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LONG BEACH, Calif. – Lock-down defense and lights-out shooting was on full display at Walter Pyramid by the visiting San Francisco women's basketball team.

The Dons turned in a dominating performance at Long Beach State, coming away with the 66-52 road victory on Tuesday night.
USF improves to 8-2 on the year, and now sport a 5-1 record away from the Hilltop. The Dons are now riding a six-game winning streak, while snapping a four-game string of for the 49ers, who now stand at 7-2 on the season.

"I think our team played together and played hard," noted USF head coach Jennifer Azzi after the victorious effort. "I give our players all the credit for just having a lot of defensive intensity.

"Long Beach is a great defensive team. They switch up their defenses, they cause a lot of turnovers and one of the main things we told our team tonight was that we had to be poised against everything they threw at us."

A stout opponent at home, the 49ers entered the contest with a .716 winning percentage at Walter Pyramid in the last five seasons. The stingy defensive-minded Long Beach squad was rated in the top-30 nationally in scoring defense and turnover margin, but the Dons flipped the script.

The USF offense dissected the Long Beach defense, hitting 12 3-pointers in the game, including a school record-tying mark of seven three for junior Rachel Howard. As a team, the Dons shot 47.1 percent from the field, and made 12 of its 21 attempts from beyond the arc.

"Rachel Howard got hot tonight," said Azzi. "She shot the ball extremely well, and once she hit a couple her confidence went way up. She just found herself wide open. I think Rachel took some great shots tonight."

"Coach Azzi always talks about don't overthink it," Howard said after her career night. "If you're open, shoot the ball. That's what I was doing, not much past it. I know I'm the team three point shooter, and I know that's a strength of mine. Personally I work on it a ton, always getting shots up. I love to shoot the three, so it feels good to make a bunch."

She led the team on the stat sheet, finishing with 26 points on 60 percent shooting and four assists. Her seven 3-pointers matches a USF single-game record that has been on the books for nearly two decades, equaling performances by Andrea Kagie (at San Diego, 02/08/97) and Amy Touli (Northwestern State, 12/19/92).

Howard was not the only one on fire from the field, as senior Taylor Proctor was a perfect 4-for-4 from distance and 8-for-12 on the night. The senior from Colorado Springs, Colo., notched her fifth double-double of the season and flirted with the triple-double finishing with 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

The Dons opened up with the early lead, as Zhane Dikes scored seven of her 16 points in the game in the first five minutes of the action after her jumper made it 9-3 with 5:43 to play in the first quarter. Long Beach State scored the next five points to close the margin to one, but Howard's first triple of the game started an 8-0 run as the Dons extended the lead to 17-8.

A five minute scoring drought allowed the 49ers to get their first – and only – lead of the game after Raven Benton's 3-point shot made it 18-17 in favor of the home team. But the Dons powered back out to the lead with a string of 10 unanswered. Howard closed the first half with three 3-pointers in the final 2:16 and the Dons went into the locker room with the 36-25 advantage.

After the break, the USF offense picked up the pace and extended the advantage to 16 points off of Howard's record-tying three with 8:06 to play in the third quarter. The Dons never let up and Proctor's 3-pointer with 4:14 remaining put USF ahead 64-45, its largest advantage in the contest.

Leading the West Coast Conference in assists, and standing in 24th in the NCAA, the Dons' offensive synergy was on display throughout the contest. USF hit the 20-assist mark for the fifth time of the season, with seven women recording assists in the game.

"This was a huge game," said Howard. "It's the third year in a row we've played them. Two years ago we lost in double overtime, and last year here we did not play well and we turned the ball over. It means a lot to all of us to get this win."  

The Dons now enjoy a break in the schedule for Finals Week. USF's next game comes in a week and a half, as the Dons welcome San Francisco State to War Memorial at the Sobrato Center on Dec. 19. Tipoff for USF's last non-conference game of the season is slated for 2 p.m.