SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco women's basketball team held the advantage over the visiting Saint Mary's Gaels for 39 minutes and 57 seconds. But a last-second layup from Hayley Hendricksen gave the Gaels their only lead of the night as the team defeated the Dons 68-66 Monday night at War Memorial Gym.

The sting of the loss cuts deep as the Dons led by 21 points late in the first half before a reversal of fortune befell the team at halftime. Both USF and Saint Mary's now stand at 9-4 on the year, but the Dons drop to 0-2 in West Coast Conference action while the Gaels improve to 2-0.

The Dons were paced by a season-high 17 points off the hand of sophomore Rachel Howard, propelled by 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the first half. USF's Taylor Proctor added 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds, Zhane Dikes posted 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Dons. Paige Spietz finished with 10 points and her 100th and 101st career free throw for the Green and Gold. The senior from Brimfield, Ill., is shooting 80.0 percent from the stripe this season, which rates 12th in the WCC.
The game couldn't have opened any better for the Dons, who took the tip for the 12th time of the year and raced out of the gates. USF built a 17-0 lead in the first 4:27 of action, as the Dons made eight shots in a row while the Gaels began an icy 0-for-7 from the field.

Saint Mary's first basket came with 12:53 on the clock, and their struggles to find the bottom of the net continued throughout the period. By the break, the Dons were up 46-25 and USF was hitting at a rate of 56.3 percent from the field helped by an 8-of-12 effort from long range. Conversely, the Gaels managed just 25.9 percent shooting in the period, but the tables turned after the break.

In nearly a complete reversal, Saint Mary's seemingly couldn't miss in the final 20 minutes and began to chip away at USF's sizeable lead. The Gaels closed the contest on a 17-3 run which proved to be the difference in the game.

Despite the advantage slowly slipping away, the Dons managed to stay in front until the final moments. With 3.2 seconds to play, Lauren Nicholson fed Hendricksen under the basket and the senior from Spokane, Wash., gave the Gaels their first lead of the night. Proctor's last-second heave fell short and the Saint Mary's recorded the 24-point come-from-behind victory and extended the streak over the Dons to five straight.

Shannon Mauldin closed the night with a game-high 23 points to go along with 10 rebounds for the Saint Mary's. With many categories on the stat sheet proving to be equal, the glaring difference was the Gaels' 42-30 advantage on the glass, and six additional points from the line.

The Dons have a short window to regroup as USF heads to San Diego for a New Year's Day contest. Both coming off losses, the Dons and the Toreros tip from the Jenny Craig Pavilion at 6 p.m., to ring in 2015.