Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO – Despite leading for nearly all of the first 39 minutes of action, collegiate basketball games last a full 40 minutes. And for the San Francisco women's basketball team, the last 24.0 seconds went the way of the visiting Santa Clara Broncos, who escaped War Memorial Gym with a 74-73 win Saturday afternoon.
USF was paced by
Taylor Proctor's 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting and three assists.
Paige Spietz added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Dons and
Taj Winston added eight points and two big game-opening blocks in the loss.
"I'm proud of how we've been executing as a team, but putting together a full 40 minutes is still something we need to control," assistant coach
Blair Hardiek noted after the game. "That means taking care of the ball, and that means hitting the free throws, that means getting defensive stops down the stretch and not making silly fouls."
The Dons opened up the game with Proctor's offensive firepower leading the way. After a 3-pointer from Santa Clara's leading scorer, Nici Gilday, made the score 9-8 favoring the Dons, USF went on a 11-2 run. Proctor pumped in eight points in a row, scoring her 16th point of the game just six and half minutes in. Following two straight driving layups with converted and-1 opportunities, a steal and layup for the sophomore from Colorado Springs, Colo., put the score at 19-10 in favor of USF with 13:36 on the clock.
The Dons continued to grow the lead, and
Zhané Dikes' layup with 9:09 to play in the first gave USF a 29-15 lead, their largest of the game. The Broncos scored the next five points of the game to edge the margin back to single digits. After a hustle for the loose ball on an errant shot, Dikes found an open
Alexa Hardick for the long 3-pointer with 7:49 to again give USF a double-digit advantage.
But then, a Dons' drought ensued.
"As a young team you really need to push those leads, and we struggle to hang onto leads," Hardiek noted. "When you go seven minutes only scoring three points that's going to hurt any team, regardless of your defense. We needed scores."
USF couldn't manage another basket from the field for the remainder of the half, committing five turnovers and going 3-for-6 from the free throw line in the final third of the period. USF still held the lead at the break, but it was trimmed to just 36-33.
USF continued the dry spell from the floor for the first two minutes of the second before a Spietz jumper ended the 10-minutes of scorelessness. Santa Clara pushed USF's lead down to two after Gilday's 3-pointer with 13:52 set the score at 44-42. Seconds later, Proctor answered with a three of her own and the Dons grew their advantage back to seven after
Aundrea Gordon converted two from the line to make it 51-44.
The Dons held that same seven-point advantage after Spietz layed it up and in with 4:35 on the clock. Santa Clara chipped away at the lead over the next three minutes and a Gilday jumper and converted free throw tied the contest at 67 with 1:10 remaining. After an empty possession for USF, Montana Walters stroked in a three with 24 seconds to play to give the Broncos their first lead since the score was 3-2 to open the game.
After a timeout, the Dons drew up a play to tie the game, off the hand of USF's most consistent long-range shooter,
Alexa Hardick. But the senior from Dallas, Texas, couldn't get the attempt from the left wing to fall.
"Tex is hands down our best shooter. At the end of the game I think Santa Clara knew that they're either going to
Taylor Proctor or
Alexa Hardick, and we got the look we wanted," Hardiek said. "I would say in practice out of 30 times she would take that shot, she would make it 29. We put the ball in the right person's hands. But we can't rely on emergency threes at the end of games."
After converting their free throws down the stretch, Santa Clara led by four with four seconds to play. Hoping for a rare last-second four-point play as time wound down,
Rachel Howard hit a three before the final buzzer as the Broncos came from behind for the 74-73 victory.
The Dons finished the contest 19-of-28 from the free throw line, while Santa Clara went 11-of-12 from the stripe, with all of their attempts coming in the second half of action. The Broncos show 50.9 percent from the field and edged USF in the battle of the boards 32-29. Both teams were turnover-prone in the game, with 45 miscues between the two.
After Saturday's contest, USF and Santa Clara are tied in the West Coast Conference standings, with a league mark of 4-10. The Dons stand at 9-16 on the season, while the Broncos improve to 8-17 overall.
Up next for the Dons is a trip to Moraga, to face East Bay rival Saint Mary's. First tip for Thursday's contest against the Gaels is slated for 6 p.m.
