SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Closing out the regular season on the Hilltop, the University of San Francisco women's basketball team (14-15, 10-6 WCC) overcame an early 11-point deficit to earn a 68-66 senior day victory over San Diego (8-21, 4-12 WCC) Saturday afternoon at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• San Diego took control of the game early on, holding an 11-5 lead through the first five minutes, including five points from Jess Finney.
• Debora dos Santos scored five of her eight first-quarter points in the closing four minutes of the period, but the Toreros maintained their six-point advantage at the end, going up 18-12 after the first quarter.
• San Diego steadily increased its lead to double figures, holding San Francisco to just two points in the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second period, as the Toreros had a 25-14 lead with 3:28 remaining in the first half.
• However, the Dons heated up to close out the second quarter, with three lay-ups from dos Santos and two threes from Freja Werth contributing to a 14-5 run in the final 3:22, cutting the deficit to just two, 30-28, heading into the half.
• A dos Santos layup out of the break quickly tied the game at 30, 14 seconds into the second half.
• Over the next five minutes, the Dons and the Toreros exchanged baskets, including five points from Jasmine Gayles, as the game remained tied at 4:01, 42-42.
• Coming out of the media timeout, a turnaround jumper from dos Santos gave the green and gold their first lead of the afternoon, 44-42.
• San Diego quickly fought back to tie the game at 46, but a Cami Fulcher three gave USF the lead back, 49-46 with 1:20 left on the clock.
• Dylan Horton scored the final three points of the quarter, as the game was knotted at 49 heading into the final frame.
• Retaking the lead early in the fourth quarter, Finney and Claire Gallagher combined for six San Diego points to give the Toreros a 55-51 lead with 6:15 remaining in regulation.
• Out of a timeout, Jasmine Gayles hit a huge three-pointer to bring the green and gold within one, 55-54.
• Shortly after, following two USD free throws, Luana Leite converted on an and-one to tie the game at 57-apiece, with 5:16 to play.
• With under two minutes remaining, knotted at 61, Veronica Shelley broke the tie with a layup to put San Diego up two, 63-61, with 1:49 to play.
• At the other end of the floor, with only three seconds left on the shot clock, Leite found Werth for a three-pointer off a baseline inbound to put the Dons back in front, 64-63 at 1:19.
• On the following possession, San Diego had three opportunities to regain the lead, but the green and gold pulled off the timely stops, as the Toreros, forced to foul, sent Leite to the charity stripe with 23 seconds remaining. The junior hit both free throws, stretching the Dons lead to three, 66-63.
• Out of a USD timeout, Kasey Neubert found Finney for a spot-up corner three that knotted the game again, 66-66, with 15.4 seconds left, as the Dons called timeout to draw up one last play.
• Off the inbound, Leite found Werth for a layup to put the Dons in front, 68-66 with 7.9 remaining.
• Needing one final stop, dos Santos put the clamps on Veronica Sheffey, blocking the potential game-tying shot for the Toreros, securing a San Francisco victory in the final regular season game of the 2023-24 campaign.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Following up a 29-point, 12-rebound performance last Thursday, dos Santos nearly recorded another double-double, posting a game-high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting to go along with eight rebounds.
• Scoring the game-winning basket, Werth finished with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including four threes in 36 minutes of play.
• Leite nearly posted a double-double with 13 points and nine assists while tying a career-best seven made free throws.
• Rounding out the double-digit scorers, Jasmine Gayles scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting in the final game of her career on the Hilltop.

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full highlights of tonight's game, please click here.
• To watch the full postgame interview with head coach Molly Goodenbour, please click here.
• To watch the full postgame interview with Debora dos Santos and Freja Werth, please click here.

UP NEXT:
San Francisco has secured the No. 4 seed in the 2024 West Coast Conference tournament. The Dons will open their postseason on in a 1 p.m. quarterfinal game on Saturday, Mar. 9 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, facing Pacific (No. 5), San Diego (No. 8), or Pepperdine (No. 9), to be determined based on the results of the first and second round tournament games.

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.
 
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 sponsor – 25V Diversity Fund - 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.