Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO – Despite a furious last-minute comeback, the San Francisco women's basketball team dropped a tough 72-63 decision to Fresno State on Friday at War Memorial Gym.
USF battled to within one possession with 3:28 to play when
Alicia Scafidi snagged a defensive rebound and
Taj Winston sliced in for a layup to put the score at 60-57 in favor of the Bulldogs. Fresno State's Rosie Moult and Ki-Ki Moore responded with 3-pointers and the Bulldogs hit 6-of-8 from the line in the closing minutes to come away with its first road win of the season and move to 7-4. With the setback, the Dons stand at 7-5 on the year going into a one-week holiday break.
The Dons jumped out to a 10-0 lead as the Bulldogs started an icy 0-for-5 from the field. Fresno State cut the lead to five off a Moult triple, but USF's defense came was at the ready to spur the offense to grow the lead. After a Fresno State inbounds play nearly crossed midcourt, Winston played pressure defense to force an errant pass that was picked off by
Mel Khlok. The senior from Sacramento drove to the basket for the fast break layup to put the score at 20-13.
Freshman
Zhané Dikes nailed a jumper on the Dons' next possession and senior
Whitney Daniels got into the defensive fray with a steal and outlet pass to a streaking Dikes for the bucket. The 9-0 run was capped off as Khlok swished a 3-pointer and gave USF its largest lead of the night with 7:04 remaining in the first half.
Fresno State would rebound from the 27-13 deficit with drives to the basket for layups. A steal with five seconds to play in the period resulted in a close-range shot for Raven Fox that cut the USF lead to 33-31 heading into the break.
Fresno State nabbed its first lead of the night when Fox went into the lane for a layup with 17:42 remaining and the score at 38-37 in favor of the Bulldogs. USF then missed eight of its next nine shots from the field and committed six turnovers as Fresno State upped the advantage over the Dons to 50-42 midway through the second half. However, the Dons took advantage of timely rebounds and Bulldog turnovers to cut the lead to three with just over three minutes to play, but USF could not surpass Fresno State in the closing minutes.
The Dons held Moore, a San Francisco native and leading scorer for the Bulldogs, to 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting. But Fresno State shot 49.1 percent from the field as a team and had three other double-digit scorers in the contest, including a 17-point outing by Taylor Thompson in the win. The Bulldogs forced USF into 21 turnovers that resulted in 25 points.
For USF, Khlok finished the night with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and a 4-of-9 effort from long range. Dikes added 14 points and
Taylor Proctor contributed 10 points and eight rebounds for the Dons. Scafidi, a sophomore from Gresham Ore., posted her fourth-consecutive double-digit rebounding effort and a new career high with 14 boards as the Dons outrebounded its opponent 43-29 and allowed the Bulldogs but two offensive rebounds on the evening.
After a full week away from the hardwood, USF returns to action next Saturday as the team travels to Stockton, Calif., for a 4 p.m. showdown at Pacific.
