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USF Falls To LMU 63-55
Jan. 14, 2010
(San Francisco) - San Francisco women's basketball was unable to hold onto a halftime lead Thursday, dropping a 63-55 decision to visiting Loyola Marymount at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco. Rheina Ale and Vania Singleterry continued their respective streaks of double-digit scoring efforts, leading the Dons offensively in the loss.
The loss marked the ninth straight for the Dons (4-19, 0-3 WCC), setting a school record. The previous record of eight games had been reached twice in the program's 33 year history. USF's last victory came December 10, 2009 with a 71-67 victory at Pacific. With Thursday's victory, LMU evened its record to 8-8 overall and 1-1 in conference action.
The Lions jumped out to an 18-10 lead at 11:22 in the first half, before the Dons began to chip away at the deficit. Down 24-20 at 6:19, USF went on a 15-4 run to finish the half with a five-point, 33-38, advantage. For the first 20 minutes, San Francisco hit 11-of-23 shots, shooting at a 47.8 percent clip, while out rebounding Loyola Marymount 22-14.
San Francisco was unable to hold the lead, allowing Loyola Marymount to take control, 43-42, at 9:32 in the second half. The Lions never looked back, holding the Dons to just four points over the next six minutes to go up by as many as 11. LMU sealed the victory hitting five of six free throws in the final three minutes of the game. For the half, the Dons' shooting cooled off, shooting 31.8 percent, 7-for-22 from the field.
Ale led the Dons' scoring efforts for the fifth straight games, scoring a team-high 17 points. The guard from Carson added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. The game marked the fifth straight contest, and 13th time in the past 15 games the sophomore has posted 10 or more points.
Singleterry recorded a season-high 16 points while pulling down seven rebounds. The double-digit effort marked the fifth straight for the sophomore guard.
Heidi Anton led the USF bench with eight points, while Bailey Barbour added four on back-to-back plays to give the Dons the lead in the first half.
Tawny Drexler pulled down seven rebounds to lead USF defensively, while Donnisha Taylor posted five, all defensive.
Loyola Marymount was led by Alex Cowling with 22 points. Renahy Young and Candice Nichols added 19 and 10, respectively for the Lions.
The Dons will look to snap its streak Saturday when they continue their homestand hosting Pepperdine. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. at War Memorial Gym.
