USF (13-10, 7-5 WCC) at Santa Clara (10-13, 5-7 WCC)
Thursday, Feb. 9 | 7 p.m.
Leavey Center | Santa Clara, Calif.     
Series Record: Santa Clara leads, 52-37
Last Meeting: Dec. 31, 2016 (H), USF 77-68
Video: TheW.tv
Audio: Livestream.com/usf/wbbaudio (George Devine, PBP)
Live Stats: SCUBroncos.com (StatBroadcast)
Complete Game Notes [PDF]
 
Opening Tip
USF (13-10, 7-5 WCC) heads down the 101 to take on Santa Clara (10-13, 5-7 WCC) on Thursday evening with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. from the Leavey Center. The Dons are coming off a split this past week in Southern California with an 81-59 loss to Pepperdine and a 79-72 victory over Loyola Marymount. The Broncos pulled out a split of their own in a pair of home contests this past week, a 68-56 win over Portland and a 50-49 defeat at the hands of Gonzaga.  
 
The Dons At a Glance...                       
LAST WEEK

• Lost at Pepperdine on Thursday evening, 81-59
• Rachel Howard led USF with 14 points on 5-of-16 from the field and 3-of-7 from the perimeter
• Anna Pierce added nine points and Nia Alexander scored eight while grabbing a team-best eight rebounds
• USF's 28.6 field goal percentage was its second-lowest of the season, while the Waves shot 53.6 percent on the night
• The Dons went just 8-for-32 from three-point range, while Pepperdine shot 12-for-24 from beyond the arc
• Rallied back for a 79-72 victory at Loyola Marymount on Saturday
• Trailed by 10 with 8:49 to play before outscoring LMU 28-11 from that point on
• Howard scored 13 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, while going 7-of-8 from the free throw line
• Michaela Rakova tallied her fourth double-double of the year with 19 points and 13 rebounds

 
WHO'S HOT?
Senior guard Rachel Howard has been the main catalyst of the USF offense recently, leading the team at 23.4 points per game over the last five contests. Over that span, Howard is shooting 42 percent from the field and 50 percent from the perimeter to go along with a 92.5 clip from the free throw line. Senior Claudia Price, meanwhile, has had the shooter's touch of late, shooting a team-best 68.2 percent from the field, while junior Anna Seilund has handed out a team-high 21 assists over the last five games.
 
BEYOND THE ARC
Redshirt junior Kalyn Simon ranks third in the conference with a 41.2 percent clip from the perimeter, while Rachel Howard's 43 triples are the fifth-most in the WCC this year.
 
NO HOME SICKNESS HERE
Simon is the rare Don who has been shooting better on the road than at home this season. Simon is connecting at a team-best 53.0 percent clip in her 11 road games versus 36.5 percent at home. She is also shooting 47 percent from the perimeter away from the Sobrato Center compared to 35.7 percent in home contests.
 
WHERE THEY STACK UP
At 7-5 in WCC play, USF comes into Thursday's game alone in fourth place with Santa Clara two spots back at 5-7 in conference action. Gonzaga maintains sole possession of first place at 10-2 with Saint Mary's right behind at 9-3. After third-place BYU (8-4), six of the remaining seven teams are separated by no more than three games in the standings.  
 
JOIN THE CLUB
Howard's three-pointer on her first attempt of the game at Pacific on Jan. 14 put her over 1,000 points for her career. She became the 22nd player in USF history to reach that milestone.
 
 
Scouting Report
 
About Santa Clara
The Broncos come into Thursday's meeting having lost five of their last six, including a split this past week at home against Portland (68-56) and Gonzaga (49-50). Where Santa Clara has struggled to score - they rank eighth in the WCC at 61.6 points per game - they've made up for on the defensive end by allowing the second-fewest points per game (61.5). Redshirt sophomore guard Emily Wolph leads the WCC in three-pointers made (53) and ranks 10th in the WCC at 12.7 points per game while shooting 86.9 percent from the free throw line, third-best in the conference. Meanwhile, junior forward Morgan McGwire (10.8) is the other Bronco averaging double figure scoring. McGwire (8.2) and Lori Parkinson (8.1) sit at fourth and fifth in the WCC, respectively, in rebounding. The Broncos were picked to finish fifth in the conference under first-year head coach Bill Carr.    
      
