University of San Francisco Athletics

SAN FRANCISCO — The 2018-19 West Coast Conference season begins this weekend, just before the New Year, as the San Francisco women's basketball team hosts San Diego and BYU in the opening weekend of conference play on Saturday and Monday, respectively.
 
GAME 12 INFORMATION
Date/Time: Dec. 29, 2018 – 2:00 p.m.
Opponent: San Diego (7-4, 0-0 WCC)
Site: War Memorial at the Sobrato Center
Tickets: https://bit.ly/2yJatoS
Live Video: https://bit.ly/2ELzVS4
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/2Vf79hO
 
GAME 13 INFORMATION
Date/Time: Dec. 31, 2018 – 3:00 p.m.
Opponent: BYU (8-3, 0-0 WCC)
Site: War Memorial at the Sobrato Center
Tickets: https://bit.ly/2yJatoS
Live Video: https://bit.ly/2BIOsu3
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/2ERRCi0
 
USF AT A GLANCE

• San Francisco (4-7) scored its most points in nearly three years last week in the final game of the Hatter Classic at Stetson University in Deland, Fla., tallying 97 points in a double-overtime loss to North Dakota. It also allowed its most points in nearly five years, giving up 100 to the Fighting Hawks.
   
• Entering the 2018-19 WCC season, the Dons are the second-best shooting team in the conference with a 45.8 percent field-goal percentage. They are also the fourth-best scoring offense at 72.5 points per game and the fourth-best free-throw shooting team at 71.0 percent.
   
• The Dons had their ups and downs on defense during the non-conference schedule. They enter the conference season last in scoring defense at 74.3 points allowed per game. But they are among the conference's top half in steals per game (t-3, 9.8), 3-point field goal defense (5th, 30.2 percent) and rebounding defense (5th, 35.5 per game allowed).
   
• The Dons' sub-.500 record is misleading of their competitiveness this season. Five of San Francisco's seven losses have been by single digits, including three by five points or less. San Francisco held leads in all five of those games at one point. The only two games the Dons lost by double digits were both true road games at Power-5 teams (No. 7/7 Stanford, Washington State).
   
• Through the non-conference season, Shannon Powell is one of the WCC's top-15 players across nine different categories. She is in the top-10 in four of them – minutes played (3rd, 34.5 per game), scoring (4th, 16.8 ppg), steals (5th, 2.1 per game) and assists (9th, 3.9 per game).

ABOUT THE TOREROS
San Diego (7-4, 0-0 WCC) – picked to finish fifth in this year's Preseason WCC Coaches' Poll – charges into conference play on fire, having won five of its last six games, though four of those wins came at home. The Toreros are just 1-3 on the road this season, their only win a four-point victory at Long Beach State on Dec. 6. The Toreros beat San Jose State – the Dons' only shared opponent with USD – 83-79 on Dec. 21 to close out non-conference play.
 
Patricia Brossmann leads San Diego with 12.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, 21 steals (1.9 per game) and six blocks. The Toreros distribute 16.5 assists per game – second in the WCC – and have the conference's leading rebounding margin at +7.4. Myah Pace leads the team with 5.3 assists per game and is second with 5.8 rebounds per game. San Diego's perimeter defense has lacked this season, allowing opponents to shoot 34.7 percent from deep – second-worst in the WCC.
 
ABOUT THE COUGARS
BYU (8-3, 0-0 WCC) – the third pick in this year's Preseason WCC Coaches' Poll – has won three of its last four games entering the start of conference play. Half of their non-conference wins have come at home, posting just a 2-2 record in true road games. BYU is 1-2 in its last three road games with an average scoring margin of just +4.0.
 
The Cougars boast three players averaging double-digit points per game, led by Shaylee Gonzales' 17.2 ppg – second-best in the WCC. BYU has thrived on defense this season, ranking among the WCC's top-three in field-goal percentage defense (2nd, 36.8 percent allowed), scoring defense (3rd, 61.5 ppg allowed) and rebounding (3rd, 40.6 per game). Meanwhile, the offense has ranked among the bottom half in the conference in scoring (8th, 66.5 ppg), 3-point shooting percentage (8th, 30.3 percent) and overall field goal percentage (7th, 40.5 percent).
 
LAST GAME VS. THE FIGHTING HAWKS
San Francisco left everything on the court and then some on Dec. 21, as the Dons played North Dakota to double overtime on the final day of the Hatter Classic at Stetson University, narrowly falling 100-97 at the Edmunds Center.
 
With multiple players fouling out and some in-game bumps and bruises, San Francisco was left with just four players to play with on the court with less than a minute to go in the second overtime. Even with that, the Dons were still able to tie the game yet again. Marta Galic, who finished with a season-high 15 points, stole the ball with 15.6 seconds left and was fouled on the play. She made both her free throws, making it 96-96.
 
FAMILIAR OPENING FOE
Saturday will mark the third straight year that San Francisco has opened its WCC schedule against San Diego. The teams split the first two conference-opening meetings, with USF beating San Diego on the road in 2016-17, 82-67, and the Toreros downing the Dons last season in War Memorial at the Sobrato Center, 60-54. Coincidentally, the '16-'17 win snapped an eight-year WCC opener losing streak that had stretched from 2007-08 – when USF beat San Diego, 80-62, at War Memorial Gym.
 
UP NEXT
The Dons' three-game WCC-opening home stand wraps up on Jan. 5 when they host South Bay rival Santa Clara for a 2 p.m. tip-off. USF will host a postgame autographs session following the game against the Broncos.
 
Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.