VICTORIA, British Columbia — The University of San Francisco women's basketball team took the lead in the second quarter Friday and rode Mikayla Williams' double-double and two other players scoring in double figures to victory, advancing to Saturday's consolation championship at the Greater Victoria Invitational with a 64-56 win over Bowling Green at the CARSA Gymnasium on the campus of the University of Victoria.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Dons (3-4) built double-digit leads in both the third and fourth quarters en route to their first win on international soil since Dec. 20, 2008, when they beat Stephen F. Austin, 70-59, in Cancun, Mexico. Bowling Green (3-3) went on a 7-0 run late, cutting USF's lead to four with less than a minute to play. But Williams came through in the clutch, making a running layup on a give-and-go from Dolapo Balogun to push the lead back to six, then grabbing a defensive rebound on the other end and blocking a shot with seven seconds left to help seal the win.
   
• The Falcons tried attacking the Dons from deep early on with six of their first nine field goal attempts coming from beyond the arc, but they only connected on two. San Francisco was cold to start, too, starting 2 for 10. It'd finish the quarter 4 for 7, though, with 3-pointers from Abby Rathbun and Ioanna Krimili to lead, 16-14, after the first frame.
   
• San Francisco shot 36.7% in the first half, but it started the third quarter on fire, making seven of its first 10 attempts with five different players getting in on the action. That amounted to a 16-7 run and a 13-point lead at 47-34 – its largest of the day. The Dons' defense was also doing its part, holding Bowling Green to 2-for-8 shooting with three turnovers to start the second half. The Dons tied a season high with seven blocks as a team and had eight steals for the fifth time in seven games.
   
• San Francisco won the game by winning the battle down low. The Dons beat the Falcons on the glass, outrebounding them 44-38. USF also outscored them in the paint, 36-14, and had 11 second chance points off of 17 offensive rebounds. BGSU shot 10 more 3-pointers than the Dons (23 vs. 13), but only made two more (7 vs. 5), finishing at 30.4% from deep.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 4: Rathbun grabbed four more steals Friday to bring her season total to 16. She's averaging 2.0 steals per game with three games in which she had at least three takeaways. She totaled 28 steals in 31 games as a freshman in 2018-19.
• 18 & 17: Williams had a double-double in the second half alone with 12 points and 11 boards after halftime. She finished one point shy of her season scoring high (19) and one rebound shy of her collegiate career best (18), pulled down last season against Cal State San Marcos on Jan. 19 when she was at UC San Diego.
• 44: The Dons were back above the 40-rebounds mark with 44 Friday. Seven different players pulled down multiple rebounds, with three (Williams, Lucie Hoskova, Rathbun) grabbing six or more.

COMING UP

• San Francisco will face the University of Houston at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Greater Victoria Invitational consolation championship game. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.