Jan. 23, 2010

Box Score

(Santa Clara) - Rheina Ale recorded her seventh straight contest with 10-plus points as the USF women's basketball team dropped a 54-47 decision Saturday to West Coast Conference rival Santa Clara at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif. Ale led San Francisco with 11 points, six rebounds.

The loss marks the 11th straight for the Dons, who fall to 4-18 overall, 0-5 in conference play. The win for Broncos snapped a 10 game skid for Santa Clara, which improves to 3-17, 1-4 in league action. For both teams, their previous victories came against Pacific.

San Francisco and Santa Clara played fairly close in the first half, but it was a late half surge by Maggie Goldenberger to put the Broncos on top. With Santa Clara up by two, 15-13, Goldenberger rattled off eight straight points over the next three and half minutes. The run would put USF in a hole it was unable to climb out of, as the Broncos took a 26-21 lead into the locker room at half. Ale led the Dons in the half with six points, four rebounds.

Ale opened the second half with a three at 19:21, backed by two baskets from the charity stripe to bring to tie the score 26-26 at 18:30. Santa Clara responded with a 9-2 run to go up by seven at 15:18. The Broncos ran with the lead, extending it to as many as 12 points.

Ale's 11 points marked the 15th double-digit scoring effort of the season for the sophomore. The Carson native has scored 10 or more points in 13 of the past 15 games. Ale added three assists and a steal in addition to her six boards.

Donnisha Taylor added nine points for the Dons off the bench as the USF reserves outscored the SCU bench 21-7.

Sophomore Vania Singleterry posted eight points with a team-high eight rebounds, marking the first game in six tries guard hasn't posted double-digits.

Santa Clara was paced by Meagan Fulps with 18 points. Alyssa Shoji and Goldenberger added 11 and 10, respectively.

San Francisco will face a tough task this week, traveling to the Pacific Northwest to face Portland and Gonzaga. The Dons will tip with the Pilots at 7 p.m. Thursday before facing the Zags Saturday at 2. Gonzaga is currently receiving votes in both national polls.