SAN FRANCISCO — She was on the floor for one reason, and one reason only.
 
And she came through.
 
San Diego's Erica Martinsen played all of two minutes Thursday, and in the game's final 23.3 seconds, she stood five feet off the 3-point line waiting for a pass. When it came, she sank a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left – her only shot of the night – leading the Toreros to a nail-biting 61-58 West Coast Conference win over the University of San Francisco women's basketball team at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• San Francisco (9-18, 2-13 WCC) had worked its way back from multiple deficits in the second half and even took its own four-point lead with just over two minutes to play. A 12-2 run over a 3 1/2-minute stretch wiped away a six-point USD (17-9, 11-4 WCC) lead and put USF ahead, 56-52. A 3-pointer from Mikayla Williams gave the Dons their first lead since the start of the second quarter, and a steal on the other end and a running layup by Abby Rathbun made it a two-possession game.
   
• But back-to-back 3-pointers from a team that entered the night shooting 24.7% on the year from deep gave the lead back to USD at 58-56. San Francisco wasn't done though. Leilah Vigil drove in and scored two of her team-high 16 points to tie it back at 58-58.
   
• Then came a flurry of turnovers and steals by both teams. Turnovers dominated the night, as the tenacious Toreros defense grabbed 15 steals and forced 22 turnovers by the Dons, turning them into 17 points on the other end. But San Diego's own chances to take the lead for good were also foiled late by turnovers. USD turned it over twice in the last 60 seconds, and then committed a foul to send Kia Vaalavirta to the free-throw line with 24.4 seconds left and the game still tied 58-58.
   
• The Dons carried an 81.0% free-throw percentage through the first 35 minutes of the game. But in the final minutes, they would combine to go only 1 for 5 (20.0%), including missing both free throws with 24 seconds left, allowing San Diego a chance for the game-winning shot, which led to Martinsen's heroics.
   
• USF trailed by as many as 11 in the third quarter, but worked that down to only five at the end of the third thanks in part to getting into the bonus with nearly four minutes still left in the period. For as much as the USD defense harassed the Dons on Thursday with a constant press and 11 steals in the first half alone, the USF did much of the same, just in a different way.
   
• San Diego struggled to shoot for most of the night, until it hit three uncharacteristic 3-pointers in the game's final two minutes. USD finished with a 39.7% clip from the floor, only shooting over 40% in one quarter (the third). San Francisco also dominated the boards, outrebounding the Toreros 23-9 in the first half and 41-29 on the night.

HEAD COACH MOLLY GOODENBOUR

• "I didn't think we played with a whole 'lot of focus at Portland and I thought tonight we came back and we were the team we've been 99% of the year. I just appreciate our heart and our character and our fight. They make it really difficult, they pride themselves, San Diego does, on their defense and on being in your face and pressuring all the leads and pressing. We knew that was coming and we knew that wasn't one of our strengths, but I thought we handled it really well tonight.
   
• "We got ourselves back in the fight. We stayed in the fight the whole time. San Diego made some big shots, but we responded to that, too. Abby gets a steal and we go down and score a layup, Mikayla hits a 3-pointer and we're right there – we're in position to have a chance to compete to win, and that's all we can ask these guys to do."
   
• "(Lucie Hoskova) finally got tired of being pressured and decided, 'Look, I'm just going to drive to the basket and see if I can get to the free-throw line,' and I think once she did that once she kind of got some confidence in her ability to take the ball and go north and south with it."

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 9: Mikayla Williams tallied her ninth double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds. She also added four assists and a steal.
• 22: The Dons' 22 turnovers were their fourth-most in a game this season and sixth time they've turned the ball over at least 20 times. In San Diego's narrow, last-second three-point win, it got 17 points off of USF turnovers.
• 41: San Francisco's 41 rebounds marked the 13th time this season its gone over the 40-rebounds mark in a game. It included 27 boards on the defensive end and 14 on the offensive side.

COMING UP

• San Francisco will celebrate Senior Day at noon on Saturday, honoring the careers of Dolapo Balogun, Rojeen Sharifi and Mikayla Williams in a pregame ceremony. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.