USF Sets Out for Saturday Matchup at BYU

USF (13-11, 7-6 WCC) at BYU (15-9, 9-4 WCC)
Saturday, Feb. 11 | 1 p.m. (PT)
Marriott Center | Provo, Utah
Series Record: BYU leads, 15-4
Last Meeting: Jan. 12, 2017 (H), USF 70-63
Video: BYUtv
Audio: Livestream.com/usf/wbbaudio (George Devine, PBP)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Complete Game Notes [PDF]

Opening Tip
USF (13-11, 7-6 WCC) wraps up a four-game road stretch with a 1 p.m. matchup at BYU (15-9, 9-4 WCC) on Saturday afternoon at the Marriott Center. The contest will be the Dons' final road game of the regular season before closing out the regular season with four straight home dates. USF is looking to bounce back from a 74-61 loss at Santa Clara on Thursday night, while the Cougars cruised to an 88-49 home win over Pepperdine.

The Dons At a Glance...
Last TIME OUT

Suffered 74-61 defeat at Santa Clara on Thursday night
Rachel Howard led all scorers with 26 points and five 3-pointers, but the Dons shot just 36.4 percent from the field
Santa Clara shot 50 percent on the night and led for the majority of the contest
Kalyn Simon added 12 points for USF, while the Broncos had five players in double figures, led by Lori Parkinson's 21

WHO'S HOT?
Senior guard Rachel Howard has been the main catalyst of the USF offense recently, leading the team at 23.2 points per game over the last five contests. Over that span, Howard is shooting 41.5 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from the perimeter to go along with a 94.1 clip from the free throw line. Senior Claudia Price, meanwhile, has had the shooter's touch of late, shooting a team-best 58.8 percent from the field, while junior Anna Seilund has handed out a team-high 16 assists over the last five games.

BEYOND THE ARC
Redshirt junior Kalyn Simon ranks fourth in the conference with a 41.1 percent clip from the perimeter, while Rachel Howard's 48 triples are the fourth-most in the WCC this year.

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.

NO HOME SICKNESS HERE
Simon is the rare Don who has been shooting better on the road than at home this season. Simon is connecting at a team-best 52.7 percent clip in her 12 road games versus a 36.5 percent at home. She is also shooting 46.5 percent from the perimeter away from the Sobrato Center compared to 35.7 percent in home contests.

WHERE THEY STACK UP
At 7-6 in WCC play, USF comes into Saturday's game alone in fourth place with BYU two games ahead in third place at 9-4 in conference action. Gonzaga maintains sole possession of first place at 11-2 with Saint Mary's right behind at 10-3. After BYU, six of the remaining seven teams are separated by no more than three games in the standings.

MAKE EM' IF YOU GET EM'
As a team, the Dons lead the WCC from the free throw line (77.5). USF went 13-of-16 (81.3) in their loss at Santa Clara on Thursday.

Scouting Report

About BYU
The Cougars are coming off a convincing 88-49 home win over Pepperdine on Thursday and have won six of their last eight. BYU ranks in the top third of the conference in most statistics categories. They have held opponents to a conference-low 35.9 percent from the field, while leading the WCC in assists (16.2 per game) and steals (9.0). Junior guard Cassie Broadhead leads the conference at 18.5 points per game, while senior forward Kalani Purcell paces the WCC on the boards, averaging 10.6 per contest.   Broadhead has been the WCC's best three-point shooter this season, connecting at a 47.6 percent clip from the perimeter, with senior guard Makenzi Pulsipher ranking second in three-pointers made (52). The Cougars were picked to finish second in the conference under 16th-year head coach Jeff Judkins.

Series History with BYU
Despite USF's 70-63 win in their most recent meeting, BYU leads the all-time series, 15-4. The Dons have won two in a row over the Cougars now stretching back to last season's WCC Tournament final, but prior to that, BYU had won seven consecutive meetings stretching back to the 2013-14 season. USF's only win in Provo, where they are 1-7 all-time, came with a 71-64 victory in 2011-12. BYU won the first meeting in the series, 62-58, in 1979-80. They didn't meet again until 1984-85 and 1986-87, both BYU victories. Three nonconference meetings followed in 2002-03, 2005-06 and 2009-10 before the Cougars joined the WCC for the 2011-12 campaign.

Last Time They Met
The USF women's basketball team rallied for a fourth quarter lead and kept the visiting BYU Cougars at bay to claim a 70-63 victory on Jan. 12 at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. Junior Anna Seilund paced USF offensively with 19 points. Seilund shot just 5-of-14 from the field, but went 7-for-8 from the line to help secure the win. She also added a pair of assists and three steals on the night. Michaela Rakova tallied 15 points and a team-best eight rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, while Rachel Howard scored 12 and dished out four assists. USF registered a 37.5 percent clip from the field, compared to BYU's 44.6 percent effort, and were significantly outscored in the paint, 36-16, but the Dons took care of the ball, committing a season-low eight turnovers while forcing the Cougars into 16 miscues, allowing USF to put up 14 points off turnovers. USF was buoyed by a season-high 24 minutes and seven points from freshman Anna Pierce, who also chipped in a season-best four assists. The fourth quarter saw the Dons pull away, mounting a 14-0 run punctuated by their largest lead of the game on Rakova's banked-in three-pointer with 2:33 to play that put USF ahead 61-49. The Cougars responded by shifting into a full court press, which allowed them to put some pressure on the Dons and remain within striking distance. BYU trimmed the deficit back down to four points when Cassie Broadhead sunk a pair of free throws with 43 seconds remaining.

Last Time Out
The Dons couldn't find the offensive momentum it needed in a 74-61 loss at Santa Clara on Thursday evening from the Leavey Center. Senior Rachel Howard led all scorers with 26 points, but couldn't shake the Dons out of a 36 percent shooting night. Redshirt junior Kalyn Simon added 12 points, teaming with Howard for seven of the team's eight three-pointers on the night. With five triples in the game, Howard moved into second place on USF's all-time three-pointers list with 166 in her career. Coming into the game with the conference's third-best percentage from deep, USF shot just 28.6 percent from the perimeter, four of which came in the fourth quarter. The night started in Santa Clara's favor as the Broncos opened the game with a quick 8-2 run. Santa Clara came out of the intermission with a quick 7-2 spurt. The Broncos started to extend their lead, going 9-of-11 in the third quarter, with Morgan McGwire's buzzer beater giving the Broncos a 57-41 advantage at the end of the third period. The Dons strung together an 8-0 stretch to start the fourth quarter, trimming the Santa Clara lead to 51-61. However, the Broncos immediately turned around and climbed back ahead with a 9-0 run that effectively put the game out of reach for USF.

Up Next
The Dons return home to close out the regular season, starting with a 7 p.m. contest against Gonzaga on Thursday at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center, followed by a 2 p.m. meeting with Portland on Saturday afternoon. 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 for USF home games is typically available free of charge two hours prior to tip-off until one hour after the conclusion of the game in any campus lot, with the exception of designated green parking spots and the top of Hayes-Healy garage.

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