SAN FRANCISCO – A cold start on the Hilltop doomed the San Francisco women's basketball team in a heartbreaking 59-57 loss to the Santa Clara Broncos at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center on Thursday night.

Senior Zhane Dikes led the Dons with a team-high 12 points along with five rebounds and four steals, but missed a three with time running out that would have given USF a lead with just seconds left. Rachel Howard added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, and Anna Seilund finished with eight points, six rebounds and four assists for USF.

After the tough defeat, USF falls to 14-9 on the season, and sits at 5-7 in West Coast Conference play. Meanwhile, Santa Clara's victory moves the squad to 18-5, and a 9-3 mark in league play.
USF looked like they were on their way to a win after opening the second half with a big run to mount a nine point lead in the third quarter.

A rejuvenated Dons came back from down three at halftime with a strong defensive effort as the team scored 16 points off of 10 Broncos turnovers in the third. With the ramped up defensive intensity setting the tone at the point, the Dons were able to find easier buckets in transition to shoot 50 percent in the third quarter.

The run to the lead began early in the period after back-to-back triples for Howard knotted the game at 31. Then a string of three Broncos miscues followed as Taylor Proctor drove in for the layup to give USF its first lead with 5:38 to play in the third. A heady Dikes picked off the inbounds pass on the ensuing possession and came up with a quick two points. Moments later, Dikes again received the errant ball and stretched the lead to six.

After a called timeout for the Broncos, Seilund drained the three and the Dons enjoyed its largest lead of the game with 3:56 on the clock. Even though USF's next basket from the field didn't occur until two minutes had ticked by in the fourth period.

The Dons led by three points with 3:10 left in the fourth quarter, but didn't score another field goal in the final three minutes of the game. The combination of missed shots and four turnovers against an aggressive Broncos defense in the closing minutes of the game proved costly as they couldn't hang on to the slim advantage. USF was able to maintain the lead until the final 1:11 of the game.

Santa Clara's Lori Parkinson scooped up the steal and scored a layup with 71 seconds remaining to give the Broncos their first lead of the fourth quarter, on what would prove to be the go-ahead basket.

The Dons struggled to score in the first half as the Broncos' trapping zone defense limited them to just 8-for-33 shooting. USF kept it close at halftime after a three for Jaylin Jones found the bottom of the net with 22 seconds to play, and Dikes made two of her three attempts from the free throw line with 0.7 on the clock, putting the score at the break at 25-22 in favor of the visitors.

Marie Berthold led the Broncos with 16 points on 12-for-14 free throw shooting, including three in the final two minutes and two free throws on an administrative technical to begin the game. Devin Hudson, 6-3 forward for the Broncos, added 13 points in the contest, including six in the pivotal fourth quarter.

A trip to Provo, Utah, is next on tap for the Dons. USF will take on BYU Thursday, Feb. 11, at 5 p.m. PT, from the Marriott Center.