GREELEY, Colo. — Mark down Tuesday in your journal.
 
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019 – The day University of San Francisco women's basketball freshman guard Ioanna Krimili splashed onto the college basketball scene with a huge performance on the road.
 
Krimili was one of five new student-athletes making their USF debuts Friday, as she led the game – and the West Coast Conference – on opening night with 32 points to lead the Dons to a 90-83 road win over Northern Colorado at Bank of Colorado Arena.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Dons (1-0) trailed plenty of times Tuesday in a game that featured five lead changes and eight ties. But with every ebb came another flow, keyed by a different player every time. It was graduate transfer Mikayla Williams who kickstarted the Dons' decisive comeback in the fourth quarter.
   
• With USF trailing by six at 70-64 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the game, the hardened All-American veteran made a layup to cut the Dons' deficit to two possessions. That basket started USF on a three-minute-long, 15-2 run that took it from looking at a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter on the road, to leading by seven with 3:23 to go. Williams came up big multiple times during the run. She grabbed an offensive board and put it back in to tie the game at 70, then later made another basket to put the Dons up by four at 76-72. Fellow grad transfer Dolapo Balogun sank a 3-pointer from the left corner to cinch the run and put USF up 79-72.
   
• Krimili was solid from the free-throw line all game, going 18 for 20 from there, but she was especially clutch down the stretch. San Francisco was able to keep getting the ball in her hands late, forcing Northern Colorado (0-1) to foul her. She went 7 for 8 shooting free throws in the game's final 39 seconds. She had 13 of her 32 points in the fourth period alone, all exclusively from the charity stripe, as she went 13 for 14 overall in the quarter.
   
• San Francisco erased two multi-point deficits at the end of each of the first two periods. A slow start in the first quarter had USF trailing by seven after beginning 1 for 6 from the floor with three turnovers. They would close on a 13-2 run to go ahead 19-15 at the end of the first. Krimili scored five of those points, including a running layup before the buzzer to tack on another basket to the lead.
   
• Krimili's first career 3-pointer opened the second quarter and pushed the Dons' lead to seven, but it wouldn't stand. Northern Colorado went on its own 14-3 run, capped also by a 3-pointer – this one from Jasmine Gayles – to put the Bears up by six at 39-33. Thanks to some quick work by the Dons in the waning seconds of the first half, they were able to cut that down to just one at the break with five consecutive points. The first basket came on yet another offensive board and putback by Williams, and the last was a buzzer-beating bank-shot 3-pointer by Lucie Hoskova, who'd finish the night with a double-double on 14 points and 10 rebounds.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 60.0%: San Francisco shot 60.0% in the second half after shooting 35.5% in the first two quarters. That helped the Dons outscore Northern Colorado by eight after halftime, 52-44.
• 32: Krimili's 32 points scored Tuesday were the most by a Don since Anna Seilund scored 34 versus Sacramento State on Dec. 15, 2017. It was also the most points scored by Don in a season opener in at least the last nine years (since 2011-12).
• 34 for 42: The Dons attempted 42 free throws Tuesday and made 34 of them. It was their most attempted free throws since Jan. 16, 2016, at Pepperdine (43), and their most free throws made since Feb. 6, 2014, versus San Diego (36).

COMING UP

• San Francisco will play the first-ever college basketball game in the brand-new Chase Center at 3 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Stanford as part of a doubleheader with the men. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.