Box Score (Las Vegas) - A furious comeback from the University of San Francisco women's basketball team fell short Wednesday, as the eighth seeded Dons dropped a 66-60 decision to ninth seeded Loyola Marymount Wednesday in the opening round of the 2012 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Tournament. USF was down by as many as 17 in the second half, but pulled within one with under two minutes left.
The two teams played fairly even in the opening half, until the final minutes. San Francisco and Loyola Marymount traded the lead nine times in the 20 minutes, before LMU broke loose on a 14-4 run to close out the first half. During the run, the Lions held the Dons to just two points over the final two minutes.
San Francisco posted a furious comeback late in the second half pulling within one with less than two minutes remaining. The run was sparked by a big three pointer from freshman
Jamie Katuna with 6:05 left. The basket propelled the Green and Gold to go on a 11-0 run. Katuna hit another trey with 1:42 left to pull the Dons within striking distance, 59-58, but perfect free throw shooting from the Lions down the stretch proved to be the difference.
Alicia Scafidi led the Dons in the game with 12 points off the bench, pulling down three rebounds and a steal. Ten of the freshman's points came in the second half.
Mel Khlok finished just shy of double-digits with nine points, while Katuna and
Vania Singleterry finished with eight.
Rheina Ale led the defensive attack for USF with eight rebounds.
The game capped the career for USF senior guards Ale,
Katy Keating and Singleterry. The trio all finish their career with spots in the all-time USF record books, including Ale who finishes her career ranked ninth in scoring with 1,321 points and the program's all-time leader in minutes played.
LMU was led by Alex Cowling with 24 points, while Hazel Ramirez tallied 22.
San Francisco finished the season with a 5-25 overall record.
