Box Score
MORAGA, Calif. – After a first half where points were plentiful, the San Francisco women's basketball team couldn't keep up the pace in the second only to fall to Saint Mary's 83-64 at McKeon Pavilion Thursday night.
USF was paced by team-highs of 17 points and seven rebounds for sophomore
Zhané Dikes. The Las Vegas native had 12 at the break on 5-of-9 shooting. Also helping the USF offense was
Taj Winston's 16 points, and a 10-point effort from
Taylor Proctor. Freshman
Rachel Howard added a team-high four assists in the contest.
With win, Saint Mary's hits the 20-win mark for the second consecutive year. The Gaels improve to 20-6 (9-5 WCC), while USF moves to 9-17 (4-11 WCC) heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Dons and Gaels both shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, and Saint Mary's held but a two-point lead at the break. The hot-handed shooting for both could not be carried through in the second, however, as USF cooled to make only 26 percent of its second-half attempts. The Gaels, on the other hand, were 10-of-23 from the field and perfect from the stripe in the period to pull away for the victory.
After the game was tied at 4-4, USF starting building the early advantage. Dikes swished her first points with 17:01 on the clock, a long-range shot that stands as her second on the season. On USF's next possession
Paige Spietz' 3-pointer fell in, and then Dikes added another as the Dons led 14-8 with 15:52 to play in the period.
The Dons continued to fire at will, and Howard's dish to Proctor for the jumper put the score at 18-12 for the visitors. But the Gaels rallied back with seven-straight points to take their first lead of the game on a Sabrina Engelstad layup with 12:36 on the clock.
The teams battled back-and-forth for the remainder of the period. Saint Mary's senior Kate Gaze broke a 25-all deadlock with a 3-pointer, but USF answered with the next eight points in the contest. A layup by Dikes was followed by three-straight buckets from Winston to give USF the 33-28 lead with 5:21 remaining.
The Dons' final lead in the game was with 2:18 to play in the first as
Alexa Hardick swished a triple to put USF ahead 41-39. Gaze hit an answering three and Saint Mary's would never look back.
The Gaels held a 45-43 halftime advantage, and opened the second on a 17-5 run. With 11:17 to go in the game and the Gaels up 58-48, Jackie Nared went to the line for two. The successful stay at the stripe started a period of four minutes in the game where Saint Mary's earned all 12 of its points at the free throw line.
Going a perfect 17-for-17 in the second half, the Gaels finished the game hitting 90 percent of its free throw attempts. The Dons, however, only managed a season-low six free throw attempts for the game. Along with the free throw difference, Saint Mary's held a 34-18 advantage in points in the paint, and the Gaels outrebounded the Dons 41-30 on the night.
Nared, the WCC's leading scorer entering the game, finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Gaze added 21 points in the Gaels' victory while Danielle Mauldin earned a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double for Saint Mary's.
USF plays its final road game of the regular season Saturday, as USF heads to Stockton to face Pacific at 2 p.m.
