Box Score NEW YORK, N.Y. – Concluding its East Coast road trip, the University of San Francisco women's basketball team (2-5) dropped a narrow 81-79 decision at Columbia (7-3) in a non-conference contest Wednesday morning at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Luana Leite opened the first quarter with a layup and a free throw to put San Francisco up 3-0. Columbia responded with a two-point jumper before Freja Werth and Debora dos Santos produced back-to-back scores, stretching the advantage to 7-4 at 5:44.
• Following a 3-0 Columbia scoring run to tie the game at seven, Aya Keita knocked down a long three-pointer at 7:06 to regain the lead, 10-7. The green and gold continued to pull ahead, guided by Werth adding four points in the following three minutes to take a 16-12 lead with 3:25 left.
• Columbia bounced back with a 6-2 scoring run, capped off with a Mia Broom two-point basket to tie the game at 18. Despite the Dons regaining the lead at 20-18 with just over a minute to play, the Lions connected on a three-pointer with 56 seconds left to take a 21-20 lead into the second quarter.
• Columbia started the second quarter with a 9-4 scoring run to push their advantage to 29-24. Connecting on back-to-back field goals, dos Santos pulled the Dons to within 32-30 as she remained perfect from the field at 3:16.
• The Lions ended the half on a high note, using an 11-0 scoring run highlighted by a trio of three-pointers from Broom, Riley Weiss, and Perri Page for a 43-30 advantage going into halftime.
• San Francisco jumped all over Columbia to start the third quarter, holding the Lions to just two points in the first four minutes of the period as the Dons embarked on a 17-2 run. Werth broke out during the run, posting 11 of the team's 17 points, ending the run with six straight to give the green and gold a 47-45 lead at 5:41.
• The quarter went back and forth in its final minutes, as Elle Papahronis hit a late three-pointer with 47 seconds while Columbia recorded two free throws to give San Francisco a 60-58 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
• Despite dos Santos posting a layup to extend the lead to four, 62-58, the Lions responded with a seven-point scoring run guided by Riley Weiss' five points to reclaim the lead at 65-62.
• Keeping the game close, trailing by a narrow margin, 67-66, Keita knocked down a three-pointer at 6:30 to put the Dons back on top, 69-67. Refusing to back down, the Lions responded with a 10-3 run to regain a 77-73 edge with 2:01 remaining.
• Tied at 77, two late San Francisco turnovers and transition Columbia layups propelled the Lions to a four-point lead, 81-77. Trawally Porta added the last basket for the Dons with one second remaining as the Lions held on for a two-point victory, 81-79.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Werth reached a double-double for the third time in her career as she recorded 24 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes. Shooting an efficient 47.3 percent (nine-for-19) from the field, she also remained perfect from the charity stripe this season, connecting on all four free-throw attempts.
• Coming alive in the second half, dos Santos finished the game with 16 points, shooting a team-best 77.8 percent (seven-for-nine) from the field.
• In her third career start, Keita tallied eight points while knocking down two of her four three-point attempts.
• As a team, San Francisco recorded a new season-high of 79 points, surpassing the previous high by 17. Notably, the Dons also posted a new high in team field goal percentage at 46.2 percent.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco continues its three-game road trip when it travels to take on Northern Arizona on Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Rolle Activity Center for a 2:00 p.m. non-conference matchup.   

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

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SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor – Planet Orange – 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.