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Dons Fight Hard, Drop Decision To Saint Mary's
Feb. 6, 2010
(San Francisco) - San Francisco women's basketball dropped a 56-46 decision Saturday afternoon to Saint Mary's in West Coast Conference action at War Memorial Gym on the Hilltop. The Dons held their own against the second place Gaels, before giving way midway through the second half.
USF dropped to 4-22 overall, 0-9 in WCC play, with the loss, while SMC improved to 17-7, 8-1 against league foes.
The two teams played tight in the first half, with neither side holding no more than a five point lead in the half. The Gaels went up early, 13-8 at 14:23, but the Dons rallied back. Thanks to a jumper by Tawny Drexler and a three-pointer from Rheina Ale, San Francisco knotted the score before taking a 16-13 lead on a three by Mel Khlok. USF held onto the advantage, not relinquishing the lead again until 3:09 when Saint Mary's took a 27-25 lead. The Gaels held onto their edge for the remainder of the half, taking a 32-30 lead into halftime.
San Francisco hung in there in the second frame, even holding onto the lead for some time early on. Down by one at 17:48, the Dons converted on two consecutive plays, including a three-point play by Katy Keating, to take a 38-34 lead. Saint Mary's responded by going on a 11-2 run over the next eight minutes. The Dons weren't able to recover from the run, but came within two thanks to a pair of charity baskets by Bailey Barbour. USF never crawled out of the two point deficit as Saint Mary's held the Dons to just three points over the final five and a half minutes.
Ale paced the squad with 10 points, marking the 11th consecutive double-digit scoring effort for the sophomore. The guard also added six rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal.
The remainder of the USF scoring efforts was well spread out, with all but one member of the roster scoring. Keating led the pack with seven points off the bench, while Khlok added six. Whitney Daniels guided the defense with seven rebounds, marking a career high.
Junior Louella Tomlinson led Saint Mary's thanks to 18 points, 24 rebounds, five assists and seven blocks. The 24 rebounds tied a West Coast Conference record set in 1990 by Chris Enger of San Diego.
San Francisco will take to the court again Thursday as they travel to Southern California to face Pepperdine at 7 p.m. Saturday the Dons will play their final road game of the 2009-2010 campaign with at 2 p.m. tip at Loyola Marymount.
