SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Following a tough game at home and a slow start to the first half on Monday morning, the USF Dons women's basketball team (3-2) earned an impressive come-from-behind victory as they erased a double digit halftime deficit to knock off the Penn Quakers (1-4) by a 73-65 final score at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
Leading the way for USF and cementing her status in the record books was
Ioanna Krimili who scored 35 points and knocked down eight three-point shots to become the new USF leader in career three point shots made with 207 across her four seasons on the Hilltop. Doing tremendous work on the glass as she's done all season,
Kennedy Dickie set a new career-high with 19 rebounds against Penn on Monday as she's now reached 500 total rebounds for her career after her double-double performance by also scoring 10 points in the victory.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Back in action on their home floor, the Dons got off to a fast start on Monday morning racing out to an 11-3 lead as buckets from Kia Vaalavirta, Dickie, Krimili and Amy Baum had USF off and running forcing the Quakers into an early timeout. Penn was able to knock down some outside shots towards the end of the first quarter to draw a bit closer with a late bucket from Jessica McDowell-White putting the Dons ahead 19-15 after the first quarter.
- The Dons fell into a bit of an offensive funk in the second quarter as they weren't able to generate many good looks as the Quakers used strong three-point shooting to build a 37-27 lead heading into halftime.
- Neither side was on top of their game offensively returning from the break as both teams were able to muster just three points apiece through the first five minutes of the quarter. Krimili then found her outside shooting stroke and went on a 12-2 run all by herself by knocking down four consecutive three-point shots in a row to cut the Quaker lead down to 45-42 and forcing a timeout. USF was able to even the game at 45-all before Krimili knocked down her record shattering 206th career three-point shot that put the Dons up 48-45 as they went into the fourth quarter holding on to a slim 50-49 lead with 10 minutes to play.
- USF wouldn't give up their lead the rest of the way as a Jasmine Gayles three pointer to open the fourth quarter gave the Dons some breathing room as their defense locked in to limit Penn's chances of retaking the lead. Krimili and Gayles excelled in the final quarter of action as they combined to score 21 of USF's 23 points in the quarter as the Dons held on for a hard fought 73-65 victory on Monday.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Krimili did it all scoring the basketball for USF against the Quakers as she scored 35 points on 10-of-19 from the field to go along with an astonishing 8-for-13 from three-point range to go along with three rebounds, two assists, a steal and shooting a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
- Dickie notched her second double-double of the season as she set a new career-high with 19 rebounds to go along with her 10 points as well as a block and an assist against the Quakers.
- Gayles once again brought a strong scoring effort off the USF bench as she scored 16 points and grabbed six big rebounds for the Dons as she knocked down two three point shots while dishing out an assist and coming away with a steal.
- McDowell-White did a little bit of everything for the Dons on Monday as she played 35 minutes scored three points and came away with six rebounds while also dishing out six assists while also coming away with a season-high four steals against Penn.
POST GAME WITH THE DONS:
UP NEXT:
The Dons will be back home this Friday at 3:30 p.m. as they host the South Carolina State Bulldogs (0-5) from War Memorial at the Sobrato Center for the beginning of the USF Thanksgiving Classic. Friday afternoon's game will be the first time each program has faced each other.
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.
