SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Shaking off their recent tough trip to the Pacific Northwest, the USF Dons women's basketball team (13-5, 3-3) put together a great offensive team performance as they earned a 91-80 victory over the Pacific Tigers (7-10, 2-4) at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
Ioanna Krimili led the way for the Dons by scoring 30 points and knocking down seven of eight three points shots she attempted against the Tigers. The Dons' offensive barrage featured four scorers in double figures on Thursday night as
Kia Vaalavirta,
Jessica McDowell-White and
Jasmine Gayles each scored at an efficient rate to help USF get back on track and earn their third win in WCC play.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- It was a great first quarter of offensive basketball as each team was running up the floor trading buckets with the Dons taking an early 7-2 lead thanks to a Krimili made three and lay up followed by a Kennedy Dickie lay up following a strong move to the basket. UOP would draw closer midway through the quarter as they forced some USF turnovers that led to run out opportunities. Jasmine Gayles came off the bench and was ready to shoot as she scored nine points in the quarter and hit a buzzer beating three to put the Dons up 25-23 after 10 minutes of play.
- Following a close second quarter, the Dons put their foot on the gas to start the new period as they rattled off a 9-0 run that forced Pacific into a timeout as Krimili connected on back-to-back threes that gave USF the double digit lead. UOP battled back to cut USF's lead down to five before the Dons responded with a McDowell-White lay up and a pair of Krimili made free throws to lead 50-42 at the break.
- Leading at the break, the Dons came out looking to fire out of the half and McDowell-White and Krimili each knocked down a pair of threes on USF's first two possessions to push their lead back to double digits. Each side continued to trade baskets until the Dons put together consecutive stops and Dickie found her way to the basket and made a pair of free throws as USF held a 77-62 lead heading into the final quarter.
- Pacific's defense regained control to start the fourth quarter as they went on an early run to cut the lead back to single digits before a McDowell-White lay up settled USF down and pushed the lead back up to 11. The Tigers continued to fight late in the quarter as they cut USF's lead to six before Krimili made consecutive shots to put the Dons back up double digits as they went on to pick up the 91-80 victory on their home floor.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Krimili led the way for the Dons by scoring 30 points and shooting 10-for-16 from the field and an astounding 7-of-8 from three point range to go along with four assists, three rebounds and two steals against UOP.
- McDowell-White had a great all-around game leading the USF offense as she set a new season-high with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field while also dishing out four assists while grabbing a pair of rebounds and coming away with two steals.
- Gayles came off the bench and scored 16 points while knocking down four three point shots as well as three assists and a pair of rebounds against the Tigers.
- Doing a little bit of everything for her team, Vaalavirta scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting while also knocking down a couple of three-point shots in the victory. Vaalavirta also grabbed a season-high seven rebounds and dished out an assist for the Dons on Thursday night.
POST GAME WITH THE DONS:
UP NEXT:
The Dons will be back home this Saturday as they host the Saint Mary's Gaels (9-8, 3-3) from War Memorial at 2:00 p.m. Both teams picked up a win against each other last season as the Dons earned a hard fought road win last January as Gayles led the way with 22 points off the Dons' bench.
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.
