USF and Portland Square Off on Saturday

USF (14-12, 8-7 WCC) vs. Portland (6-20, 4-11 WCC)
Saturday, Feb. 18 | 2 p.m.
War Memorial at the Sobrato Center | San Francisco, Calif.
Series Record: USF leads, 32-31
Last Meeting: Jan. 19, 2017 (A), USF 75-56
Video: TheW.tv (George Devine, PBP)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Complete Game Notes [PDF]

Opening Tip
USF (14-12, 8-7 WCC) looks to maintain their positive momentum after defeating first-place Gonzaga as the Dons shift their attention to Portland, who comes to town for a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. The Dons topped the Zags, 77-72, on Thursday night, while the Pilots have posted consecutive wins after a 78-71 overtime victory at Pacific.

The Dons At a Glance...
LAST TIME OUT

Defeated Gonzaga, 77-72, at home on Thursday night
Rachel Howard scored 12 of her team-best 23 points in the fourth quarter, while dishing out a game-high six assists and knocking down five 3-pointers, tying her season high
Anna Seilund added 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting and went 4-for-5 from deep
Gonzaga led by seven with nine minutes to play, but the Dons went 4-of-8 from the field and 10-of-14 from the free throw line over the remainder to rally back
USF hit 11 three-pointers on the night, one shy of their season high, while the Zags went 0-for-11 from the perimeter

CALLING LONG DISTANCE
The Dons went 11-for-26 from the perimeter in their win over Gonzaga on Thursday, one shy of their season high (12, at Portland). Rachel Howard (5) and Anna Seilund (4) both matched their season highs for threes in a game. On the flip side, the Dons held the Zags without a three, the first time this season they've done so. Twice USF has limited an opponent to just one three this season (at SMC and at BYU).

BEYOND THE ARC
Senior Rachel Howard and redshirt junior Kalyn Simon are tied for third in the WCC with a 38.8 percent clip from the perimeter, while Rachel Howard's 54 triples are tied for the second-most in the WCC this year.

WHO'S HOT?
Senior guard Rachel Howard has been the main catalyst of the USF offense recently, leading the team at 20.6 points per game over the last five contests. Over that span, Howard is shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from the perimeter, hitting 15 threes. Meanwhile sophomore Alicia Roufosse has had the shooter's touch of late, shooting a team-best 52.6 percent from the field, while junior Anna Seilund has handed out a team-high 20 assists over the last five games.

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS
Rachel Howard has been steadily climbing up the USF career scoring list over the course of her senior season. She comes into Saturday's contest in 13th place all-time with 1,225 points after scoring 23 in a win over Gonzaga on Thursday where she passed Taj Winston (2011-15) on the list. Howard has also taken over second place in the USF record book with 172 career three-pointers made, trailing Shay Rollins (2005-09), who holds the USF career record with 205 treys.

WHERE THEY STACK UP
At 8-7 in WCC play, USF comes into Saturday's game tied with Santa Clara in fourth place, while Portland sits at 10th. Despite falling to USF on Thursday, Gonzaga maintains sole possession of first place at 12-3 with BYU (11-4) and Saint Mary's (10-5) looking up at the Zags with three games remaining in the regular season.

HOME SWEET HOME
After playing four consecutive road games, the Dons will welcome a return to War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. USF averages 73.1 points per game at home, where they are 9-2 this season, versus 61.9 points per contest on the road, going 4-10.

Scouting Report

About Portland
The Pilots are coming off a 78-71 overtime win at Pacific on Thursday night and have now won back-to-back games for the first time this year after defeating Loyola Marymount at home, 71-56, this past Saturday. Senior guard Kaylie Van Loo leads the Pilots offensively, averaging 11.2 points per game, while ranking second in the WCC averaging 5.2 assists per contest. Van Loo has also been a standout on the defensive end, ranking third in steals (1.9). Meanwhile, sophomore forward Julie Spencer sits among the top-10 in the conference in rebounding (7.1). UP was picked to finish ninth in the conference this year under third-year head coach Cheryl Sorenson.

Series History with Portland
USF holds a 32-31 advantage in the all-time series following a 75-56 win in Portland on Jan. 19. The Dons have won the last six meetings and eight of the last nine. Prior to that, Portland had won nine meetings in a row between 2007-08 and 2011-12. The Pilots won the first meeting of the series, 68-48, back in 1987-88. USF is 16-12 on their home floor against Portland.

Last Time They Met
USF got 21 points apiece from senior Rachel Howard and junior Anna Seilund as the Dons posted a 75-56 win over Portland on Jan. 19 from the Chiles Center. The Dons led for virtually the entire contest as they won their sixth straight over the Pilots. Portland's only lead of the game came right out of the gates as Julie Spencer hit a jumper for the game's first basket. Three minutes later Michaela Rakova knocked down a three and USF led from that point on. Kalyn Simon scored 11 points, while Rakova tallied seven points and led the Dons with seven rebounds on the night. Howard was locked in throughout the night, sinking her first seven shots and going 7-of-10 from the field overall, including 4-of-7 from distance. She scored 11 of her 21 points in the third quarter where she knocked down three triples. Seilund, meanwhile, went 8-of-16 with three 3-pointers. Both Howard and Seilund handed out a game-high five assists. This was the second game this season in which two Dons scored at least 20 points, the other being a win at San Diego on Dec. 29 when Simon (22) and Howard (20) broke the 20-point barrier. In a relatively clean game, both sides committed a season-low 17 combined turnovers with USF committing just one turnover in the first half.

Last Time Out
USF was locked in from deep while Gonzaga controlled the paint, but in the end it was the Dons who came out on top of a 77-72 decision on Thursday night at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. USF made up for being outscored 40-10 in the paint by hitting 11 three-pointers, one shy of their season high, as they handed the Zags their first loss in their last 13 contests. Senior guard Rachel Howard led the Dons with 23 points, including a 5-for-9 clip from the perimeter to go along with a game-high six assists. Howard scored 12 points in the fourth quarter alone where she hit a pair of threes and went 6-for-10 from the free throw line. Junior Anna Seilund added 21 points on a 7-of-11 shooting night that featured a 4-of-5 mark from long range. USF had to rally back from a seven-point deficit with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter when it looked like Gonzaga could start running away with it. A three by Howard kicked off a quick USF spurt that included a Seilund jumper that brought the Dons within one with just under eight minutes on the clock. Howard's free throw with 2:15 to go tied the game at 66-66, before Howard struck again with a three 30 seconds later that gave the Dons a one-point advantage and a lead they would ultimately hold onto for the win.

Up Next
The Dons close out the regular season at home when they host Loyola Marymount on Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by Senior Day against Pepperdine on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Fan Guide

Ticket Information
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 Information
Parking is available free of charge on game days two hours prior to tip-off and one hour after the conclusion of the game in the Hayes-Healy garage (located along Golden Gate Ave. in between War Memorial at the Sobrato Center and the Hayes Healy dorms) and at the Koret Health and Recreation Center lot (at the corner of Parker Ave. and Turk St.). Street parking is also available around campus, but visitors are reminded to take notice of signs displaying city parking restrictions for each street. Refer to the USF Department of Public Safety parking webpage for a map of parking on campus.

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