SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Beginning conference play on Saturday afternoon in the City by the Bay, the San Francisco Dons (9-3, 0-1) came up short on their home floor as the LMU Lions (3-9, 1-0) picked up the 68-59 victory at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. 

Debora dos Santos scored a new career-high 25 points on 10-for-15 from the field while also corralling nine rebounds against the Lions. Also scoring in double figures for the Dons, Jasmine Gayles poured in 11 points and knocked down a pair of threes in USF's conference opener. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• The opening tip brought a strong offensive charge from both sides as LMU lead 12-11 at the first media timeout with Gayles and dos Santos scoring nine of USF's first points of the game. LMU then rattled off a late run to take a 28-14 lead after the first 10 minutes.
• After the hot starting first quarter, both defenses settled down with neither side able to score in double figures as Ioanna Krimili was able to put in five points and the Dons held the Lions to 21% shooting from the field and forced three turnovers as they trailed 36-21 at the break.
• USF came out of the half ready to play as they sought to come back in the game as back-to-back made lay ups from Abby Rathbun and Amalie Langer got the Dons a bit closer. dos Santos had a strong quarter scoring 10 key points as the Dons trailed 52-40 with one quarter remaining.
• The Dons brought a spirited fight to the final quarter as they cut the LMU lead down to five late in the game following a Gayles' three and some key force turnovers. The Lions were able to regain their footing in the game as they went on to pick up the 68-59 victory on Saturday.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• dos Santos led both sides with her 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting as her 54.3% field goal percentage currently ranks fifth in the WCC.
• Gayles once again reached double figures scoring with 11 points and a pair of three point makes for the Dons. 
• With her seven points on Saturday, Krimili now moves into seventh place in program history for total career points at 1,457. 

POST GAME WITH THE DONS:

• USF head women's basketball coach Molly Goodenbour: "Congratulations to LMU for coming out prepared and ready for battle today. They were the tougher team and deserved to win that game. We need to regroup and come out and make sure we are prepared to play on Monday. It's a long season and there will be ups and downs, but this is definitely not the way we wanted to start." 
• To view the highlights from today's game, please click here. 

UP NEXT:
The Dons are back home this Monday as they welcome the Pepperdine Waves (6-5, 1-0) to War Memorial at the Sobrato Center at 2:00 p.m. USF won both games against Pepperdine last season including a 78-57 win last February on the Hilltop. 

TICKETS AND MERCHANDISE:
Single-game tickets for West Coast Conference basketball games are currently on sale at www.usfdons.com/tickets. 

Want to dress like the Dons? Rep USF today by visiting the all-new USF Dons online store at www.usfdons.com/shop.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the USF women's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsWBB on Twitter, @USFDonsWBB on Instagram and @USFDonsWBB on Facebook.

SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Provident Credit Union - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.