SAN FRANCISCO — The University of San Francisco women's basketball team was back at it Wednesday just 2 1/2 days after returning from an international trip over a holiday weekend in which it played three games in three days, and the Dons didn't miss a beat, running out to a big first-half lead and holding off a late charge from visiting Cal State Fullerton to win, 71-63, in a non-conference game at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Mikayla Williams came up big and came up clutch for the Dons (5-4) in the second half. She scored 10 of her 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds after halftime to notch her third double-double of the year. But bigger than her numbers was her timeliness. On four separate occasions in the fourth quarter, it was Williams who put the Dons back ahead by two possessions after Cal State Fullerton (4-5) had pulled to within three points. A jumper inside the key early in the fourth made it 54-49, another pull-up jumper in the paint under the five-minute mark made it 61-56, a bank shot off the glass with just under two minutes to play made it 63-58, and her free throws with 33 seconds remaining made it 66-61 and helped ice the victory.
   
• Like their last game in Victoria, British Columbia, last week versus Houston, the Dons built a double-digit second quarter lead thanks in part to a basket from Lucie Hoskova. Hoskova grabbed an offensive rebound and laid in a second-chance bucket three minutes into the second quarter against the Titans (4-5) to give the Dons a 10-point lead. Saturday versus the Cougars, it was Hoskova's 3-pointer 80 seconds into the second period that put the Dons up by 11.
   
• San Francisco's second quarter lead would grow to as big as 15 with a quick 9-2 run before halftime that was made up of three 3-pointers – two from Kia Vaalavirta and another from Abby Rathbun – forcing a timeout from the Titans. The Dons were also able to build such a large early lead by shutting down one of the nation's best scorers for the first 20 minutes. Cal State Fullerton's Raina Perez entered the night ranked No. 11 in the country with 21.0 points per game. But with Rathbun doing most of the heavy lifting on defense against her, she was held to just four points on 2 for 7 shooting in the first half.
   
• Perez and the Titans woke up after halftime, though. Cal State Fullerton scored 23 points in the third quarter after only scoring 14 and 10 in the first two, respectively, and they cut their 13-point halftime deficit down to only five with one quarter left. Perez scored 15 points in the second half to finish with 19, including two three-point plays (bucket and a foul) and a 3-pointer.
   
• The Titans' comeback effort continued in the fourth quarter, but they could never overcome their deficit, especially not with Williams answering each time they pulled to within one basket. Cal State Fullerton had multiple chances to pull even or ahead under the four-minute mark in the fourth. It stopped the Dons twice, but it also missed two of its own shots. Increasing their chances, the Titans grabbed offensive rebounds on both of their misses during that stretch, but both times they turned the ball back over, coming away with no points.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 44: San Francisco went over the 40-rebound mark for the third consecutive game with 44. It also outrebounded its opponent for the third straight time and sixth time this season.
• 81.0%: The Dons shot over 80% from the free-throw line for the sixth time this season, going 17 for 21 for an 81.0% clip. Rathbun (4 for 4), Williams (4 for 4) and Dolapo Balogun (2 for 2) were all perfect from the charity stripe.

THE GOODS FROM GOODENBOUR

• "I'm really proud of their effort. I thought we were fatigued still. Canada took a lot out of us, and then to play 2 1/2 days after you just played three games in a row; this game worried me for a long time just looking at it on the schedule, because Fullerton's tough, they're well-coached, they're scrappy and they're a team that can beat you. We talked about playing through fatigue and finding ways to get things done, even if your 100% tonight is maybe not what your 100% on Oct. 15 looks like, we've gotta give it the best we can, see if we can find a way to get it done and they did."
   
• "Abby did a great job when she was on (Perez). They ran a lot of screening action so she'd get switched off her sometimes, but we put Abby on her to try to take her out of it because Abby did a great job up in Canada defending post players and taking them out of their rhythm. She's a very good on-ball defender and very physical with kids."
   
• "We have a lot of mental and physical toughness. I think that all these games right now help to build a foundation for what we're going to try and do in conference play, so hopefully this will help us."

COMING UP

• San Francisco rests for 10 days during finals and returns to action on Dec. 14 when it hosts Sacramento State. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.