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SAN FRANCISCO - It looked like the San Francisco women's basketball team might not be able to combat the hot-handed UC Riverside offense after falling behind by as many as 14 points in the first half from War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. But the Dons went into overdrive in the final quarter of the game to earn the hard-fought 88-76 victory over the Highlanders in a Friday night tilt on the Hilltop.

With the victory, USF improves to 6-2 on the season, the second consecutive year to open with the hot start. Meanwhile, UC Riverside falls to 4-4 with each of its four losses coming on the road

"First of all, UC Riverside is a fantastic team," noted head coach Jennifer Azzi after the win. "They're one of the best scoring teams that we've faced and they can all shoot the ball, they can all score, so you know you're going to give up something. But I thought that our team really locked into the game plan, and in the second half just executed a lot better. We got down quite a bit, but credit to our team for coming out in the second half and really being a lot more aggressive offensively and defending the three-point line better."

A trio of Dons led the stat sheet, headlined by senior Taylor Proctor's 32 points on .500 shooting, 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. The double-double is her fourth of the season, and 20th of her career.

Fellow senior Zhane Dikes added 22 points, nine rebounds and a game-high four steals in the contest, and Hashima Carothers notched a career-high 15 points and five rebounds in the victory. The junior from Las Vegas was 9-of-10 from the free throw line, including an 8-of-8 effort in the second half. In the final three minutes of the contest, she provided 10 of her points, along with a steal and a rebound in the gutty performance from the bench.

"Hashima came in the game and gave us fantastic defensive energy, and it felt like that was what we were kind of missing - just that type of play," said Azzi. "She knocked down big free throws, she let the offense come to her, she didn't force anything, and just was great out there tonight. Hashima has been ready when her number is called. She's done a great job giving us a lift, especially on the defensive end, and she's a great rebounder. That's something that we definitely needed."

The night got off to a slow start for both teams, as the score was 4-4 nearly three minutes into the game. USF started off shooting 1-for-5 from the field, and found themselves stuck in the single-digits for the first seven minutes of the night.
Meanwhile, UC Riverside found a rhythm and jumped out to the 17-9 advantage after Rejane Verin's layup found the bottom of the net with 2:49 remaining in the first quarter.

The Highlanders extended the lead to 29-17 - its largest lead of the night - with 8:33 to play in the second quarter. The visitors continued to hold the advantage throughout the first half and went into the break ahead 40-32.

After halftime the Dons got to work, and used a 9-0 run early in the third to slice the advantage to 46-41 after Anna Seilund dished to Proctor for the layup. UC Riverside stretched the advantage back to eight after Simone DeCoud's triple made it 51-43, but the Dons' defense locked down to hold the Highlanders to three points in the next five minutes of game action. During the span the visitors committed three turnovers and went 2-for-5 from the field and USF nabbed the 58-55 lead.

UC Riverside got back on the high side to close out the third quarter after DeCoud's second 3-pointer of the night hit the mark to make it 60-58 heading into the final period of play.

On the first possession of the quarter, a steal for Dikes led to a layup for Proctor to knot the score. On USF's next possession, Proctor took it to the rim for the three-point play to make it 63-60 in favor of the Dons with 9:10 remaining.

"Z and Taylor both just provided us great leadership and they just showed that senior will to win," remarked Azzi. When Z is rebounding, we're a much better team. She did a great job in the second half, especially in the zone boxing out. And I think when Taylor is aggressive she's obviously a better player, and she certainly turned it on in the second half.

"Teams are going to continue to double- and triple-team her, but other people are able to get involved in our offense. As the game wears on, you've got to pick who you're going to stop, and I think Taylor has given us great passing and doing other things besides just scoring and she's just really turned it on."

The Highlanders used back-to-back threes for their leading scorer on the night, Brittany Crain, to claw back to tie it at 72-all, and UC Riverside found themselves up by one after Michelle Curry's layup made the score 74-73 with 3:43 on the clock. However, with the Dons in the bonus, it was time for Carothers' 10 straight points for the Dons as USF went up 83-76 with 48 seconds to play.

The USF defense held the Highlanders scoreless in the final two minutes of the action as UC Riverside missed its last five attempts from the field, and the Dons were able to come away with the 12-point victory.

The Highlanders finished the night with the 50 to 45 percent shooting advantage, but the USF defense forced 20 turnovers that led to 25 points for the Dons. USF earned 28 trips to the free throw line, connecting on 22 tries, compared to UC Riverside's 8-of-11 output from the stripe.

"I think every team we've played has been so completely different from the game before," said Azzi. "I think for our team to mature and be able to play different styles of play and really come together, I'm pleased about that.

"Do I think we have a long way to go? Sure. I think if you ask any coach in the country right now if they're where they want to be, there's always a lot that we need to work on."

Next, USF travels to San Jose State to take on the Spartans on Saturday at 2 p.m., before continuing the road swing at Long Beach State on Tuesday at 7 p.m.