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RENO, Nev. – The San Francisco women's basketball team used a second-half surge to outlast Nevada 70-62 at the Lawlor Events Center on Tuesday night.

With the victory, the Dons move to 5-2 in the early-goings of the season and deny the Wolfpack the opportunity for their first win of the season.

"Nevada is a good team, good program and road wins are always good," said USF head coach Jennifer Azzi. "We've been on quite the schedule here so I'm proud of our team tonight.

"We made some offensive adjustments out of halftime and our players were a lot more aggressive against Nevada's 2-3 zone and that helped us a lot. I think we were kind of passive against it in the first half, and typically we're great against zone. I think it slowed us down a little bit, but in the second half we did a great job."

The Dons offense came to life in the second half, as USF shot 53.3 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes of play, spurred by a string of 12 points off the hand of Taylor Proctor to close out the third quarter. Heading into the final 10 minutes of action, USF was up 51-48, and midway through the fourth the Dons extended the lead to six. Proctor's 3-pointer with six minutes to play made it 64-58 in favor of USF, but the senior picked up her fourth foul of the night on the ensuing possession for the Wolfpack.

While Proctor was spelled on the floor, USF and Nevada traded baskets, with Raushan Gultekin's jumper from the free throw line with 4:50 to play keeping the lead at six. Nevada's A.J Cephas rolled in the layup for the Wolfpack with 2:39 to play to cut it to four. USF had the ball with two minutes remaining and got key offensive rebounds by Michaela Rakova and Rachel Howard to keep possession and take time off the clock.

"I thought our offensive rebounds in the second half, especially there at the end of the game where we really needed possessions, was outstanding," remarked Azzi. "Just the will to get the ball and pull it out, make a decision and then Rachel at the end with the big shot. It was very good team basketball."

Howard's jumper with 60 seconds to play put the Dons up by six, and Zhane Dikes swished a pair from the line with 30.6 to play to cap the night's scoring with USF earning the 70-62 victory.

Proctor finished the night with team highs of 21 points and nine rebounds, with 16 points in the second half. Howard added 19 points in the win on an 8-for-12 shooting effort from the floor, and Gultekin finished with a game-best five assists in the win.

"Rau [Gultekin] came in the game and gave us great defensive energy," said Azzi. "It was definitely a needed spark for us tonight, after I think we came out a little bit flat. Rau had five assists and one turnover, and she really gave us a lift on both ends of the floor."

The Dons finished with the 37-28 rebounding edge, crashing the glass for 15 offensive rebounds, and USF finished with the 32-14 advantage in the paint. Nevada was led by a career night for Stephanie Schmid, who went off for 25 points and a 7-for-11 effort from beyond the arc in the loss.

Next up for the Dons is a home date with UC Riverside. USF hosts the Highlanders at War Memorial at The Sobrato Center on Friday at 6 p.m.