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SAN FRANCISCO – Propelled by a solid second half that wore down the visitors, the San Francisco women's basketball team cruised to a 75-61 win over Pepperdine at War Memorial Gym Thursday night.
The Dons were paced by
Zhané Dikes' game-high 15 points to go along with eight rebounds. Dikes, a sophomore from Las Vegas, was quiet from the field but and effective 11-of-12 from the line to amass her points. All of her free throw attempts came in the second half of action. In fact, the Dons got to the line for 24 free throw tries in the final period, hitting 20.
USF's
Taj Winston added 11 points and five rebounds, and sophomore
Taylor Proctor posted her fifth double-double of the season, going for 10 points and 11 rebounds against the Waves.
"We outrebounded Pepperdine by 16 and that was a key for us," assistant coach Molly Marrin explained after the game. "We didn't do a great job in the first half, but we came out in the second half and converted on those additional possessions. We also emphasized post touches and we got 34 points in the paint.. Also Z getting to the free throw line 12 times in the second half. Those points with no time off the clock was significant to stretch the lead like we did."
The Dons finished with a 34-22 advantage in the paint, and earned 19 second-chance points, compared to Pepperdine's 3. USF finished with 50 rebounds, 15 of which came on the offensive glass. It was the first time USF eclipsed the 50-rebound mark in conference play, and just the fourth time of the season.
The Dons got out to a quick start with Winston opening the night with a jumper in the paint after
Paige Spietz controlled the tip for the 19th time of the season. The Dons pulled out to a five point lead when
Rachel Howard's athletic drive to the basket and converted free throw set the score at 17-12 with 12:49 to play in the half.
However, Pepperdine used a 6-0 run to edge out to a 22-21 lead after Allie Green's jumper with 6:38 on the clock. Pepperdine upped the advantage to four points, its largest of the night, when Amanda Lovely's three found the bottom of the net to make it 26-22 in favor of the Waves.
With 3:03 remaining in the half senior
Alexa Hardick swished a trey to knot the game at 29 apiece. On USF's next possession Hardick was again on the mark from long-range to give the Dons the lead, which was never relinquished.
Heading into the half up 34-32, USF came out of the break on a scoring frenzy and grew the lead to double-digits on Proctor's layup with 16:39 to go. USF pumped the advantage to 20 points after a string of nine straight points, including four of Dikes' swishes from the line. USF's largest lead of the night came after another successful trip to the stripe for Dikes as the Dons pulled in front 62-39 with 8:28 to play.
USF went on to win 75-61, and stretched its streak over the Waves to four games. The regular-season sweep of Pepperdine is the first since the 2006-07 season.
The Dons improve to a 10-18 record, and stand at 5-12 in the West Coast Conference. The tally marks the second-consecutive double-digit wins season and stands as the most conference victories since 2007-08. USF still has one home game yet to play, closing out the regular season slate Saturday against Loyola Marymount at 2 p.m.
WCC seeding implications still ride on the outcome of the game. With a win over the Lions, USF will finish no lower than eighth in the conference standings. Should USF win and Santa Clara fall to Pepperdine, the Dons will secure the seventh seed in the tournament. The WCC Championships are slated to begin March 6 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, with the title game occurring March 11.
"It's a really good matchup between us and LMU," Marrin said. "We're both very athletic and have similar games. I think as we went into this game we weren't focused on the result as much as we were the process and playing together. Tonight we showed a lot more energy and a lot more communication than we've shown this season, so that's kind of the things that we're talking about in the locker room. We'll need that togetherness to continue Saturday to get another win."
