SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Returning to their home court for the third time this season, the USF Dons women's basketball team (2-1) earned a tough and gritty win at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center Wednesday night as they defeated the Troy Trojans (2-2) 84-73. 

The Dons came out of the gate hot by combining strong outside shooting and stingy defense, as guard Ioanna Krimili had a night to remember knocking down six outside shots against the Trojans as she poured in 24 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists on Wednesday. Providing a great spark from the second unit, both Jasmine Gayles and Loren Christie played major minutes and scored in double figures to help USF knock off the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt Conference. 

Krimili continued to further cement herself in the Dons' record books, as her six three-point makes tonight now pushes her up to second in program history for career makes from distance as she passed Anna Seilund tonight. Krimili is now seven makes away from matching Shay Rollins' school record. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• The hometown Dons got off to a fast start playing on their home floor Wednesday night, as Krimili and the USF defense came to play early finding ways to get easy looks and making life hard for Troy on the other end of the floor. San Francisco was able to knock down four three point shots in the first quarter of play that allowed them to create some separation from the Trojans as the Dons held a 23-15 lead after 10 minutes of play.
• Troy was able to rebound a bit in the second quarter of play as they put together a 6-0 run to cut USF's lead down to four early in the second before back-to-back key baskets from Debora dos Santos provided the Dons some breathing room as USF wrapped up the first half with a trifecta of made three-point shots from Krimili, Jessica McDowell-White and Amy Baum.
• USF's defense was ready to rock at the beginning of the third quarter as they held the Trojans to just two total points through the first half of the quarter and built a double digit lead thanks to two quick baskets from Kia Vaalavirta who made her second consecutive start. Troy put together a late 9-0 spurt to get a bit closer before Gayles knocked down a mid-range jumper to give USF the 57-51 lead heading into the fourth.
• After the Trojans were able to bring the deficit down to four, Krimili helped settle the team back down by knocking down a huge three-point shot to push the lead back up to seven points and a five-point swing from Kennedy Dickie brought USF back up to a double digit advantage. As the clock began to tick down late in the contest, the Trojans sent USF to the free throw line with the Dons taking advantage in route to an impressive 84-73 win against a quality non-conference opponent.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Krimili had a tremendous performance on Wednesday against a tall and athletic Troy team as she scored 24 points on 8-for-21 from the field while knocking down 6-of-13 three point shots. Ioanna also contributed five rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes played in the victory.
• Christie provided a great punch off the bench as she scored 13 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field while grabbing eight key rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists against Troy.
• Dickie was a force on the glass the entire game as she posted nine points and 13 rebounds against the Trojans as she shot 4-of-9 from the field to go along with two assists and a steal.
• Scoring some key baskets and providing tremendous effort on defense, Vaalavirta scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting with two assists and a rebound for the Dons. 

POST GAME WITH THE DONS:

• USF head women's basketball coach Molly Goodenbour -- "I'm excited to get a win against a dangerous Troy team. Troy does a great job of forcing turnovers and crashing offensive rebounds that we knew we had to try to be solid in those areas to compete. I thought we played pretty tough and moved the ball pretty well to create some good shots for teammates. Io knocked shots like she is able to do and everyone stepped up and gave a very focused effort. It was a really nice team win." 
• To watch the highlights from tonight's 84-73 USF win, please click here. 
• To watch tonight's post game interview featuring Ioanna Krimili and Loren Christie, please click here. 

UP NEXT:
The Dons will be back home this Saturday, Nov. 19 for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off against the USC Trojans (3-0) from War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. Saturday afternoon's game will be a rematch of last season's battle at the Galen Center that USF won by a 78-63 final score. 

TICKETS AND MERCHANDISE:
Single-game tickets for West Coast Conference basketball games are currently on sale at www.usfdons.com/tickets. 

Want to dress like the Dons? Rep USF today by visiting the all-new USF Dons online store at www.usfdons.com/shop.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the USF women's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsWBB on Twitter, @USFDonsWBB on Instagram and @USFDonsWBB on Facebook.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Provident Credit Union - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.