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Senior Day Video Highlights
SAN FRANCISCO – Short on players, but long on determination, the San Francisco women's basketball team waged the fiercest of battles possible on Senior Day at War Memorial Gym.
The Dons, who were playing with seven available, quickly found themselves with a six-person rotation when freshman
Taylor Proctor left the court three minutes into the game. With only one available substitute for nearly the duration of the game, USF lost a 58-55 heartbreaker to Loyola Marymount to close the regular season.
USF led by a trio of double-doubles with sophomore
Taj Winston going for a season-high 17 points and a career high 14 rebounds to lead the Dons. Seniors
Bailey Barbour and
Mel Khlok closed their time on the Hilltop with style. Khlok, USF's leading scorer this season, finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Barbour added 10 points and a career high-tying 11 rebounds in her last game at War Memorial Gym.
Along with honoring three seniors on the roster, the day was a celebration of the 40th anniversary of Title IX, win special guest Mary Hile-Nepfel. The winningest coach of the women's basketball program and the all-time leading scorer at USF, male or female, was honored at halftime.
“The effort and the competitiveness on both ends I thought was good,” Hile-Nepfel said after the game. “I think it's a tough situation when you don't have a lot of players to go to. I've been in that situation before when the other team is behind by 16 and they have nothing really to lose and they come at you with full-court pressure. When you play with that kind of mindset and you get on a roll, it's contagious and it's hard to stop.”
The Dons fell behind 11-2 after nine straight points by Loyola Marymount, but the soon-to-be alumnae pair of Khlok and Barbour went to work. A layup by Barbour assisted by Khlok was followed by a putback by Khlok and a 20-2 run was started.
Two three-pointers by Winston were followed by freshman Zhane Dikes' third career triple and USF took its first lead of the game at 16-13 with 10:04 to play in the first half. The Dons closed the period with the final seven points, again from the seniors.
Barbour cleaned up on the offensive glass and earned the putback with 1:28 to play. After an offensive foul on Loyola Marymount, Khlok drained her three point attempt with 49 seconds left. And with just five ticks remaining on the clock Barbour's jumper in the paint, followed by a quick steal by Winston made the score 33-22 heading into the break.
The Dons grew the lead to 16 points after starting the second half on an 8-3 run when Dikes sunk a pair from the line and made the score 41-25, but the Lions started chipping away at the lead. A three pointer by WCC all-time leading scorer Alex Cowling cut USF's advantage to 10 points with 12:17 to play. When Khlok had a perfect trip to the line with 7:18 remaining, the score was again a 10-point difference. But Loyola Marymount scored the next nine points to pull within one after Mackenzie Kerins' jumper was good with 4:28 on the clock.
The Lions got its first lead since the early stages in the game after another Cowling triple tied the game at 55 apiece with 76 seconds left and a free throw by Kerins went in with 53.3 to play. Two costly turnovers in the final minute of play allowed Loyola Marymount to escape with the 58-55 win and earn the fifth seed in the upcoming West Coast Conference Championships.
“Win or lose, you have to learn, and sometimes through losses you learn more than win you win a game,” Hile-Nepfel said. “[USF] has to be ready when practice time comes that we start to focus and we get better. Every day you go in with a mindset that we're going to get a little bit better today, and then you start preparing for that next game.”
USF enters WCC postseason play as the No. 8 seed to face off with ninth-seeded Pepperdine in the opening game of the tournament. The two teams split the season series, with USF earning the victory on Feb. 28 at War Memorial Gym.
Wednesday's 3 p.m. contest at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas can be seen on BYUtv, and the USF radio call will be available at usfdons.com/LIVE.
