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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Led by a career night by sophomore
Aundrea Gordon, the San Francisco women's basketball team notched its third-consecutive win after posting a 71-67 win at Cal Poly on Tuesday night from Robert A. Mott Gymnasium.
Gordon shot an efficient 5-of-9 from the floor, including a 3-of-4 outing from 3-point range to finish with 17 points and post a new career-high mark. With the win, the Dons improve to 7-4 on the season and guarantee a winning record heading into conference play. With the loss, the two-time defending champions of the Big West Conference move to 5-5 on the year.
“I've always taken threes, it's just my shot was on tonight,” Gordon said. “I've been in the gym extra with Coach Blair [Hardiek] and Coach Azzi and just getting shots up and tonight it was falling. I'm just feeling confident.”
The Dons jumped out to an early 26-9 lead eight minutes into the contest after a pair of trays by
Mel Khlok and
Alicia Scafidi met their mark followed by a quick layup by
Zhané Dikes to cap a 16-2 run. At that point of the half, USF had connected on 10-of-14 shooting.
The Mustangs raced back with a 20-7 run of its own, hitting five of seven from the field to scrap back into the mix and cut the lead to four points after a layup by Brittany Woodard put the score at 33-29 with 5:20 to play in the first.
The Dons took advantage of solid 6-of-8 shooting from the line down the stretch to lead 43-36 at the halftime break. By the game's midpoint
Taylor Proctor had already turned in a 13-point, 5-rebound effort while Khlok dropped in 11 in the half, including a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. USF had four long-range shots in the first period and finished the game with six.
“We learned how to be composed after winning that big game in Texas [over Texas-San Antonio] in overtime,” Khlok said. We learned how to keep playing together no matter what is happening. What helps is our coaches are always calm and collected and always telling us everything is okay. Do not panic. And the way they coach us is the way we play.”
After a Cal Poly free throw to start the second, the Dons got the next five points in the contest. A steal and layup by Khlok gave the Dons a 48-37 lead to stretch to double digits for the first time since there was 8:41 to play in the first half. But the Mustangs yet again found an answer with eight straight points to bring the home team within one possession and force a USF timeout with 14:39 to play in the game and the score at 48-45. An uncontested layup by Molly Schlemer tied the game for the first time and a three-pointer by Kayla Griffin with 12:21 on the clock gave Cal Poly its first lead of the night at 52-51.
“Coach Blair [Hardiek] was like, it's a long game just keep playing and that's what we did,” Gordon said of the Mustangs comeback. “We feel like in the second half we're going to pull away from teams and our conditioning is going to show.”
The Dons would retake the lead at 59-56 after back-to-back steals were finished off by layups on the break, with Khlok and Dikes both earning the defensive stop and resulting bucket. The game would be tight from that point on, with both teams trading baskets and staying within a possession of one another for the remaining eight minutes of the contest.
A 3-pointer by Gordon with 4:43 to play gave the Dons a 67-63 lead, but Cal Poly scored the next four points to even the contest at 67 apiece, but clutch shooting from the free throw line by Gordon was followed by two trips to the strip by Khlok to give USF a 71-67 lead with 9.2 seconds remaining. A steal by Dikes iced the road win and gave USF its third straight victory.
Along with Gordon's banner night, Khlok finished with 19 points to lead all scorers and Proctor finished with 13 in the game. Scafidi finished with a career-high 13 rebounds to post her third-straight double-digit outing on the glass.
“It sends a message,” Gordon said.
“Cal Poly is a good, good basketball team. I told them how big this win would be for me, personally, to win,” Khlok added. This is the senior from Sacramento's first career victory over the Mustangs.
“It's letting people know that USF is there. Cal Poly is a great program. We just trying to let people know that we've been working hard and it's all coming together. We're here.”
USF returns home to War Memorial Gym with a Friday date with Fresno State before a one-week holiday break. The Dons and the Bulldogs tip off at 5 p.m., as USF looks to improve to 6-1 at home on the season.
