Gayles Scores a Career-High 40 Points as Dons Earn Comeback Victory Over Pacific

Saturday, January 13

Stockton, Calif.

2:00 p.m.

University of San Francisco

7-10,3-1WCC

Pacific

10-7,2-2WCC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
San Francisco	23	11	27	20	81
Pacific	23	18	18	9	68

Jasmine Gayles driving to the basket at Pacific

Gayles Scores a Career-High 40 Points as Dons Earn Comeback Victory Over Pacific

1/13/2024 6:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. – Led by Jasmine Gayles' career-high 40-point performance, the University of San Francisco women's basketball team (7-10, 3-1) earned an 81-68 come-from-behind victory over Pacific (10-7, 2-2) in a West Coast Conference contest at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

San Francisco fell behind early, as Pacific scored the first two baskets of the game to go up 4-0 at the 8:56 mark of the first quarter. After Gayles sunk a free throw to put the Dons on the board, she recorded the team's first field goal, a driving layup to cut the deficit to 4-3 less than a minute later.
A 6-0 ensued for the Dons when Freja Werth and Cami Fulcher knocked down back-to-back three-point baskets to give the green and gold their first lead of the game, 9-4.
After the Tigers cut the lead to three, 9-6, layups from Lorena Barbosa and Gayles extended the Dons' advantage to 13-6 at the 6:10 mark.
Pacific fought back using a 12-2 run to regain the lead, 18-15, and led 23-20 with 26 seconds left on the first-quarter clock. Gayles, however, sunk a three-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game at 23 heading into the second quarter of play.
The two teams traded baskets in the early stages of the second quarter before Pacific scored 10 straight points to take a commanding 37-26 lead at the 4:50 mark of the second.
In a game of scoring runs, the Dons fought back with eight straight, capped off with two free throws from Gayles, to trim the deficit to three, 37-34, with 1:31 remaining.
The Tigers extended their advantage to seven shortly after with two straight baskets, entering halftime with a 41-34 edge.
San Francisco continued to fall behind at the start of the third quarter as Pacific extended its lead to 12, with just over a minute off the clock.
Gayles continued to shine, scoring eight straight points to get the Dons back into the game, 46-42, at the 6:31 mark of the third.
A team effort helped the green and gold regain the lead late in the third quarter as six players scored to put the Dons in control. Trailing by seven, 51-44, at the 5:30 mark, Barbosa knocked down a straightaway three-point basket to cut the deficit to four, 51-47.
After the Tigers pushed their lead back to seven, 54-47, Paula Tirado, Debora dos Santos, Aya Kéita, and Gayles propelled the Dons on an 8-0 run to regain the lead, 55-54, with 1:45 remaining in the third.
After the Tigers pulled ahead late, 59-58, Gayles connected on a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Dons a 61-59 advantage.
The fourth quarter was all Dons, as the team never relinquished the lead. The green and gold's advantage ballooned to double digits at the end of the quarter as a driving layup from Werth put the Dons up 11, 72-61, at the 2:07 mark.
San Francisco continued to lead throughout the remainder of the contest as Gayles solidified the win with two free throws with nine seconds left.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

Gayles finished with a career-high 40 points while shooting 60 percent (nine-for15) from the field. Gayles became the first WCC player this season to eclipse 40 points and is the most scored in a game since Pepperdine's Yasmine Robinson-Bacote had 47 on November 23, 2018. Gayles also was successful at the free-throw line, reaching the charity stripe 22 times throughout the contest. Gayles connected on a career-high 17 free throws for a 77.3 free-throw shooting percentage.
Debora dos Santos tallied a 12-point, 13-rebound performance for her team-leading 11th double-double of the season. Despite only shooting 33.3 percent (four-for-12) from the field, dos Santos connected on four of her six free-throw attempts.
Werth reached double figures for the third-straight game as she posted 11 points on an efficient 44.4 (four-for-nine) shooting.
Barbosa led the second unit and matched a career-high with seven points in 11 minutes off the bench.
As a team, San Francisco held its fourth straight opponent to under 70 points. The Dons held Pacific to just 36 percent (nine-for-25) from the three-point line and won the rebounding battle, 32-28.

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

To view the full postgame press conference with Head Coach Molly Goodenbour please click here.
To view the full postgame press conference with Jasmine Gayles please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco continues its road trip on Saturday, Jan. 20, when it travels to take on Santa Clara at 1 p.m. at Leavey Center.

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

MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Get your official San Francisco Dons gear from the University of San Francisco bookstore today! Click here to purchase.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Coca-Cola - 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.