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SAN FRANCISCO – Three players accounted for most of the scoring, while the defense made timely stops as the USF women's basketball team posted an 89-73 win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday evening from War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
Senior guard
Rachel Howard scored 29 points and handed out five assists, while junior
Anna Seilund tallied a career-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists and junior
Michaela Rakova added 19 points as the triad registered 71 of the Dons' 89 points.
Howard set a program record by going a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line, while USF (16-12, 10-7 WCC) hit a season-high 31 free throws on the night.
With the win, USF extends its winning streak to a season-best three games and improves to 11-2 at home.
"It helps a lot," Howard said of the home court advantage. "Everyone's comfortable in their home gym, especially for our team. We love playing here. We shoot really well at home. It's just great having people's families in town and the support has been great."
While not their most democratic effort in terms of scoring distribution, the Dons picked up some vital blue collar support from senior
Claudia Price's nine points and game-high nine rebounds as she helped limit LMU's Jackie Johnson – the WCC's second-leading scorer coming into the game – to just 5-of-15 from the field.
"I think Claudia is everyone's favorite teammate to play with because she just has your back in everything she does," added Howard. "She does her job and she's the most consistent person on the floor."
Price helped key a defense that held LMU to a 36 percent shooting night.
On the offensive side, USF seemed to have an answer for every LMU run. Trailing by 14 to start the second half, the Lions (13-15, 8-9 WCC) crept within six on a pair of free throws by Johnson midway through the third quarter. But USF responded with five quick points and eventually a Seilund three-pointer that gave the Dons an 11-point lead heading into the final period.
The Dons started pulling away early in the fourth quarter when Price's jumper started an 11-2 run that stretched USF's lead to a game-high 17 points when Howard converted a pair of free throws to make it 74-57 with just over seven minutes to play.
A four-minute scoreless stretch for USF midway through the fourth quarter did little to shift the momentum in LMU's favor as the Lions went just 5-of-14 from the field in the final period. The Dons went 1-of-8 from the field over the final seven minutes but converted 11 of 15 chances from the charity stripe to keep the Lions at arm's length.
Seilund set the tone right from the opening tip when she knocked down a quick three on the Dons' first possession. She ended up hitting three triples in the quarter en route to a career-high five in the game.
Leslie Lopez-Wood led LMU with 19 points while going 4-for-6 from the perimeter. Johnson added 15 points , while Cheyanne Wallace scored 14 and Andee Velasco had 12 points to round out the Lions in double figures.
With one game remaining in the regular season, the Dons will likely come away as the No. 4 seed in the WCC Tournament next week. Even if USF ends up in a fourth-place tie with Santa Clara (14-14, 9-8) after Saturday's games, the Dons would claim fourth place by virtue of a tiebreaker over the Broncos.
The Dons close out the regular season on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Pepperdine. Saturday will be Senior Day at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center as Howard, Price,
Hashima Carothers and
Raushan Gultekin will be honored prior to tip-off.
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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