SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Kicking off its East Coast road trip, the University of San Francisco women's basketball team (2-4) dropped a hard-fought nonconference decision at Seton Hall (5-2), falling 59-53 Monday evening at Walsh Gymnasium.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Freja Werth began the scoring for San Francisco in the opening minutes, knocking down a corner three-pointer to the Dons up, 3-0.
- Seton Hall answered the early deficit with an 8-3 scoring run, capped off by a Savannah Catalon three-point basket at 4:43.
- Trailing 11-6 at the 3:54 mark of the first quarter, the Dons scored three straight points, all on free throws, bringing the green and gold to within three, 11-9, at 2:33.
- The Pirates ended the quarter on a high note, scoring eight unanswered points to build a double-digit lead, 19-11.
- After Seton Hall built its margin to 12, 24-12, at the start of the second quarter, San Francisco began to chip away, connecting on three straight field goal attempts to trim the deficit to five, 24-19, at 7:30. Luana Leite, Debora dos Santos, and Emma Trawally Porta scored for the Dons throughout the scoring run, with Leite connecting on a long three-pointer from the corner.
- At 6:45 of the period, Seton Hall regained momentum, pushing its advantage back to nine, 30-21, following a 6-2 run that lasted nearly three minutes.
- The Dons refused to back down at the end of the quarter, as Elle Papahronis and Aya Keita hit consecutive three-pointers, cutting the Pirates' lead to three, 30-27, with 56 seconds remaining. A mid-range jumper with 32 seconds left by Shailyn Pinkney ended the Dons' short run, expanding the Pirates' lead to five, 32-27, at the halftime break.
- In a back-and-forth third quarter, San Francisco held its ground and kept the game close throughout the 10 minutes. Trawally Porta broke out in the third, scoring eight points for the Dons while knocking down two three-point attempts. Despite cutting the deficit to two, 44-22, at the 2:10 mark, the Dons trailed by four, 46-42, at the end of the quarter following two Messiah Hunter free throws.
- The game remained close in the final 10 minutes of action as the green and gold cut the Pirates' lead to two points twice. Trailing by eight, 52-44, at 7:13, a six-minute 9-3 scoring run, capped off with a dos Santos layup, brought the Dons to within 55-53 with 33 seconds on the clock. The Pirates, however, recorded four free throws in the closing seconds to solidify the win for the home team, 59-53.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- In 31 minutes off the bench, Trawally Porta led San Francisco in scoring, posting a season-high 15 points. Trawally Porta shot 54.5 percent (six-for-11), marking the fourth time she has shot 50 percent or better in a game, and knocked down three of her five three-point attempts. Thriving on the glass, she added nine rebounds to lead both programs.
- Papahronis scored nine points, three rebounds, and one steal in 24 minutes off the bench.
- As a team, San Francisco outscored Seton Hall in bench points, 30-10, and knocked down a season-high nine three-pointers.
POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:
UP NEXT:
San Francisco concludes its East Coast swing at 8:00 a.m. PT/11:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 4, when it takes on Columbia at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.
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MERCHANDISE:
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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.
