Feb. 14, 2003

Final Stats

(San Francisco) - USF junior forward Carey Sauer became the 15th Lady Don to surpass 1,000 career points, but a determined effort by Portland denied any postgame celebration as the Pilots held on for a 64-62 victory Friday at War Memorial Gym. San Francisco (8-15, 3-6 WCC) loses their eighth straight home game and fall to 2-9 in the once friendly confines, while the Pilots (10-13, 4-6 WCC) sweep the season series against the Lady Dons for the first time since the 1998-99 season and collect their third road victory of the season.

USF looked to be in control early leading by 11, 15-4 after a lay-up by Sauer at the 12:59 mark. Portland was unimpressed. The Pilots went on a 14-2 run to seize a 19-17 advantage with 6:38 left and once they took a 21-20 lead at 5:26 in the first half would never trail again, leading by as many as 10, 34-24 before settling for a 34-26 cushion at the intermission. After trailing 15-4, Portland outscored the Lady Dons 30-9.

Once the second half started, Portland extended their lead to 15, 41-26 with 17:44 in the game, but USF battled back to make things interesting at the end. A bucket and a pair of free throws by freshman guard Jenni Jones cut the Pilots lead to two 57-55 with 3:14 left. Three straight free throws by Khalila O'Rielly-Williams pushed the lead to five, 60-55 with 2:24 remaining. A lay-up off a steal by sophomore guard Toni Russell brought USF to within one, 60-59 with 0:44 remaining, but USF was out of timeouts and forced to foul.

Sauer finished with 13 points and seven rebounds and now has 1, 008 in her career, good for 14th place in the USF career scoring list. Freshman guard Joy Hollingsworth hit a team-high 15 points. Russell and junior center Mary Jane Krueger each added 11 points, while Krueger turned in her second straight double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds.

O'Rielly-Williams finished with a game-high 25 points on 7-of-14 from the floor, while freshman guard Michaela Dalgleish scored 14 points for the Pilots.

USF hosts Gonzaga Saturday at War Memorial Gym in WCC action as they continue to search for their first home victory since Nov. 29. Game time against the Zags is scheduled for 7:00 PM.