SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Wrapping up their 2022-23 home schedule, the USF Dons women's basketball team (18-10, 8-8) picked up an impressive 72-59 victory over the BYU Cougars (14-13, 9-7) on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
Leading the way for the offense was the stellar second half of
Jessica McDowell-White scoring 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting for the field, while
Ioanna Krimili poured in 18 points and dished out five assists to knock off the Cougars for the last time as conference opponents.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- After BYU got the first bucket of the game, Kennedy Dickie was able to get USF on the board to even the score early in the contest. The Cougars then built some separation to the tune of an eight-point lead before Jasmine Gayles and Ioanna Krimili each hit a pair of free throws to draw the Dons closer. Krimili knocked down the final USF shot of the quarter as the Cougars held a 17-14 lead after one.
- To start the second quarter, Krimili made the first five USF points to give them a 19-17 lead early. The Dons were able to extend their lead midway through the quarter as Loren Christie knocked down back-to-back jumpers, followed by a 5-0 BYU burst to even the score. Both teams were held scoreless in the final minute of the quarter as it was 26-all heading into halftime.
- The Dons scored their first bucket of the second half on a fast break with a nice feed from McDowell-White to find the streaking Abby Rathbun to even the score at 28. Following the media timeout, the Dons took control of the game with a 14-0 run as McDowell-White hit back-to-back triples in a row to put USF up double digits and forcing BYU into a timeout. McDowell-White wasn't done putting her stamp on the game as she hit a running floater that gave the Dons the 52-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
- McDowell-White continued her torrid shooting performance by making three more long distance shots in a row as the Dons led 61-45 with seven minutes left in the game. USF wouldn't relinquish the lead the rest of the way despite a late comeback attempt by the Cougars as they earned the 72-59 and the season series split with BYU.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- McDowell-White was the star of the show on Saturday afternoon as she scored 19 points and knocked down 5-of-6 three-point shot, dished out six assists, grabbed four rebounds and came away with a pair of steals against the Cougars.
- Krimili had another nice night scoring and distributing for her team as she put in 18 points while going 3-for-7 from three-point range, dished out five assists, came away with four rebounds and pilfered two steals in Saturday's victory.
- Off the bench, Gayles excelled in getting to the basket and knocking down free throws scoring 12 points while knocking down 7-of-8 free throws to go along with four rebounds and a pair of assists in the win.
- Doing a lot of the little things in the victory, Christie scored eight points, grabbed four boards, dished out a pair of assists and blocked two shots while playing tough defense throughout to help USF's effort in the victory.
POST GAME WITH THE DONS:
- To view the highlights from Saturday's 72-59 victory over BYU, please click here.
- To view our post game press conference with Jasmine Gayles and Jessica McDowell-White, please click here.
- To watch our post game press conference with USF head women's basketball coach Molly Goodenbour, please click here.
THANK YOU SENIORS:
UP NEXT:
The Dons now hit the road for their final two regular season games of the season, as they will face off with the Pepperdine Waves (8-18, 3-13) on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 6:00 p.m. from Firestone Fieldhouse. USF won the first meeting the Waves by a 73-63 final as Krimili led the way with 33 points back in December.
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.