Series History with Santa Clara
Santa Clara owns a 52-37 advantage in the all-time series. Despite a 77-68 USF win in the most recent meeting on Dec. 31, the Broncos have dominated off late, winning 12 of the last 14 meetings. The Dons won 14 of the first 15 matchups in the series, which started in 1976-77. USF hasn't won back-to-back games against Santa Clara since sweeping the season series in 1996-97. Both teams have 10-game winning streaks in the series: USF's came in the first 10 meetings between 1976-77 and 1980-81, while Santa Clara's between 1997-98 and 2001-02. The Dons are 13-29 all-time on the road versus the Broncos. 
 
Last Time They Met
The Dons posted a 77-68 overtime win over Santa Clara on Dec. 31. Michaela Rakova filled up the stat sheet with a double-double, registering 21 points and 13 rebounds. Rachel Howard and Anna Seilund each added 16 points and four assists apiece. Santa Clara came out of the gates hot, connecting on 4-of-7 three-pointers en route to a 22-10 first quarter lead. Meanwhile, USF got out to a slow start on their end, shooting just 18.8 percent in the opening period. The second quarter proved a reversal of fortunes as USF took advantage of a four-minute scoreless drought by the Broncos to cut into Santa Clara's lead early in the second quarter, going on a 6-0 run that brought them within seven before Kyla Martin's three-pointer at 4:02 ended the Broncos' drought. The Dons held the lead for the majority of the fourth quarter, building up a game-high nine-point advantage after a Rakova jumper with just over three minutes left. But Santa Clara's Emily Wolph, who came into the game tied for second in the WCC for most three-pointers made, helped dissolve that lead by hitting two of her game-high six triples in the final two minutes, including one with 1:02 on the clock that brought Santa Clara within two. Lori Parkinson went to the line for the Broncos with 13.7 seconds left and sunk both to make it 64-64 and force overtime. From there, USF took control, outscoring Santa Clara 13-4 in the overtime period. After Morgan McGwire's layup for the Broncos 30 seconds into overtime, the Dons went on a 7-0 run capped off by Anna Seilund's jumper that helped USF move out to a 71-66 lead with 2:58 remaining. Claudia Price stole the ball from Wolph driving in the lane, helping setup Seilund's two free throws with 32.1 seconds that iced the Dons' first overtime victory of the year.  

Last Time Out
With her team trailing by 10 with just under nine minutes left in the game, senior guard Rachel Howard took it upon herself to help spark a rally by scoring 13 points and going 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final period to lead USF to a 79-72 win over Loyola Marymount on Saturday afternoon at Gersten Pavilion. Howard overcame a slow start and led all scorers with 22 points on the day, despite shooting just 4-of-13 from the field. She made up for it by converting 13-of-14 free throw tries and knocking down a pivotal step back three with 33 seconds left that put the Dons up 70-68, giving them their first lead since the 2:31 mark of the second quarter and the momentum that would carry them to the victory. Junior Michaela Rakova posted her fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Kalyn Simon (11) and Anna Seilund (10) rounded out the Dons in double figures. Seilund pitched in with a game-high seven assists. The Lions climbed out to a game-high 10-point advantage on Raychel Stanley's jumper with 8:49 to play. USF proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to tie the game for the first time since the end of the first half when Rakova hit two free throws with 4:28 to go. After a quiet stretch for both sides, LMU eventually regained the lead on a three by Leslie Lopez-Wood with just under two minutes on the clock. That lead would last until Howard nailed the go-ahead three.
 
Up Next
The Dons play their final road game of the regular season when they travel to Provo, Utah to take on BYU on Saturday at 1 p.m.