USF (10-8, 4-3 WCC) vs. San Diego (9-8, 3-4 WCC)
Saturday, Jan. 21 | 2 p.m.
War Memorial at the Sobrato Center | San Francisco, Calif.
Series Record: San Diego leads, 39-29
Last Meeting: Dec. 29, 2016 (USF 82-67)
Video/Audio: TheW.tv (George Devine PBP)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Complete Game Notes [PDF]
Opening Tip
USF (10-8, 4-3 WCC) welcomes San Diego (9-8, 3-4 WCC) to the Hilltop for a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday, tipping off a three-game home stretch for the Dons. USF returns home after defeating Portland 75-56 on the road on Thursday. The Toreros are also coming off a win with a 61-58 home decision over LMU. USF sits in third place, with USD in seventh, in the crowded WCC standings nearing the midpoint of the conference slate.
The Dons At a Glance...
- Posted a 75-56 win at Portland on Thursday night behind 21 points apiece from Rachel Howard and Anna Seilund. The Dons shot 51.8 percent on the night, their second-best shooting performance of the year, as they led for virtually the entire contest. Kalyn Simon added 11 points for USF and Michaela Rakova pitched in with seven points and a team-best seven rebounds.
- Thursday's win over Portland was just the second time this season two Dons registered 20+ points in a game as Anna Seilund and Rachel Howard each poured in 21. Kalyn Simon (22) and Howard (20) did it previously in a win at San Diego on Dec. 29.
- USF (9) and Portland (8) combined for just 17 turnovers on Thursday night, the fewest combined total for the Dons this year.
- With a three-pointer on her first attempt of the game in the first quarter at Pacific last Saturday, Rachel Howard became the 22nd player in the USF history to crack the 1,000 point threshold... the senior moved into 21st place in USF's career record book, surpassing Kim Bachman (1978,83 / 1,002 points) on the all-time list... Howard leads the Dons and ranks fifth in the WCC in scoring (14.3 ppg)… she also moved into fourth place with 147 career three-pointers made.
- Redshirt junior Kalyn Simon leads the conference with a 50.0 percent (22-44) clip from the perimeter.
- Junior Anna Seilund has been a veritable Swiss Army knife for the Dons this year... she's been a key asset at the free throw line where she ranks sixth in the WCC at 82.7 percent (43-52)... she leads the team and ranks 10th in the WCC in assists (3.6 per game), including a career-high eight at Saint Mary's on Jan. 7... she's ninth in the conference averaging 1.8 steals per game... established a career high with 22 points against San Jose State on Dec. 6 while averaging a career-best 10.6 points per game, second on the team... also logging the most minutes on the team and eight-most in the WCC (32.8 per game).
Scouting Report
About San Diego
The Toreros are coming off a 61-58 home win over LMU on Thursday... had lost three of their last four prior to that game... senior guard Katherine Hamilton has stepped up after the loss of leading scorer and preseason All-WCC pick Maya Hood to pace the Toreros offensively averaging 10.3 points per game... junior guard Aubrey Ward-El is the only other Torero averaging double figures at 10. 2 points per contest, while ranking second in the WCC from the charity stripe (88.6)... rank in the middle of the WCC in most statistical categories, including scoring offense (66.2, t-5th) and field goal percentage (42.0, 5th)... lead the conference in turnover margin (+2.88)... picked to finish fourth in the WCC preseason poll... head coach Cindy Fisher is in her 12th year at the helm.
Series History with San Diego
San Diego leads the all-time series 39-29... the Dons have won the past three meetings and four of the last five... USF posted an 82-67 win in San Diego on Dec. 29 as
Kalyn Simon notched a career-high 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting and
Rachel Howard added 20 points... San Diego won 13 contests in a row between 2007-08 and 2013-14... outside of that and a six-game winning streak by USF that spanned 1993-94 to 1996-97, the series has been fairly evenly-matched... USF is 15-17 all-time against the Toreros at War Memorial Gym.
The Last Time They Met
The Dons opened WCC play with an 82-67 win at San Diego on Dec. 29. Redshirt junior
Kalyn Simon paced the Dons by shooting 9-of-11 from the field – including a pair of three-pointers – en route to a career-best 22 points. Senior
Rachel Howard chipped in with 20 points while dishing out four assists and junior
Michaela Rakova registered her second double-double of the year – and third of her career – with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Anna Seilund (10 points, game-high five assists) and
Nia Alexander (13 points) were the other Dons in double figures on the night. USF shot a season-best 56.7 percent (34-60) against a San Diego team that had won two of its last three coming into the conference opener. The Dons shot a blistering 64.5 percent in the first half. The victory marked the Dons' first win to start conference play since the 2007-08 season when USF defeated San Diego 80-62 at home in the WCC opener.
Last Time Out
The Dons got 21 points apiece from senior
Rachel Howard and junior
Anna Seilund as the
Dons posted a 75-56 win over Portland on Thursday evening from the Chiles Center. The Dons led for virtually the entire contest as they won their sixth straight over the Pilots. Portland's only lead of the game came right out of the gates as Julie Spencer hit a jumper for the game's first basket. Three minutes later
Michaela Rakova knocked down a three and USF led from that point on.
Kalyn Simon scored 11 points, while Rakova tallied seven points and led the Dons with seven rebounds on the night. Howard was locked in throughout the night, sinking her first seven shots and going 7-of-10 from the field overall, including 4-of-7 from distance. She scored 11 of her 21 points in the third quarter where she knocked down three triples. Seilund, meanwhile, went 8-of-16 with three 3-pointers. Both Howard and Seilund handed out a game-high five assists.
Up Next
The Dons stay at home for their next two contests, a 7 p.m. matchup against Saint Mary's on Jan. 26, followed by a 2 p.m. meeting with Pacific on Jan. 28 at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
Fan Guide
Ticket Information
Individual game tickets for all USF home games this season are available online at USFDons.com or by calling (415) 422-2USF. General admission tickets are available for as low as $10. All USFCA faculty, staff and students with a valid ID, and youth 12 and under enter free.
Parking Information
Parking is available free of charge on game days two hours prior to tip-off and one hour after the conclusion of the game in the Hayes-Healy garage (located along Golden Gate Ave. in between War Memorial at the Sobrato Center and the Hayes Healy dorms) and at the Koret Health and Recreation Center lot (at the corner of Parker Ave. and Turk St.). Street parking is also available around campus, but visitors are reminded to take notice of signs displaying city parking restrictions for each street. Refer to the
USF Department of Public Safety parking webpage for a
map of parking on campus.
Tickets are available for USF's Hall of Fame dinner to be held on Feb. 3 at the McLaren Conference Center on campus. Former women's basketball standout Tami Adkins '93 joins Eduardo Rangel '66 (men's soccer), Patrick McGuigan '06 (baseball), James Hardy '78 (men's basketball), and Dr. Sandee Hill (special category) as the 2017 class of inductees into the Father Hubert "Hub" Flynn Hall of Fame. Click here to purchase your tickets today.
