SANTA CLARA, Calif. – For the second straight game, it took extra periods to decide the outcome of the San Francisco women's basketball contest. And again the heartbreak was palpable as the Dons fell to Santa Clara 80-79 Saturday afternoon at the Leavey Center.

USF now stands at 14-11 on the season and the team is still looking for that elusive win to guarantee a .500 record on the year. With the next victory, the Dons will secure an even or better season for the first time since 2001-02. Despite the final outcome of the contest, the Dons held the lead or the tie for all but the final 13.5 seconds of the overtime period when USF's hopes of the first season sweep of Santa Clara since the 1996-97 campaign were dashed.  

Offensively, the Dons were led by 22 points and eight rebounds from Taylor Proctor, and a 21-point outing on 7-of-9 shooting for senior Taj Winston. Paige Spietz added 16 points and eight rebounds in the contest, including a perfect 8-for-8 effort from the line.

But unfortunately for the Dons, Santa Clara's Nici Gilday took the Broncos on her back and willed the home team to the win. The third-leading scorer in the West Coast Conference finished with 35 points on 14-of-30 shooting, and finished shooting 5-of-11 from distance. Her jumper with seconds to play in overtime proved to be the game-winning shot.

USF raced out to the early lead and held the 11-point advantage after Proctor's layup put the score at 33-22 with 8:06 to play in the first half. That basket capped a 9-3 run for the Dons where Proctor, Winston and Spietz all scored in the lane on the Santa Clara defense.

After 87 combined points in the opening period, a season-high, the scoring slowed in the second. The Broncos managed to knot the game at 74 apiece after Morgan McGwire drove to the basket with 3.7 seconds to play in regulation.

The Dons won the overtime tip, and Spietz gave USF the 76-74 advantage after a successful trip to the free throw line on USF's first possession. With 2:59 remaining in the game Taylor Berry's layup again tied the contest. The Dons called a timeout with 2:09 to go and drew up a play in which Anna Seilund passed to an open Aundrea Gordon on the wing for the 3-pointer and the USF lead.

The Broncos pulled within one after Berry again drove for the score and the Dons called the timeout with 48.2 seconds remaining. After an offensive foul gave the ball back to Santa Clara, Gilday scored the eventual game-winning basket. The Dons set up for the last play of the game with 7.9 seconds to play, but Proctor's last-second layup caromed off the rim and into the hands of a Broncos defender to seal the game.

Statistically speaking, both teams shot the ball well and the Dons finished with .489 shooting percentage. USF got to the line often, finishing the game with 38 attempts at the stripe, but Santa Clara combatted the driving Dons in other ways.

The Broncos won the battle of the boards by a slim 37 to 34 margin, but Santa Clara's 18 offensive rebounds led to 15 points in the tightly contested game. The Dons committed 22 turnovers that led to 25 points for the opponent.  Averaging just 64.7 points on the season, Santa Clara put together their second league game with at least 80 points.

The longest series rival for the Dons, Santa Clara has USF's number in their home gym. The Broncos have escaped with victories the last 14 times the two have met at the Leavey Center, dating back to Feb. 20, 2003. Ten of those games have been decided by 10 points or less and three have required overtime before the Broncos nabbed the win.

Next up, the Dons host Loyola Marymount in Thursday's Pink Game. Tipoff from War Memorial Gym is slated for 7 p.m.