USF and Pacific Meet Again on Saturday

USF (11-9, 5-4 WCC) vs. Pacific (8-12, 4-5 WCC)
Saturday, Jan. 28 | 2 p.m.
War Memorial at the Sobrato Center | San Francisco, Calif.
Series Record: USF leads, 18-17
Last Meeting: Jan. 14, 2017 (A), UOP 63-60
Video/Audio: TheW.tv (George Devine, PBP)
Live Stats: USF.StatBroadcast.com
Complete Game Notes [PDF]

Opening Tip
USF (11-9, 5-4 WCC) welcomes Pacific (8-12, 4-5 WCC) to War Memorial at the Sobrato Center for a 2 p.m. tip on Saturday afternoon. The Dons have their sights set on closing out their three-game homestand with a victory following a 64-62 last-second loss to Saint Mary's on Thursday. Meanwhile, Pacific fell to LMU at home by a 65-52 margin in their most recent outing.

The Dons At a Glance...
LAST TIME OUT

Dropped a heartbreaker at home to Saint Mary's on Thursday night, 64-62
SMC's Carly Turner hit the game-winning jump shot from the elbow with 0.4 seconds left
Rachel Howard led all scorers with 26 points on 7-of-15 shooting, going 4-of-7 from deep
Michaela Rakova added 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds
The Gaels outscored the Dons 32-8 in the paint and 14-4 in second chance points

ONE AFTER ANOTHER
With 26 points against Saint Mary's on Thursday, senior guard Rachel Howard has registered 20+ points in four straight games. Prior to this stretch, Howard had never scored 20 or more in back-to-back contests. She had 27 points against San Diego this past Saturday to go along with 21 in a win at Portland and 22 at Pacific.

IN THE TRENCHES
USF leads WCC in defensive rebounding at 27.5 per game, but ranks second to last on the offensive glass (10.4). The Dons' -1.2 rebounding margin ranks in the middle of the WCC. After being outrebounded 44-27 against Saint Mary's on Thursday, USF has held a rebounding advantage or tie in nine of its 20 contests so far.

LOVE THOSE FAMILIAR HOOPS
Junior forward Michaela Rakova has enjoyed shooting on her home floor this year where she boasts a 50.5 percent field goal percentage, while averaging 13.0 points per game, compared to 36.2 percent on the road and 6.3 points per contest.

WHERE THEY STACK UP
At 5-4 in WCC play, USF comes into Saturday's game alone in fourth place, while Pacific sits in a three-way tie for fifth with LMU and Santa Clara, each at 4-5. BYU and Gonzaga sit atop the conference standings at 7-2.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Dons are enjoying their longest homestand of the season to date with the Pacific game wrapping up a three-game home stretch that included an 81-72 win over San Diego and a 64-62 loss to Saint Mary's. USF is 7-2 at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center, compared to 3-7 on the road.

JOIN THE CLUB
Howard's three-pointer on her first attempt of the game at Pacific on Jan. 14 put her over 1,000 points for her career. She became the 22nd player in USF history to reach that milestone.

Scouting Report
About Pacific
The Tigers come into Saturday's matchup in the midst of a three-game skid after falling to LMU, 65-52, at home on Thursday. Outside of its win over USF on Jan. 14, Pacific has lost five of its last six. The Tigers have been the WCC's best free throw shooting team and rank 11th nationally (78.4 percent), while also being the most effective from long range (34.5) in the conference. Junior guard Geanna Luaulu-Summers' 92.9 percent clip from the charity stripe is the second-best in the nation. She ranks sixth in the WCC averaging 13.8 points per game. The Tigers, who were picked to finish eighth in the WCC, are 3-4 on the road this year under second-year head coach Bradley Davis.

Series History with Pacific
USF holds a narrow edge in the all-time series, 18-17. Pacific won the last meeting on Jan. 14, 63-60, in Stockton, but the Dons have won three of the last five matchups. USF's longest winning streak in the series was six games between 1977-78 and 1980-81. UOP posted a five-game winning streak of their own between 2010-11 and 2014-15. Pacific won the first three matchups of the series in 1976-77 and 1977-78. The two teams met home and home annually until 1990-91, but only met five times in nonconference action thereafter until UOP joined the WCC in 2013-14. The Dons are 12-3 against the Tigers all-time at home.

The Last Time They Met
The USF women's basketball team was in control holding a game-high nine-point lead with 3:50 to play before Pacific used a 13-0 run to send the Dons to a 63-60 loss on Jan. 14 at the Spanos Center. Senior guard Rachel Howard led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including a three-pointer on her first attempt of the game in the first quarter that put her over the 1,000 career point threshold. Howard became the 22nd player in USF history to score at least 1,000 points, surpassing Kim Bachman (1978-83, 1,002 points) on the all-time list. Freshman Anna Pierce registered a career-high 10 points, all of which came in the first half, while junior Anna Seilund chipped in with 10 points of her own to go along with a game-high five assists. After a slow third quarter where both teams combined to score just 19 points, the Dons held a 45-41 lead heading into the final period. USF started to pull away midway through the fourth quarter when Price drained back-to-back jumpers and Seilund snuck through for a layup that gave the Dons a 46-55 advantage. But Pacific started to shift the momentum behind GeAnna Luaulu-Summers. Luaulu-Summers proceeded to go 8-for-8 from the line over the final four minutes to help the Tigers trim the deficit. Immediately following Luaulu-Summers' final free throws, Pacific's Desire Finnie stole the ensuing inbounds and converted the layup to give the Tigers a 61-59 lead with 1:53 on the clock that effectively served as the dagger. Luaulu-Summers led Pacific with 21 points while going a perfect 16-for-16 from the line on the day. USF went without a field goal for the remainder of the game following Howard's jumper at the 3:50 mark in the fourth quarter.

Last Time Out
In another wire-to-wire contest between USF and Saint Mary's, it was Carly Turner's jumper with 0.4 seconds left that gave the Gaels a 64-62 victory on Thursday evening at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. The Dons chipped away during the second half to overcome a six-point halftime deficit when senior Rachel Howard knocked down an off balance three-pointer with 19 seconds left in the game and hit the ensuing free throw to tie it at 62-62 before Turner connected for the game-winner on the Gaels' next possession. Howard registered a game-high 26 points on the night by going 7-of-15 from the field and 4-of-7 from the perimeter. It was Howard's fourth consecutive game scoring at least 20 points as she passed Sarah Wanless (1995-00) for 20^th all-time among USF's career scoring leaders with 1,094 career points. Michaela Rakova added 10 points and a team-best seven rebounds for USF. Thursday night's game carried the same back-and-forth, competitive flavor. Similar to their previous meeting, the Gaels held a decisive advantage in the paint where they outscored USF 32-8 on the night and grabbed 16 offensive boards to post a 14-4 edge in second chance opportunities.

Up Next
The Dons head down to Southern California for the first of four straight road games when they meet Pepperdine at 7 p.m. on Feb. 2, followed by a 2 p.m. matchup at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 4.

Fan Guide

Promotions
Saturday will serve as Women in Sport Leadership Day. Celebrate the careers of women in the sports industry with the USF Dons at a pre-game networking event on Saturday at 1pm. Drinks and light snacks will be provided in the Hilltop Club suite of War Memorial at the Sobrato Center an hour before the game. Invitees are encouraged to connect with seasoned trailblazers, mentor young sport management students, and support each other's careers in the sports industry. Tickets for this event are complementary. RSVP with Mae Cichelli at mcichelli@usfca.edu.

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.

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