SAN FRANCISCO – As the final buzzer was sounding on Friday night at War Memorial at The Sobrato Center, a San Francisco layup found the bottom of the net for the basket. Unfortunately for the Dons, the margin was three and Cal Poly escaped the Hilltop with a 62-61 victory.

USF senior Taylor Proctor led all scorers with 21 points and 13 rebounds, for her second straight double-double, and the 18th of her career. Rachel Howard, a junior from Berkeley, Calif., finished with 15 points for the Dons, including three 3-pointers.

Lisa Marie Sanchez led the way for the Mustangs with 16 points. Her 3-pointer as the shot clock was sounding with 15.8 seconds to play gave Cal Poly the 61-57 lead. Cal Poly's leading scorer heading into the contest, Hanna Gilbert, was held to three points on the night – 12 points under her previous season average.

USF finished with the shooting advantage in the game, 39.7 to 34.4 percent, but the difference came from beyond the arc. Cal Poly connected on 41.7 percent of its long-range attempts, going 10-for-24 in the contest.

The Dons got on the board first in the game, but Cal Poly quickly gained the edge on a swish from Beth Balbierz. The Mustangs rode the lead until late in the half when Anna Seilund's three put it at 21-19 in favor of the home team with 1:33 to play before the break. Cal Poly finished the second quarter on a 7-0 run to nab the 26-23 edge at halftime, but the back-and-forth battle continued.

Howard evened the score on the first possession of the third quarter and gave USF a lead after she nailed back-to-back triples. The Dons Grew the lead to five points with 2:31 to play in the period after Seilund sunk her long-range shot.

USF enjoyed its largest lead of the game with the score at 44-38. Kalyn Simon banked in her jumper with 9:29 to play to make the margin six points, but two threes for the Mustangs quickly erased the advantage. Cal Poly kept the lead for the remainder of the game despite furious attempts by the Dons to turn the tide. With 1:30 to play, a Proctor layup made it 58-57 in favor of the Mustangs and forced a Cal Poly to use its last timeout of the contest.

The next points came on the Sanchez swish with 15.8 to play, which gave Cal Poly a four-point advantage, matching its largest lead of the night. The Dons kept it a one possession play with 14.5 ticks after Howard connected on a pair of free throws, and the Mustangs committed a line violation to give the ball back to the Dons with 12.8 to go.

After Proctor's contested shot didn't fall, Lynn Leaupepe hit one of two at the line with 5.7 to play, making the score 62-59. The Dons raced down the court, but were caught unaware of the difference, as Zhane Dikes' last-second layup left USF one point shy of the tie.

The loss is USF's first of the season, as the squad now sports a 2-1 record. Cal Poly also stands at 2-1.

Next, the Dons travel to Utah Valley for a Monday night matchup against the Wolverines. Tipoff from Orem, Utah, is slated for 6 p.m. PT.