University of San Francisco Athletics

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NEW YORK – Powered by a strong second half and four double-digit scoring efforts, the San Francisco Dons picked up its first win of the 2013-14 campaign as the team downed Columbia 83-69 at Levien Gym.

USF moves to 1-1 on the season after a pair of games in the Big Apple. The Dons were paced by 18 points from Rachel Howard and 17 off the hand of junior Taj Winston. Also contributing to the scoring output was Zhane Dikes and Aundrea Gordon. Gordon, a junior from McKinney, Texas, finished with 12 points in the contest, and nine in the second half. 

A plethora of clock stoppages plagued the game, due to 27 first-half fouls, and 56 in total for the game. All told, The Dons and Lions combined for 60 free throw attempts.

I would say every team in the country that's physical is having a hard time adjusting their game," head coach Jennifer Azzi said. "I absolutely do not like the pace when there's so many foul calls, and it's ugly for women's basketball. Just under 60 fouls in a basketball game that wasn't really physical makes for a challenging evening. However, I thought our team did a really good job in the second half adjusting to everything and playing through it."

The game's scoring started with a three from Howard, but Columbia scored the next six in the contest to edge to a lead after a pair of made free throw attempts by Carolyn Binder. The half remained a back and forth battle for positioning with Jamie Katuna converting on a four-point play with 7:02 to play. After hitting her shot from beyond the arc the junior from Longmont, Colo., converted at the stripe to put the Dons up 18-17.

The Lions again roared back into the lead scoring six in a row and building its largest advantage of the night at 24-18 in favor of the home team. A post-to-post pass from Taylor Proctor to Claudia Price for the successful layup knotted the score at 28 apiece and the contest saw its final tie of the night at 30-all.

Columbia lost what would prove to be their final lead of the game after Winston sunk six in a row from the free throw line to give USF a 34-30 lead. At the halftime break the score sat at 37-34 in favor of the Dons.

"We didn't come out here ready to play in the first half, so we had to pick it up," Winston said after the game. "We went to the locker room and Coach Azzi told us that we needed to pick it up, everyone had to be mentally present and that we needed to come out here and do what we needed to do to get the win."

The second half started much like the first for the Dons, with a triple from Howard starting the scoring, but the halftime adjustments of mental acuity were seen off the bat.

Paige Spietz took her first charge of the game in the first minute of the period. After a layup by Columbia's Courtney Bradford, Spietz converted with an offensive rebound and putback with 18:25 remaining and the Dons up 42-36. The Lions battle to keep the game close and pulled to within three after Bradford's drive to the basket resulted in the bucket and free throw as the scoreboard read 47-44.

"As a group we didn't come ready to play," echoed Spietz. "But you've got to adjust, and when you come out and they're calling ticky-tack fouls and there are rule changes with hands on, you've just got to adjust and get the feel for the game. I feel like I came out in the second half and worked a little bit better with the high post and we got it done, so that was good."

On the USF inbounds play, a spinning and driving Gordon converted her and-1 opportunity to put the score at 53-48 and start a 7-0 run with 12:58 to play. A pair of free throws by Lions player Sara Mead pulled Columbia within five points with 6:42 to play and the score at 62-57, but the Dons turned on the jets.

A Winston 3-pointer with 5:43 to play gave USF its first double-digit lead in the game. The Dons finished the contest on a 12-5 run with Dikes and Winston accounting for eight of the Dons' points down the closing stretch.

"It's huge for us to go into other gyms and come out with a win, and I thought we did a really good job against Fordham as well," Azzi said.  Overall, I'm proud and it's a win on the road, which is great no matter what the situation is. We're young and still have some things we need to work through, but I think we can build a lot from this trip."

The Dons finished the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field after connecting on just 35.7 percent of its first half attempts. After being outrebounded 20-18 in the first half, USF edged to a 36-35 advantage on the boards and forced Columbia into 18 total turnovers in the contest.

Though primarily a business trip for USF, the Dons had an opportunity to take in some sights while in the Big Apple.

"We've had a really good trip, and saw some great things like the Statue of Liberty, and hung out in Manhattan and ate," Spietz added. "We've built a lot of chemistry as a team and I think that will help us a lot. It's been a fun trip."

The Dons return home for an exhibition game against Dominican at 5:30 p.m., Nov. 13. USF resumes regular season action with another Sunday outing – a 2 p.m. tussle against Long Beach State at War Memorial Gym Nov. 17.