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LAS VEGAS – It wasn't their prettiest performance of the year, but the Dons got a balanced attack that netted them their season-best fifth win in a row as the USF women's basketball team rolled to an 80-67 victory over Loyola Marymount in their WCC Tournament quarterfinal matchup on Thursday evening from the Orleans Arena.
USF (18-12) shot just 35 percent on the night, their lowest percentage in their last eight games, but made up for it by taking care of the ball with a season-low seven turnovers and by going 24-of-29 from the free throw line.
Four players registered double-digit scoring nights, led by juniors
Anna Seilund and
Kalyn Simon with 19 apiece. Senior
Rachel Howard endured an uncharacteristic 3-for-14 night from the field, but went 10-for-11 from the stripe to post 17 points, while junior
Michaela Rakova tallied her fifth double-double of the year with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
"We did a really good job sharing the ball and a good job defensively on their best players," head coach
Molly Goodenbour said after the game. "I thought all of our kids really stepped up today and played well, and I'm very proud of them."
In a game of runs, USF relinquished a 20-18 first quarter lead as LMU (14-16) strung together a quick 8-0 spurt in the first minute of the second period. The Dons fell into an 0-for-7 funk midway through the quarter where they didn't hit a field goal for over five minutes until Rakova heated up by hitting four 3-pointers in the quarter, helping spur an 11-0 USF run that allowed the Dons to take a 41-34 lead into the break.
The back-and-forth carried into the second half as the Lions strung together a 10-0 run that led to a Leslie Lopez-Wood three, tying the game at 50-50 with 3:27 to go in the third quarter. The Dons went just one for their last 12 to finish the third quarter but managed to prevent LMU from taking the lead as USF carried a 54-52 advantage into the final frame.
USF jumped out ahead and started to create distance early in the fourth quarter. This time it was LMU who went cold, going almost five minutes without a bucket midway through the period. The Dons defense limited LMU to just 26 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, keeping the Lions at arm's length by hitting 14 free throws in quarter. Seilund's jumper with just under three minutes remaining put the Dons up 11 and gave them all the momentum they would need to post their 10th straight win over LMU.
"They were mixing up their defenses a lot," Seilund said. "In the fourth period they came out and tried to trap us a lot, so we tried to swing the ball and not get trapped, and that was really important for our offense."
The victory marks the fifth straight year that the Dons have won their first round game.
Cheyanne Wallace led LMU with 19 points, while Jackie Johnson recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds and Lopez-Wood added 13 points.
USF now awaits the result of Friday's game between No. 1 seed Gonzaga and No. 9 seed Pacific. The Dons will face the winner of that game on Monday at noon in the semifinals.
"We're here on business," added Seilund. "We want to enjoy the night and get back to business tomorrow."
