 points to Mountain West foe UNLV, the San Francisco women's basketball team showed heart, perseverance and gritty determination to erase the seemingly insurmountable deficit and celebrate a 62-61 win over the Lady Rebels Friday at War Memorial Gym.
With the comeback complete, the Dons move to 3-4 on the season, while UNLV drops to 2-6. USF was paced by a 17-point outing by sophomore
Zhané Dikes, who was a perfect 7-for-7 from the stripe.
Rachel Howard finished with 13 points and a game-high four steals in the contest.
Freshman
Claudia Price, making her first collegiate start for the Green and Gold, added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Her last board of the night was the catalyst for her game-winning putback with under 20 seconds to play.
"I was very impressed with the poise of Claudia," coach
Jennifer Azzi said. "I said this in the recruiting process – she's mature beyond her years as a person and she's very consistent and she's able to make big plays. That box out was amazing. As an undersized post, that's pure will."
UNLV's Alana Cesarz tallied a game-high 19 points, with 15 coming in the first half. Aley Rohde posted the night's only double-double, finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Rhode had a shot to turn the tables and thwart the comeback bid, but her attempt fell short and USF's
Taj Winston collected the defensive rebound to seal the Dons' victory.
"I had to get that board," Winston emphatically remarked after the game. "I missed the two free throws and Claudia got that putback, thank God. So I had to come back on and make something happen on defense by getting that rebound and I got it done. We couldn't let them get any second-chance opportunities so I had to get it."
USF dug itself in a double-digit hole early in the contest after the Dons stalled at the 10-point mark. The score was 12-10 in favor of UNLV with 9:44 remaining in the first half, and USF couldn't move the needle until four minutes later. By that point, the Lady Rebels had reeled of 10 straight to jump to a comfortable lead.
With 2:37 to play in the opening half UNLV's Cesarz drained a 3-pointer to give the visitors a 30-14 cushion, its largest margin of the game. USF found itself down 33-23 heading into the break after Howard scored the last four points of the period. The Dons opened up the second by narrowing the gap to six points after a successful trip to the free throw line by Dikes. A layup by
Denae Mary Wiliams, seeing her first action on the season, cut to UNLV lead to 36-31 with 16:39 remaining, but the Lady Rebels again jumped out to a double-digit advantage midway through the half.
However, the Dons weren't done fighting, not by a long stretch.
USF rolled off an 18-4 run, capped by a successful and-1 opportunity by Dikes with 3:11 to play. The basket put USF in the lead for the first time since the score was 5-3 in favor of the Dons in the opening minutes of the contest UNLV. During the second-half scoring drought for the Lady Rebels, UNLV committed five of its 21 turnovers and missed four shots from the field in the nearly seven-minute span.
The game ended in exciting fashion, as both teams traded possessions to close the game. With 2:15 to play, UNLV's Danielle Miller sunk two from the stripe to give the Lady Rebels a 59-56 advantage. At the 1:31 mark, Howard found Price open on the edge of the lane to slice the lead to a single point. After a Rohde turnover, the Dons capitalized as Dikes drove to the bucket to put USF ahead 60-59 with 44.7 to play.
After a quick basket by the Lady Rebels gave the visitors the slim lead, Winston found herself at the line for a pair with 20.7 to play. After missing both attempts, Price powered up the game-winning putback for the Dons. Winston's final rebound as time expired had the USF bench erupt in glee and spill onto the floor.
For Dikes, a Las Vegas native, this victory over her hometown team tasted especially sweet.
"This is a great win for me, coming from home and beating this team," she said. "They recruited me, and it just felt good to come out and show them what USF is all about and why I chose USF. That was the best feeling that we could have ever felt."
Up next, USF takes on Cal State Bakersfield at War Memorial Gym. Tip is slated for Wednesday at 7 p.m.
