LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Bouncing back after a tough start to the road trip, the USF Dons women's basketball team (19-11, 9-9) picked up a comeback 61-51 victory on Saturday afternoon over the LMU Lions (7-22, 4-14) to wrap up the team's regular season schedule at Gersten Pavilion.
Led by
Jasmine Gayles' 17 points and another double-double from
Kennedy Dickie, the Dons clutched up on both ends of the floor late as they overcome a nine-point second half deficit to secure the win.
Jessica McDowell-White did a tremendous job leading her team late by making two key threes and coming away with a steal that led to an assist against the Lions.
USF also received a nice boost with the return of
Debora dos Santos who had been out since the start of the new year as she scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds off the bench for the Dons.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- It was a slow offensive start for both teams as the Dons got on the board on a nice put back from Kennedy Dickie that brought USF within three points early. After the Lions were able to build their lead up to seven points, the Dons were able to rally with a 9-2 run of their own thanks to five quick points from Jasmine Gayles and Ioanna Krimili to trail 13-11 at the end of the first quarter.
- Looking to build some momentum out of the strong end to the first, Gayles knocked down a three-point shot and Dickie put home a put back that gave USF a three-point advantage. Following a nice turn around bucket from dos Santos that made it 18-17 Dons, LMU was able to build some momentum and a lead of their own as they led 26-22 heading into the locker room.
- USF came out ready to battle out of the break as they started on a quick 4-0 run on a Jessica McDowell-White pull up jumper and a Kennedy Dickie lay-up following a great steal from Kia Vaalavirta to even the game at 26 and force the Lions into a timeout. LMU was able to respond with a run of their own midway through the quarter and continued to build throughout the rest of the quarter as they held a 40-38 heading into the fourth quarter.
- The Lions scored first in the final 10 minutes of action before the Dons buckled down and took control of the game for good. McDowell-White hit a huge three-pointer to put USF up a point before LMU responded with a basket of their own to take their final lead of the game. After a lay up by dos Santos put the Dons ahead by four, McDowell-White came away with a huge steal then found Gayles streaking to the basket for an and-one that put the game to bed as USF went on to secure the 61-51 road victory to wrap up the regular season conference schedule.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Gayles led USF in scoring on Saturday afternoon totaling 17 points while also grabbing five key rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists. Jasmine was key in the second half making numerous free throws as she went 8-for-9 from the charity stripe at LMU.
- Securing yet another double-double for her team, Dickie put in strong work on the glass at both ends of the floor as she scored 10 points and grabbed 10 key boards while playing tough defense against the Lions.
- Leading her team and doing all the little things throughout, McDowell-White scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, grabbed six rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists for USF on Saturday afternoon.
- Making her return and providing a spark on both ends of the floor, dos Santos finished with nine points and five boards for her team against LMU as she made her return to action after missing time earlier this season due to injury.
POST GAME WITH THE DONS:
UP NEXT:
The Dons will now look ahead to next week's WCC women's basketball tournament that brings all 10 programs to Orleans Arena in Las Vegas to compete for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. USF will begin their quest on either Friday or Saturday of next week against a to be determined opponent.
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 department sponsor – Nor Cal Toyota - 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.
