LAS VEGAS, Nev. – For San Francisco women's basketball, the Las Vegas luck of upending the higher seeded team in the West Coast Conference Championships ended Tuesday afternoon against the No. 5 seed, BYU Cougars. The Dons, the 6th seed in the league tournament, fell to the Cougars 76-65 at the Orleans Arena and now await their postseason fate.

After reaching the conference pinnacle for the first time since 1997, the Dons now stand at 19-13 on the year, their best record since that same season nearly two decades ago. Despite the sting of the loss, head coach Jennifer Azzi knows the milestones reached are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

"It's bittersweet. You don't want to be in second, but at the same time you've got a lot to look forward to," she noted in the post-game press conference. "That's exactly what we talked about [in the locker room] is that we still have basketball ahead of us. I just actually have a range of emotions – a mix. I'm excited about the future; I'm excited about the progress we've made this season, but no one likes to lose so that's difficult.

"But at the same time, we've got a great team and I think our staff and our players, once we regroup, are excited about being in the postseason for the first time in a very, very long time at USF."

The Dons opened the game with the first points of the day off a triple from Paige Spietz and the game remained close for the opening quarter. After Spietz took a charge on defense and sunk a pair of free throws from the line, the Dons held the 20-17 advantage with 10:45 on the clock.

However, the Dons' offense went icy for the next seven minutes and BYU capitalized with a 16-0 run to take the lead, which was never relinquished. The score was 39-27 in favor of BYU at the break, but the Dons had found themselves in this position just one day ago in the semifinal victory over No. 2 seed San Diego.

Different from the previous day's results, however, was the inability to break the double-digit deficit barrier. With 14:20 remaining back-to-back jumpers for Michaela Rakova set the score at 48-38 in favor of the Cougars, but BYU again ratcheted the lead back to the teens moments later. The margin was again 10 with 1:25 to play after a putback by Taj Winston was followed by a putback and three-point play for Spietz. But time was not on the side of the Dons, who could only edge as close at 74-65 with 16.0 seconds remaining after a 3-pointer for Taylor Proctor splashed the net.

The Cougars earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the victory, moving to 23-9 on the season after taking all three meetings of the season against USF.

"I want to give San Francisco a lot of credit. They were playing, during the season, as good as any team in this league and I think it showed," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said of the Dons. "A lot of their players will be back; they've got a lot of younger kids. This will be a great experience for them. I want to give Jennifer Azzi and her staff a lot of compliments about this year. They are a very classy team."

The Dons were led by an impressive outing for Winston, a senior from Long Beach, Calif. She went off for a game-high 24 points, including a 10-of-11 effort from the line, and was one of three Dons to finish with 10 rebounds in the game. Spietz and Proctor each finished with 10-point, 10-rebound double-doubles in the contest.

For Winston, the banner night included a new career-high eight offensive rebounds, and for her efforts in USF's three tournament games she was rewarded with All-Tournament accolades. She is the first Don on the All-Tournament squad since 1997.

"Taj has been outstanding in just the last half of the season here. Just her heart, her desire, her will," Azzi said. "I could go on and on about how much she's been through both as a person and as an athlete to be in this place, so I'm beyond excited for her and just for her future as well. She's a fighter and she's somebody that you want in your foxhole. It's been a joy to coach her and I hope I have a lot more games to coach her."

USF now awaits a potential postseason selection, and should know their destination by Selection Monday.