SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco women's basketball team got out to as much as a 15-point first-half lead Friday with a tenacious defense and hot shooting from deep, but defending Big Sky Conference champion Northern Colorado used a slew of offensive rebounds to come back in the second quarter, then take the lead in the second half, eventually holding on for a 68-63 non-conference win at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• San Francisco (2-2) forced turnovers and grabbed steals from the get-go Friday. The very first play of the game was a running steal by Veronica Preciado, who slapped a pass out of the air and ran down the court, drawing a foul on her transition layup attempt, then subsequently making both of her free throws to put the Dons up 2-0 with the first points of the game.
   
• That set the tone for the Dons for the rest of the opening quarter, as they forced eight Northern Colorado turnovers with seven steals. USF would score 12 points off of turnovers in the first 10 minutes, getting out to a 24-12 lead. The first frame was accented by Kia Vaalavirta's buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the right wing to put USF up by double digits.
   
• San Francisco took its biggest lead of the game to open the second quarter when Julia Nielacna hit a 3-pointer to put the Dons up 15 at 27-12. But that's when the Bears' (3-2) rebounding game came to life. Over the next seven minutes, USF would go just 2 for 9 (22.2 percent) from the floor, committing four fouls and two turnovers along the way.
   
• The Bears pulled down 12 rebounds during that same stretch – six of them on the offensive end – and went on a 20-5 run that tied the game at 32-32. Alexis Chapman's 3-pointer with just under two minutes to go before halftime put the teams back at even. But the Dons got another late 3 from Vaalavirta, allowing them to head into the locker room with a one-point, 35-34 advantage.
   
• The rebounding advantage continued into the third quarter as the Bears surged ahead. Northern Colorado outrebounded the Dons 10-5 in the quarter and went on a 15-5 run that included two more offensive boards, the second of which led directly to an Alexis Chapman 3-pointer that put the Bears up by 10 at 54-44.
   
• San Francisco got to within five points of Northern Colorado on three occasions in the final period but could never get closer. Northern Colorado gave the Dons a chance, turning the ball over five more times in the quarter to finish with 19 giveaways in the game. The Bears only shot 50 percent (7 for 14) from the free-throw line in the fourth, but San Francisco did not score any points off turnovers in the last frame when they had scored 12 in the first to jump out to their large lead.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 10: The Dons hit a season-high 10 3-pointers while shooting a season-best 47.6 percent from deep. Five different players hit long balls, with Vaalavirta leading the team with four.
• 12: San Francisco grabbed 12 steals Friday. It was the third game in four this season it has had at least 12 steals in a game. USF is now averaging 11.0 steals per game as a team.
• 46: Northern Colorado collected 46 rebounds, including 20 on the offensive end. Both numbers are the most by any USF opponent this season.

COMING UP

• The Dons host UT Arlington at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Mavericks were 70-61 losers at Fresno State on Friday. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.