SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Hosting a Thanksgiving holiday tournament for the first time in over a decade, the USF Dons women's basketball team (4-2) used a tremendous third quarter to defeat the South Carolina State Bulldogs (0-7) by a 77-57 final score on Friday afternoon in the first day of the USF Thanksgiving Classic. 

Debora dos Santos had a tremendous performance coming off the USF bench as she scored a career-high 25 points and recorded her first double-double as a Don with 12 rebounds against the Lady Bulldogs while also shooting a perfect 9-for-9 from the field. Making her season debut after suffering a season ending injury last December, Abby Rathbun returned to the USF rotation on Friday playing in six minutes while recording a point, rebound and steal for the Dons while playing in six minutes as she works her way back. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• The first few minutes of Friday's game was a back-and-forth affair as the Dons took an early 9-5 lead ahead of the first media timeout thanks to a couple of makes from Ioanna Krimili as well as buckets from Kennedy Dickie and Jessica McDowell-White. USF used their size to make life difficult for the Lady Bulldogs in the second half of the quarter as they took a 20-13 lead after 10 minutes as they held South Carolina State to 27% shooting from the field and scored eight points off their opponent's turnovers. 
• South Carolina State stiffened up defensively in the second quarter of play as they cut USF's lead down to 24-23 midway through the period despite strong play on both ends from dos Santos for the Dons. Deb wasn't done putting her stamp on the first half until the final seconds of play as she earned a key and-one late in the quarter to give USF the 34-27 lead heading into halftime with dos Santos accounting for half of the Dons' points in the first half.
• Coming out of the break, the Dons were ready for action as they rattled off a quick 11-2 run with Dickie accounting for eight of the USF points and Kia Vaalavirta knocked down a key three point shot that forced the Lady Bulldogs into an early timeout. USF was able to build their lead to double digits late in the quarter as Jasmine Gayles made a pair of free throws and was followed by a Malia Latu lay up that put the Dons up 65-43 through three quarters of play.
• Holding a comfortable lead and preparing for a back-to-back, USF was able to give different players looks late in the game as Latu, Cami Fulcher, Loren Christie and Marina Hernandez each received a good amount of playing time late in the game. Latu was able to show off her scoring ability in the final frame as she knocked down a three point shot and a couple of lay ups to help her team win their fourth game of the season by a 77-57 final score.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• dos Santos did tremendous work on both ends of the floor coming off the bench with her 25 points, 12 rebounds and two assist performance in her 16 minutes of play as she shot a perfect 9-of-9 from the field while also grabbing an impressive seven offensive rebounds.
• Krimili had another efficient performance for USF as she was able to score 13 points while making 3-of-7 three point shots to go along with two rebounds and an assist on Friday afternoon.
• Dickie had another nice night playing in the Dons' front court as she was able to score 11 points while pulling down seven boards to go along with a block and an assist. Kennedy shot an efficient 4-for-6 from the field to along with 2-of-3 from three-point land.
• Helping push the offense and setting up her teammates with good looks, McDowell-White had a team high seven assists against the Lady Bulldogs while also grabbing four rebounds to finish a game-high +29 for the Dons.
• Scoring a career high off the bench, Latu was able to put in nine points for USF to go along with two steals a rebound and an assist while playing a season high of 24 minutes. 

POST GAME WITH THE DONS:

• USF head women's basketball coach Molly Goodenbour: "I'm excited to get to play two home games in our Thanksgiving Classic this week. I'm happy with the way some of our bench players played today, Deb stepped in and shot very well and grabbed some nice rebounds. Malia looked to be assertive on both ends of the floor. I'm looking forward to a tough matchup with Long Beach State tomorrow." 
• To view Debora dos Santos and Abby Rathbun's post game press conference, please click here. 
• To view the highlights from this afternoon's 77-57 win over South Carolina State, please click here. 

UP NEXT:
The Dons will be back home tomorrow, Saturday Nov. 26 for their second game of the USF Thanksgiving Classic as they host the Long Beach State 49ers (2-2) at 3:30 p.m. Long Beach State defeated the Tulsa Golden Hurricane earlier today by a 64-45 final score at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. 

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.