SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco women's basketball team took to the court for the first time of the 2014-15 season, soundly defeating Saint Thomas (Fla.) 87-69 in exhibition action Saturday afternoon from War Memorial Gym.

The Dons were paced by Rachel Howard's 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, and a perfect 6-of-6 outing at the free throw line. USF's two preseason All-Conference selections, Taylor Proctor and Zhané Dikes, each finished with double-digit scoring, and Dikes netted five assists on the day. Redshirt junior Alicia Scafidi, back on the court for the first time since 2013, finished with a game-high eight rebounds to go with 12 points for the Dons.

"For the first game, we did some things well – we shot the ball well and got to the free throw line," said head coach Jennifer Azzi. "We're turning the ball over too much, but I think that's also the sign of an early game. We were fortunately able to play everyone available on the team which I think is great, especially this early just kind of as we establish ourselves.

"Overall I think we had some players do some really good things, but we definitely have a lot of things to work on. It was great having Alicia back. She gives us such a good presence. She's a solid rebounder, she can shoot the ball, she can post up and I'm happy for her to see her back."

USF played all 12 available players in the contest, shooting 50.8 percent from the floor and picking up 32 points off of 26 Bobcat turnovers. The Dons took the wire-to-wire win leading in nearly every category, but the ability for Saint Thomas to get to the line kept the contest close. The Bobcats were 27-of-34 from the line, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the team's points.

"Certainly, we need to continue working on not fouling," Azzi said. "We put them to the free throw line 34 times and that's just not acceptable. I think the game honestly got a little bit sloppy for both teams and I think that's just a sign of an early, early season game."

USF doubled up on the Bobcats, 40-20, with five minutes to play in the opening half to stretch the game to its largest lead. USF's 16-5 run was capped by a layup from Scafidi with the assist from Howard. Saint Thomas cut into their deficit, and by the halftime break trailed 44-31.

The visitors went on the offensive in the early stages of the second half, and cut the lead to nine after Dannisha Pierce's jumper put the score at 59-50 in favor of USF with 9:24 to play. The Dons were able to stretch the score out to 16 as freshman Anna Seilund's jumper with 5:35 left had USF up 72-56. The Dons would go on to cruise to the wire-to-wire win in the tune-up contest, 87-69.

The lone exhibition game of the year, the Dons open the regular season at home against Columbia Friday at 7 p.m.

"Columbia is certainly kind of polar opposites from the team we just played today, so we'll just have to gear up and do the things that we need to work on to get ready," Azzi noted. I think for us, we just need to continue to work on us. That's what the preseason is all about."

Team posters are available for the first 500 at War Memorial Gym, and fans will also receive an official USF tumbler courtesy of corporate sponsor, ShaneCo. The contest is part of USF's Thanksgiving Food Drive to benefit the SF-Marin Food Bank. Fans can enjoy $1 admission to the game in exchange for a non-perishable food item.