SEATTLE — As San Francisco senior guard Rojeen Sharifi caught a pass on the left wing, she heard her head coach, Molly Goodenbour, shout, "Shoot it!"
With seven minutes left on Friday against Washington, Sharifi picked up her dribble and drained her first career 3-pointer. "It feels pretty great," Sharifi said, "especially today."
A team manager and a practice player for much of the last four years, Sharifi's career-high seven points — all in the fourth quarter — served as one of several bright spots for the short-handed Dons in a 73-54 loss to the Huskies, a game that saw San Francisco turn the ball over a season-high 23 times in their second straight game against a high-pressure defense.
"She made some shots, made some decent decisions," Goodenbour said. "Two games in two days with, seven, eight players, we're trying to keep everybody fresh, especially once that kind of got out of reach. So, Rojeen will get an opportunity."
Exactly one year ago, during the Dons' trip to Florida for the Hatter Classic, Sharifi was carrying bags and helping with laundry. A practice squad player and team manager for much of the last four years, Sharifi had gotten into just one game in the 2017-18 season, and played just one minute.
Dealing with a raft of injuries this season, the Dons added the 5-foot-6 senior guard out of Calabasas, Calif. to the roster ahead of their Nov. 16 game against CSUN. Having not played competitively or regularly since high school, Sharifi recorded her first career basket that day.
"It's been a rough transition, I'd say, because I used to sit in practice and watch them play, pass and rebound sometimes," Sharifi said. "Now, I'm full-on playing at practice, I'm expected to make the times and do the drills correctly. It's a tough transition, but I'm slowly getting used to it."
After a difficult shootaround on Friday morning, Goodenbour pulled Sharifi aside and reminded her that she needed to be confident going into her first game in an arena the size of Seattle's 10,000-seat Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
"At first, it was a bit overwhelming," Sharifi said. "I feel like, every time I get in, I'm like, 'Oh, God,' but once I get on the court, my teammates talk to me, they communicate with me, and they help me out a lot. Molly always tells me, 'When you're open, shoot the ball.'"
"She's just as capable of holding her own out there as anybody else," Goodenbour said.
"Rojeen's not afraid; that is something about her. She's pretty intrepid when she gets out there and that's good. That's how she needs to play. When she's open, she's got a green light."
Sharifi went 3 for 5 in 22 minutes against the Huskies, but the Dons shot just 39.7% as a team, and just 3 for 11 from 3-point range.
San Francisco (6-5) was able to pilfer six first-half steals, force nine turnovers and out-rebound the Huskies 17-15 before the break, but went 9-of-27 from the field (1-of-6 from 3-point range) despite getting some good, open looks at the basket, as Washington went 16-of-31.
Facing a similar pressure defense to the one they overcame against Sacramento State in a comeback win earlier this week — Washington's 24 turnovers per game are sixth in the nation —the Dons turned the ball over 16 times in the first half, and the Huskies scored 13 points off those turnovers to take an 18-point lead into the break.
After scoring 29 points in her last outing, Mikayla Williams was the focus of Washington's defensive game plan, turning the ball over six times as the Huskies (8-2) clogged the passing lanes, but she scored 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Those 12 points were enough to get the graduate transfer to 1,507 for her college career. She broke the 1,500-point mark with a turnaround right-handed hook shot over Amber Malgoza with three minutes to go in the second quarter to break a 9-0 Huskies run.
"We played hard, and Mikayla tried her best to be effective," Goodenbour said. "It was more the things that Washington did to us that really took us out of what we are able to do well, typically."
San Francisco started the second half hot, going on a 9-0 run of its own, forcing two full lineup changes for the Huskies and cutting the lead to nine. A trio of Washington 3-pointers — making the Huskies 7-of-14 from beyond the arc — fueled a decisive 13-2 run. That lead would climb as high as 24, and though Sharifi's back-to-back jumpers with seven minutes to go helped close the gap back to 20, the game was already well in hand.
"You need to be able to have your head up and be able to make passes against pressure and we could put them in the right spots," Goodenbour said. "They have to be able to get the passes to the people at the right time in this spot, and that was what was challenging for us. The kids played hard, competed hard and tried their very best and we're never going to fault their effort. They're a very, very tough team and you know, tonight was not a good game for us, and we need to bounce back tomorrow."
There were positives beyond Sharifi for the Dons, as Williams' team-high nine rebounds gave her 106 for the year. Sophomore guard Kia Vaalavirta's seven points moved her past 200 for her young career, and six rebounds for sophomore forward Leilah Vigil moved her over 100 boards this season.
