SPOKANE, Wash. – The USF women's basketball team suffered its first conference loss of the year as the Dons fell to Gonzaga, 61-46, on Thursday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
 
Rachel Howard and Nia Alexander led the Dons (8-6, 2-1 WCC) with nine points apiece, while Michaela Rakova narrowly missed out on her third consecutive double-double after registering eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Neither team necessarily sparkled offensively on the night with USF shooting 32.8 percent compared to Gonzaga's 33.9 percent clip. However, Gonzaga (10-4, 1-2 WCC) went 15-for-23 from the free throw line, while USF had just five attempts, connecting on four of them.   
 
USF got out to a strong start by scoring the first six points of the game, demonstrating some slick ball movement and an up-tempo pace that put the Zags on their heels out of the gates. Gonzaga went just 3-for-18 from the field in the first quarter as the Dons moved out to a 12-7 lead.  
 
The Zags started chipping away in the second quarter, moving into a half court trap midway through the period that forced three of USF's 19 turnovers in consecutive possessions. Gonzaga trimmed the lead to two on Kiara Kudron's layup as USF took a 22-20 lead into halftime.  
 
Both sides came out slow in the second half, but USF was able to hold off Gonzaga until Emma Stach connected on back-to-back threes that put Gonzaga up 32-27 with 4:25 left in the third quarter and gave the Zags their first lead of the game. Gonzaga proceeded to go on a 12-2 run from which USF never recovered.  
 
The Dons struggled to find a groove in the fourth quarter, going without a bucket until Rakova hit a jumper at the 6:45 mark that brought the score to 49-34 in favor of Gonzaga. The Zags pulled away from there.
 
Both teams matched one another by grabbing 40 rebounds apiece, but Gonzaga was able to take advantage of USF's miscues by scoring 16 points off turnovers compared to USF's eight.   
 
The Dons look ahead to taking on Saint Mary's on Saturday at 1 p.m.