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LAS VEGAS – The San Francisco women's basketball team gave it all they could but couldn't manage to unseat regular-season champion and 21st-ranked Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Championship quarterfinals at the Orleans Arena Friday.
The Dons were led by
Taylor Proctor's 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting and eight rebounds, and
Taj Winston added 15 points and seven rebounds to stand as USF's only double-digit scorers in the 81-68 loss. The game concludes the 2013-14 season for the Dons with USF finishing in a tie for seventh in the conference standings and an overall record of 12-19 (6-12 WCC).
USF put together back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins for the first time in the
Jennifer Azzi era, and the program continues to show signs of progress under the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame player-turned-coach.
"I'm really really proud of the way they finished," Azzi said. "Winning three out of our last four games and playing Gonzaga a good game for the majority of the game. I'm so proud of our team's effort. They didn't give up for one second, they were aggressive, they actually boxed out and rebounded and that was part of our game plan. You would have thought that we were the team that was fresh because of how hard they played."
USF started the contest with the early lead, going shot-for-shot with the Bulldogs in the opening minutes of play. After relinquishing the 4-0 lead, USF kept it close for the next five minutes of game action, as a Proctor layin with 15:26 on the clock had the score at 9-8 in favor of Gonzaga. Proctor battled for an offensive rebound and putback and on the next Bulldogs' possession, Proctor scooped up the loose ball as Las Vegas native
Zhané Dikes went in for the easy score as Gonzaga held the 18-14 lead with 12:12 to play in the first.
Less than a minute later, Gonzaga found their shot from the outside and Lindsay Sherbert gave the Bulldogs their first double-digit lead of the night. Gonzaga held an 11-point lead at the break as both teams were shooting over 50 percent for the period. The Bulldogs extended the advantage to as many as 18 points after Sherbert buried a 3-pointer with 12:22 to play, but USF answered with the next seven points in the contest.
First, Winston got to the line and hit the front end of the pair. After a miss on the second, Proctor flew in for the offensive rebound and putback. The tandem scored the next two baskets to put the score at 55-44 with 10:16 remaining.
The Dons pulled within nine after a Proctor three with 6:28 to go, but the Dons couldn't edge closer in the contest. The Bulldogs were led by Sunny Greinacher's 22 points as five Gonzaga players posted double-digits scoring numbers.
"First of all, I just want to congratulate Coach Azzi and her Dons," Gonzaga's Kelly Graves, the 2014 WCC Coach of the Year said after the game. "I thought they were terrific. Every time we tried to separate from them they just kept coming back, and that's what a well coached team does. That's who the Dons are."
Despite the loss to the Bulldogs, the 18th in a row in the series between the two, USF closed the year positively.
The Dons' six wins in WCC action matches the tally from the 2004-05 season, and with a first-round win at the league tournament, USF picked up consecutive post-season victories for the first time since the 2006-07 season. In the regular season, USF earned season sweeps over Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount, another feat not accounted for in over a decade (since 2002-03).
USF's lone senior
Alexa Hardick closes her career in Green and Gold with 58 3-pointers on .347 shooting (58-167), which rates 14th in the USF record book for 3-point percentage. Her totally tally over the course of her career is good for 16th overall, with all but two coming in Hardick's final two seasons for the Dons.
"While we're going to really miss Tex, I'm excited that we have such a young nucleus that's coming back for next year and they're hungry, they're excited," Azzi said of her youthful team. "I think the best thing about the end of our season is the players are really starting to own things, and that's when ultimately we can be successful."
