Box Score |
Watch the highlights
SAN FRANCSICO – Despite its best comeback efforts, the San Francisco women's basketball team dropped a 69-64 decision to Santa Clara at War Memorial Gym Saturday.
The Dons erased a 22-point first-half deficit to take the lead with 12:57 remaining in the game before succumbing to the Broncos. The first half was all Santa Clara, who shot a sweltering 62.5 percent from the field in the opening period, going 20-for-32 from the field.
But the second half belonged to USF.
The Dons came out after halftime with a renewed sense of urgency and energy.
Alicia Scafidi blocked the shot of 6-4 Ruta Zurauskyte into the hands of
Mel Khlok.
Taj Winston's 3-pointer put the score at 44-35. The basket made the margin single digits for the first time since there was 14:14 to play in the first half, and sent a message that the Dons would be a force in the second.
“We don't want to give up. We're fighters,”
Taylor Proctor said of the will to win and the drive to come back. “Even though we get down, we will always fight back. We're that kind of team that we never give up in any game.”
Two minutes later, the crowd erupted as a
Alexa Hardick swished a three pointer from the right side of the arc after inside-out action gave her the open look at the basket. The Dons had pulled within two possessions with the score at 46-40 with 17:12 remaining.
An 8-0 run followed, with USF's defensive intensity leading to easy buckets. A steal and dish by Hardick to a streaking Khlok resulted in a three-point play after the senior from Sacramento, Calif., converted her shot from the line to put the score at 51-49 in favor of the Broncos.
“Our defense is kind of what brings us to our offense,” Khlok said. “We've always been a team that takes pride in our defense since the beginning of the year. Defense is what really helps with our intensity. A lot of [our energy] comes from that.”
Another Hardick triple with 12:57 to play gave USF its first – and what proved to be only – lead of the game as the Dons were up 52-51.
Santa Clara answered with a string of nine consecutive points to regain its advantage in the game. The Dons pulled within a point with 52.9 seconds remaining as Hardick added her fourth 3-pointer of the day with the score at 65-64 in favor of the visiting Broncos. After Santa Clara's Raquel Avila drove in for a layup with 30.5 seconds remaining, the Dons called a timeout. USF's attempt at the tie, a 3-pointer from Zhane Dikes, fell short as the Broncos held on to win 69-64.
This is the second game in the last three contests in which the Dons trailed by a large first-half margin before coming up big in the second. USF also had an attempt to tie or win at the final buzzer last Saturday against San Diego before falling 63-61.
Santa Clara's biggest advantage of the game came with 6:56 to play in the first after Nici Gilday's jumper put the score at 38-16 in favor of the Broncos. USF then went on a 13-2 run to claw back into the contest.
Mel Khlok took a timely charge with 2:20 remaining in the half and followed it up by draining a three put the score at 40-29. Fouled on a three-point attempt with 0.7 seconds to play in the half, Khlok hit two of three to give Santa Clara a 44-32 halftime lead.
“It's kind of hard to talk about. Being down and digging ourselves a hole like that kind of does hurt us,” Khlok said. “In the second have we usually come out strong, but we have to come out in the first half with the fire that we have in the second half. I feel like we're still learning that as a team – to come out and play with the fire that we have in the second half.”
For the fourth time this season, USF finished with four women in double figures. Khlok contributed team highs of 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Dons.
Taylor Proctor added 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting and five rebounds. Dikes and Hardick added 12 apiece, with all of Hardick's points coming from beyond the arc.
For Santa Clara, Zurauskyte's 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting paced the Broncos. Gilday posted a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, and the Broncos won the battle of the boards 43-30. After Santa Clara's hot half to start, the Dons defense stymied their shooters into going 9-for-33 in the second.
With the win, Santa Clara moves to 13-11 on the season and 5-6 in West Coast Conference action, while USF falls to 9-15 (2-9 WCC) on the year.
The Dons now face its final regular season road stretch on the year, with three consecutive away from War Memorial Gym. First in the string is a Valentine's date with Portland Thursday at 7 p.m.
