PROVO, Utah — Mikayla Williams and Leilah Vigil both reached major career milestones on the boards Thursday while the University of San Francisco women's basketball team once again outrebounded its opponent for the 14th time in the last 15 games, but host BYU's stifling defense held the Dons at bay on the offensive end, giving the Cougars a 57-44 West Coast Conference win at the Marriott Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Williams and Vigil entered the day each only one rebound short of big career marks in the category. Williams needed one board for the 1,000th of her career, and Vigil needed one to reach 500. They would both reach their marks in the first quarter, with Vigil grabbing her first of nine boards 3 1/2 minutes into the opening period, and Williams corralling her first with 3:31 left. Williams became a 1,500-1,000 career player with the board, and Vigil stamped herself as a 500-500 player in only her sophomore season.
   
• Williams notched another career mark in the first quarter when she hit the first two 3-pointers of her career to help the Dons (7-13, 0-8 WCC) get out to an 11-7 lead after one. USF bothered the Cougars (11-7, 6-2 WCC) in the first 10 minutes, forcing three turnovers, holding them to 21.4% shooting (0 for 5 from 3-point range) and outrebounding them, 12-10. But what would become a theme throughout the day started in the first quarter for USF, as it couldn't turn BYU's mistakes (three turnovers and allowing the Dons three offensive rebounds) into any points.
   
• BYU tightened things up in the second quarter, forcing seven USF turnovers and scoring six points off of them. The Cougars went on a 15-2 run to close the quarter and outscored the Dons, 20-6, to take a 10-point, 27-17 lead into halftime. After going 0 for 5 from distance in the first frame, the Cougars found their stroke with three 3-pointers from three different players.
   
• After shooting 3 for 15 in the second quarter, San Francisco's shooting woes continued in the third, starting 1 for 9 with a 3-pointer from Lucie Hoskova. She finished with 14 points, one of three Dons in double figures on the day. San Francisco continued to dominate the offensive glass in the third, outrebounding BYU on that end, 14-4, through three periods and finishing the day owning a 19-8 advantage there. But even with the huge advantage in offensive rebounds, BYU finished with more second-chance points than the Dons (5-4).

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 25.8%: The Dons shot 25.8% Thursday, their lowest shooting percentage of the season and their lowest shooting performance in at least the past three seasons (since 2017-18).
• 41: San Francisco finished with 41 rebounds, its most since grabbing 48 at Pepperdine on Jan. 11. It marked the 10th time this season the Dons have gone over the 40-rebound mark in a game.

COMING UP

• The Dons travel to Southern California for a Saturday matinee at San Diego, the two teams' first matchup of the season. The game will mark the end of the first half of the WCC season. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.