USF (9-7, 3-2 WCC) at Pacific (7-9, 3-2 WCC)
Saturday, Jan. 14 | 2 p.m.
Alex G. Spanos Center | Stockton, Calif.    
Series Record: USF leads, 18-16
Last Meeting: Feb. 25, 2016 (USF 81-71)
Video: TheW.tv
Audio: Livestream.com/usf (George Devine PBP)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Complete Game Notes [PDF]
 
Opening Tip
USF (9-7, 3-2 WCC) and Pacific (7-9, 3-2 WCC) come into their matchup at 2 p.m. at the Spanos Center on Saturday among the seven teams tied atop the WCC standings with identical 3-2 records. The Dons will be looking to build off their 70-63 home win over BYU on Thursday night, while the Tigers try to bounce back from a 59-58 loss at Pepperdine.     
 
The Dons At a Glance...
• Posted a 70-63 win over BYU at home on Thursday evening… Anna Seilund led all scorers with 19 points and a game-high three steals… Michaela Rakova scored 15 with a team-high eight rebounds, while Rachel Howard added 12 points and four assists… the Dons used a 14-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to re-take the lead and went on to knock down 9 of 12 free throws down the stretch to hold off the Cougars.   
• Eight turnovers for the Dons against BYU were the fewest in a game this season… their +8 turnover margin was the second-highest this year (Western Carolina)… 5-3 in games where they hold a positive turnover differential. 
• USF has held a rebounding advantage in just five of their 16 games so far... they lead the conference in defensive boards (28.1 per game), but rank ninth in offensive rebounding (10.8)... meanwhile, Pacific averages the fewest rebounds per contest in the conference (33.5).
• With 998 career points heading into Saturday's contest, Rachel Howard is on the verge of becoming the 22nd member of USF's 1,000 point club… the senior leads the Dons and ranks seventh in the WCC in scoring (13.4 ppg)… she also moved into fifth place with 140 career three-pointers made… her career-high 30-point outburst against Seattle on Nov. 15 matches San Diego's Maya Hood (vs. UC Santa Barbara, 11/25/16) as the highest point total in the conference so far this year. 
 
USF Career Points Leaders
1. Mary Hile (1977-81) 2,326
…
20. Sarah Wanless (1995-00) 1,086
21. Kim Bachman (1978-83) 1,002
22. Rachel Howard (2013-Pres.) 998
 
• Junior Anna Seilund has been a veritable Swiss Army knife for the Dons this year... she's been a key asset at the free throw line where she is third in the WCC at 85.4 percent (41-48)... she leads the team and ranks 11th in the WCC in assists (3.6 per game), including a career-high eight at Saint Mary's on Saturday... she's tied for seventh in the conference averaging 1.9 steals per game... established a career high with 22 points against San Jose State on Dec. 6 while averaging a career-best 10.7 points per game, second on the team... also logging the most minutes on the team (33.1 per game).  
• Junior Michaela Rakova has been hot of late, averaging a a double-double with a team-best 14.0 points and 10.0 boards per game over the last five contests… registered double-doubles in two of those contests (San Diego & Santa Clara)… shooting 49.2 percent from the field over that span, third-best on the team.
• Overall, the Dons are the second-best free throw shooting team in the conference (75.5). 
• With the win over BYU on Thursday, the Dons improved to 6-1 at home this year where they are averaging 74.4 points per game and shooting 41.7 percent, compared to 58.9 points per contest and 33.8 percent shooting on the road.
 
Scouting Report
 
About Pacific
The Tigers are coming off a 59-58 loss at Pepperdine on Thursday… lost to BYU at home (68-55) this past Saturday, but had won their first three WCC games against Portland (84-74), Gonzaga (65-63) and San Diego (84-64) prior to that… are 4-6 at the Spanos Center this year… lead the conference in scoring (75.9 ppg), but rank ninth in scoring defense (71.0)… lead the WCC in free throw percentage (76.7) and three-point percentage (36.9)… preseason All-WCC guard Desire Finnie leads the Tigers and ranks 10th in the WCC averaging 12.9 points per game… junior guard GeAnna Luaulu-Summers is adding 12.6 points per contest… picked to finish eighth in the WCC this year… head coach Bradley Davis is in his second season at the helm.
      
