SAN FRANCISCO — Signs of growth in the latter part of the season continued to shine through Thursday night for the young San Francisco women's basketball team, as the Dons stayed right with one of the top teams in the West Coast Conference and even held a fourth quarter lead, but WCC leading scorer Yasmine Robinson-Bacote and her Pepperdine team fended off the Dons with a late fourth-quarter run to escape War Memorial at the Sobrato Center with a 72-66 victory.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• For all but the final three minutes of the game, there was only one occurrence of either team leading by more than two baskets. Pepperdine (14-7, 8-4 WCC) got four straight points from Rose Pflug with two minutes left in the third for a 47-40 lead, but Julia Nielacna answered with four consecutive points of her own and it was back to a three-point contest. Thursday's game was tied 10 different times and saw eight lead changes.
   
• San Francisco (6-16, 2-9 WCC) led, 55-54, after a 10-foot jumper from Nia Alexander 2 1/2 minutes into the fourth. But Robinson-Bacote hit her own jump shot on the other end to give the Waves back the lead for good. Robinson-Bacote went off in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 of her game-high 28 points in the period to carry Pepperdine to victory. She went 5 for 6 from the floor and got to the free-throw line four times (6 for 8). The other seven Waves who played minutes in the fourth quarter only scored seven combined points.
   
• Even with Robinson-Bacote carrying the game in her hands, the Dons would not go away. Abby Rathbun's baseline jumper with five minutes to play made it a two-point game at 61-59 with Pepperdine in the lead. The Waves finally put the game away with an 8-0 run over the next four minutes that gave them a 10-point, 69-59 lead with under a minute to play. San Francisco went 0 for 4 from the floor with a turnover during that stretch.
   
• San Francisco limited a Pepperdine team that scored 31 points in the first quarter the first time they met on Jan. 12 to just 12 in the first 10 minutes Thursday. The Dons also did not allow a 3-pointer Thursday, and that was after the Waves had hit five and shot 50.0 percent from deep in the teams' first meeting. It was the first time USF held an opponent without a 3-pointer since Feb. 24, 2018, at San Diego in the final game of the regular season last year.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 10: USF pulled down 10 offensive rebounds. It was the sixth time in the last seven games it has had double-digit offensive boards, and the fifth time during that same stretch it has tied or beaten its opponent on the offensive glass. Pepperdine also had 10 offensive rebounds Thursday.
• 22: Shannon Powell posted her seventh 20-point game of the season and ninth of her career Thursday with 22 points. She went 11 for 20 from the floor while also adding seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
• 100: San Francisco went a perfect 6 for 6 from the free-throw line for a 100 percent free-throw shooting clip. It was the first time it went perfect from the charity stripe since going 5 for 5 on Jan. 18, 2018, at Santa Clara.

COMING UP

• San Francisco hosts Loyola Marymount at noon on Saturday as part of a day-night doubleheader with the USF men's team. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.