University of San Francisco Athletics

• No. 8 seed San Francisco (11-18, 4-12 WCC) looks to advance past the opening round of the West Coast Conference Championships for the first time in its past six attempts. The Dons will take on ninth-seeded Pepperdine (5-22, 2-14 WCC) less than a week after USF dispatched the Waves 67-57 at War Memorial Gym.  
• This game will serve as the rubber match between the two squads, as each team defended its home court during the two regular season contests.

• The last time the Dons won its first tournament game was 2006-07 after beating San Diego 80-69 on March 1, 2007, before falling to Gonzaga 59-38 in its next time on the court. 
• The last time Pepperdine and USF faced off in the tournament brackets was March 1, 2002, as the Waves posted an 82-77 win.

 
WCC Championships on BYUtv

• All 16 games of the men's and women's West Coast Conference Championships will be televised, with BYUtv hosting the women's games through the tournament semifinals.  The play-by-play of Dave McCann will be complemented by analysis from Steve Cleveland and Blaine Fowler, with studio host Jarom Jordan throughout the tournament.

 
Postseason Superlatives

• Senior Mel Khlok headlined the USF selections for the WCC's postseason awards, picking up All-West Coast Conference team. Khlok, who led the Dons in points (15.1, 4th in WCC), assists (3.4, 6th in WCC), steals (2.5) and minutes (35.8, 1st in WCC), becomes the 21st USF selection to the all-conference team. 
• Freshmen Taylor Proctor and Zhane Dikes were tapped as selections for the All-Freshman team. This is the first USF freshmen tandem to be honored during the WCC awards season since the 1994-95 campaign when USF made its first NCAA tournament appearance. The next season, the Dons advanced all the way to the Sweet Sixteen. 
• Alicia Scafidi was named to the WCC's All-Academic team for her 3.6 grade-point average in exercise sport science. Junior Alexa Hardick earned All-Academic honorable mention to round out the postseason honorees.

 
Know the Foe

• The Waves enter with Shay Cooney Williams's 9.4 points and Kelsey Patrick's 5.0 rebounds a game pacing the team. Williams earned a spot on the all-conference honorable mention list for her efforts. 
• Pepperdine, who has struggled to a conference-low 55.1 points per game, is shooting a league-low 34.0 percent from the field on the season. Finishing the regular season last in the West Coast Conference standings, the Waves were picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches poll.

 
USF and Pepperdine—The Series

• The Waves hold a slight 34-32 advantage in the all-time series over the Dons, and had bested USF in nine of its last 10 head-to-head contests, prior to the Dons' 67-57 win on the Hilltop Feb. 28. The series, which began in 1978, was marked by two AIAW regional games to kick off the long-standing matchup. 

 
Loyola Marymount Remix

• The Dons got a trio of double-doubles on Senior Day to close the season, with soon-to-be alumnae Bailey Barbour contributing 10 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds and Mel Khlok finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds. But the stat line of the night came from Taj Winston's 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with a career-high 14 rebounds for the sophomore. 
• USF led by as many as 16 points with 16:09 to play before the Lions roared back to gain the advantage with 53.3 seconds remaining on the clock. 
• The Dons were playing shorthanded, as sophomore Alicia Scafidi was absent to attend funeral services for her father in Oregon. Taylor Proctor left the game after the three-minute mark to give USF a six-man rotation for the final 37 minutes of the contest.  
• The tournament fate of the Dons was decided by the 3-point Lions win. Had USF held on to close the game with a victory, the Dons would have earned the sixth seed in the conference tournament. However, with the loss, USF was slotted as the eighth seed.

 
Winning!

• USF's win total of 11 is …
  … the first double-digit win season since 2007-08
  … more than double last year's total number of wins, and is the most successful season to date in the Jennifer Azzi era
• Four wins in WCC action …
  … is the most since 2007-08's five league victories
• The Dons' 8 home wins …
  … is the first time since 2007-08 that USF has finished with a winning record at War Memorial Gym
• USF's 7-6 non-conference record …
  … was the best since 2007-08

 
Dons WCC Tournament History

• USF owns a 14-16 record in the tournament, including a nine-game win streak from 1995-1997 in which the Dons earned three-straight tournament championships.
• In the first WCC tournament in 1992, USF was defeated by Santa Clara in the championship game of the four-team event.
• Since the event was moved to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in the 2008-09 season, the Dons have not won a tournament game, being ousted in its first round game all four years.

 
USF Versus - Head-to-Head Records in the Championships

• Gonzaga (2-1)
• Loyola Marymount (3-3)
• Pepperdine (2-2)
• Portland (4-0)
• Saint Mary's (2-1)
• San Diego (1-2)
• Santa Clara (0-7)

 
Champions' Count

• Gonzaga has the top performance by school in the event, taking the crown in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011. San Diego, Pepperdine, Santa Clara and San Francisco have all won the title on three occasions. Saint Mary's has been twice the victor in the 21-year event, while reigning champion BYU, Loyola Marymount and Portland each have one title.

 
On the Air

• Listen to longtime voice of the Dons, George Devine, call all the action from the USF women's basketball team all season long at www.usfdons.com.
• Devine is in his 17th season as the play-by-play voice of the Dons. Listen to the call and follow along with live stats and video for all home contests at War Memorial Gym, in partnership with Stretch Internet. Hear the call for both home and away games by going to www.usfdons.com/live.

 
Follow the Dons

• Fans can keep up on the latest in USF athletics through several ways:
• Become a fan of the Dons on Facebook by going to www.facebook.com/DonsAthletics - and follow the women's basketball team specifically at www.facebook.com/SanFranciscoWBB.
• Become a follower of USF on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DonsAthletics or follow coach @Jennifer Azzi.
• Check out video of the Dons in action at www.youtube.com/USFDonsAthletics.