SAN FRANCISCO — The University of San Francisco women's basketball team's final game of the regular season is one of its biggest, as it hosts streaking BYU on Saturday. The Dons and Cougars will tip off at noon and will be streamed on the WCC Network. George Devine will have the call live from War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Feb. 27, 2021 – Noon
Opponent: BYU Cougars (17-3, 13-2 WCC)
Site: War Memorial at the Sobrato Center
Stream: WCC Network
Audio: None
Talent: George Devine
Live Stats: USFDons.com
 
USF AT A GLANCE
LAST TIME OUT
The Dons swept the season series against rival Santa Clara with a convincing 87-64 win over the Broncos at home on Saturday.  The Dons were led by Ioanna Krimili who scored a game-high 20 points.  With the win, the Dons improved to 9-7 in the WCC – having won eight of their last nine contests. 
 
A WIN WOULD MEAN...
• The Dons would improve to 14-9 on the season
• Improve the Dons 7-3 at home.
• Improve the Dons to 7-21 all-time against the Cougars
• Give the Dons their 10th win in WCC play – most since 2017-18 (10).
 
CLIMBING THE NET
The Dons have risen drastically in the all-important NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET rankings).  Prior to the Dons' six-game winning streak earlier in the year, the Dons were ranked 200th in the NET rankings, second-to-last in the WCC. The Dons are currently third in the WCC at 104th. Gonzaga is tops in the conference at 20, followed by BYU at 50. Trailing the Dons is Pacific at 117 and San Diego at 119.
 
IOANNA CHASES HISTORY
The 10-time WCC Freshman of the Week has already set the USF single-season record for 3-point field goals when she hit her 78th in the win over Santa Clara. With only six more 3s she will join Saint Mary's Jontelle Smith, Santa Clara's Alyssa Shoji and BYU's Lexi (Eaton) Rydalch for 10th all-time in a single season in WCC history. The WCC single-season record is 104 set by the Gaels' Taycee Wedin.
 
SCOUTING REPORT:  BYU
The Cougars have won eight in a row, including beating nationally ranked and WCC champion Gonzaga last week on Feb. 18. They've won four consecutive road games, three of them by 13 or more points. Saturday's game will feature the WCC's top-two scorers in Krimili (18.3 points per game) and BYU's Shaylee Gonzales (18.2 ppg). Gonzales is also among the conference's top-three in field goals made (1st, 144) and steals (3rd, 49/2.45 per game). Sara Hamson leads the WCC with 54 blocks (2.7 per game), helping power BYU's conference-best field goal defense holding opponents to 35.3% shooting.
 
SERIES VS. COUGARS
BYU has controlled the all-time series against San Francisco, owning a 21-7 all-time record versus the Dons, but that's not without some highlighted success by USF. The Dons beat BYU in War Memorial at the Sobrato Center on Feb. 22, 2020, last season with a buzzer-beating put-back by Abby Rathbun. They also beat BYU by three points (76-73) on Feb. 10, 2018, in San Francisco. BYU owns two separate seven-game win streaks in the series, the first starting with the team's first-ever meeting in 1979-80, and the most recent over a seven-game stretch from 2014-16. USF is 4-7 all-time against the Cougars in San Francisco.