Jan. 11, 2003

Box Score

Moraga, CA - San Francisco watched a nine-point lead evaporate in the final two minutes, but held on for a frenetic 58-56 road victory to open the 2003 West Coast Conference campaign Saturday in front of 1,633 fans at McKeon Pavilion. USF (6-9, 1-0 WCC) won their fourth consecutive road contest in their sixth game of a program record eight-game odyssey, while Saint Mary's (7-7/0-1 WCC) has dropped their last two contests at home.

USF, who dressed a season-high 10 players, were without the services of leading rebounder junior Mary Jane Krueger, who is out with a leg injury. The Lady Dons rose to the challenge and held a 41-32 advantage on the boards, including a dominating 16-4 lead on the offensive glass. San Francisco did not allow the Gaels to corral an offensive rebound until midway through the second half.

In the first half the Lady Dons took a 9-2 advantage early on, behind the efforts of freshman guard Joy Hollingsworth. The Gaels then went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at nine at the 14:54 minute mark. Both teams then exchanged baskets throughout the rest of the first half with a total of seven ties and six lead changes in the first.

Hollingsworth established career-highs with a team-high 20 points on 9-of-16 from the floor to go along with eight rebounds in 36 minutes. Junior forward Carey Sauer added 17 points and hit a circus shot in the lane to put the Lady Dons up for good, 58-56 with 0:38 left in the game. In the first half the Gaels shot 59.1 percent from the field (13-22), 66.7 percent from beyond the arc (2-3) and 71.4 percent from the free throw line (5-7).

Head coach Mary Hile-Nepfel was pleased with her team's efforts.

"They played hard tonight. Anytime you can go on the road and win during conference play is a huge boost. I though our efforts on the boards were critical tonight. I challenged each one of them to really crash the boards, especially since we are missing MJ (Krueger), "Hile-Nepfel said.

USF continues their road trip with a pair of WCC games in the Pacific Northwest. The Lady Dons take on Gonzaga Thursday, Jan 16 in the Martin Centre and travel to Portland for a Saturday, Jan. 18 contest at the Chiles Center. Both games are scheduled for a 7:00 PM start.