SPOKANE, Jan. 11 - Powered by a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds from senior center Kim Whisler, USF cruised past Gonzaga 72-52 Friday in the Martin Centre in the West Coast Conference women's basketball opener for both teams. The Lady Dons (8-6, 1-0 WCC) stifled the Bulldogs (5-9, 0-1 WCC) on the boards, outrebounding Gonzaga 43-38 and forced 19 turnovers.

With the victory, USF wins a conference opener for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign. The Lady Dons started sluggish, but picked up momentum once Gonzaga junior forward Jessica Malone picked up her third personal foul with 9:06 remaining in the first period. Whisler poured in 11 points in the first frame as the Lady Dons built a 39-27 lead at the half. San Francisco extended their lead in the second and the Bulldogs could never trim the lead to single-digits as USF built their biggest advantage at the 4:17 mark when they led by 21, 65-44.

Joining Whisler in double-digit scoring were freshman forward Mary Jane Krueger who came off the bench for 12 points and eight rebounds. Krueger, who entered the game shooting just .383 from the free throw line connected on 8-for-10 from the stripe for the night. Sophomore guard Alicia Hernandez added 14 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Lady Dons while junior forward Molly Shanley and junior guard Lindsey Huff each added nine points for USF.

Malone suffered an ankle sprain early in the second half and finished with 11 points, while Trianna Allen scored a team-high 13 points for the Bulldogs.

USF continues its WCC Pacific Northwest swing on Saturday when they travel to the Rose City for a contest against Portland. Game time is 7:00 PM at the Chiles Center.