Series History with Pacific
USF leads the all-time series, 18-16… the Dons have won three of the last four meetings, including an 81-71 victory at home in the most recent matchup… Zhane Dikes led all scorers in that meeting with a game-high 22 points on Senior Day, while Taylor Proctor finished with her eighth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with four assists… USF's longest winning streak in the series was six games between 1977-78 and 1980-81… UOP posted a five-game winning streak of their own between 2010-11 and 2014-15… Pacific won the first three matchups of the series in 1976-77 and 1977-78… the two teams met home and home annually until 1990-91, but only met five times in nonconference action thereafter until UOP joined the WCC in 2013-14.
 
Last Year's Meetings With Pacific
Pacific won the first meeting last season, 70-57, in Stockton. The Dons were led by a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double to go along with five steals for senior Zhane Dikes. Taylor Proctor added 10 points and nine rebounds, and Claudia Price chipped in 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor in the loss. During the second period, USF was outscored 22-8 and the Dons committed nine turnovers as Pacific went into the break up 32-20. USF regrouped after halftime, and cut the Pacific lead to 45-41 after Raushan Gultekin swished a pair from the free throw line with 1:31 remaining in the third period. Rachel Howard's jumper tied it at 49-49 with 7:16 to play, but UOP put together an 18-4 run in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
 
In the second meeting in San Francisco, USF claimed an 81-71 victory on Senior Day. Dikes led all scorers with a game-high 22 points while Proctor finished with her eighth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with four assists. But having four players score in double figures and outscoring the Tigers 40-32 in the paint was the key to victory. The Dons mounted their largest lead of the game in the third quarter, building an 11-point advantage while enjoying an 8-for-16 shooting effort from the floor, as compared to Pacific's 5-of-14 quarter. Rachel Howard came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring seven of her 15 points in the final 10 minutes of action mixing it up from three, driving to the basket, and connecting from the free throw line — a fitting representation of how the Dons were able to keep the Tigers off-balance throughout the game. Claudia Price finished with 13 points on an effective 6-of-8 shooting effort from the floor and nine rebounds, nearly nabbing the double-double. Anna Seilund added to the boost Howard gave the Dons in the fourth, scoring all seven of her points in the final period.
 
Last Time Out
The Dons rallied for a fourth quarter lead and kept the visiting BYU Cougars at bay to claim a 70-63 victory on Thursday evening at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. Junior Anna Seilund paced USF offensively with 19 points. Seilund shot just 5-of-14 from the field, but, as has been her custom this year, the conference's second-best free throw shooter went 7-for-8 from the line to help secure the win. She also added a pair of assists and three steals on the night. Michaela Rakova tallied 15 points and a team-best eight rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, while Rachel Howard scored 12 and dished out four assists. USF registered a 37.5 percent clip from the field, compared to BYU's 44.6 percent effort, and were significantly outscored in the paint, 36-16, but the Dons took care of the ball, committing a season-low eight turnovers while forcing the Cougars into 16 miscues, allowing USF to put up 14 points off turnovers. Likewise, BYU held a 42-35 advantage on the boards overall, but the Dons made the most of their 12 offensive rebounds by posting a 17-7 edge in second chance points.
 
Up Next
The Dons travel to Portland for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the Pilots next Thursday before returning home to host San Diego at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Individual game tickets for all USF home games this season are available online at USFDons.com or by calling (415) 422-2USF. General admission tickets are available for as low as $10. All USFCA faculty, staff and students with a valid ID, and youth 12 and under enter free. Parking for USF home games is typically available free of charge two hours prior to tip-off until one hour after the conclusion of the game in any campus lot, with the exception of designated green parking spots and the top of Hayes-Healy garage.