PROVO, Utah — The San Francisco women's basketball team led early Thursday and was still tied in the second quarter, but host BYU used first-half runs and hot shooting in the second half to pull away and defeat the Dons, 82-59, at the Marriott Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• San Francisco (6-22, 2-15 WCC) led in the first quarter and tied the game in the second, but BYU (22-6, 14-3 WCC) closed both the first and second with runs after USF had hung tight. After the Dons hit two 3-pointers and got back into it in the first quarter to take a 15-14 lead, the Cougars finished the frame with a 7-0 run for a 21-15 lead. San Francisco did not score for the final 3 minutes, 26 seconds of the first.
   
• USF then went on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 25-25 2 1/2 minutes into the second quarter. Shannon Powell re-entered the game and hit two 3-pointers, then grabbed a steal and made a running layup for eight of the Dons' 10 points during the run. But once again BYU answered with a big run of its own, outscoring USF, 16-2, including 13 straight points to end the quarter. USF went through another extended scoring drought during the Cougars' run, going 0 for 7 with three turnovers over the final 6:26 of the first half.
   
• BYU only got better after halftime. The Cougars shot 70 percent in the third quarter alone and were still shooting 54.5 percent in the fourth quarter with four minutes left. All that hot shooting allowed the Cougars to build its lead to as much as 22 in the third quarter and 28 in the fourth before the Dons closed the game with a 7-2 run.
   
• BYU had four players score in double figures, led by Shaylee Gonzales' 16 points. Paisley Johnson (15), Brenna Chase (13) and Maria Albiero (10) all also had double-digit points. USF's Nia Alexander led all players with 18 points. Julia Nielacna posted her first double-digit scoring game since Feb. 7 with 13 points – including a season-high three 3-pointers.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 8: San Francisco made eight 3-pointers Thursday, its second-most in a game this season. Four different Dons hit treys, with three of them making multiple shots from deep.
• 9: BYU – the WCC's top blocking team entering the night – recorded nine blocks. Sara Hamson tallied four, Shalae Salmon had two and three other players had one each.
• 38.1: San Francisco shot 38.1 percent from 3-point range with its eight 3-pointers. That was 10 percent better than its season average entering the game (28.1 percent).

COMING UP

• San Francisco concludes the 2018-19 regular season on Saturday at San Diego before traveling. The game tips off at 2 p.m. PST. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.