ON TAP: San Francisco will play one game this week, as the Dons travel south to rival Santa Clara. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Leavey Center.
LAST TIME ON THE FLOOR: The Dons opened the home slate of the 2010 WCC season last weekend, hosting LMU and Pepperdine. Against the Lions, the Dons were unable to hold onto a halftime lead, dropping a 63-55 decision. Saturday, hosting the Waves, USF’s Vania Singleterry posted her first double-double of the season thanks to 10 points, 10 rebounds, as the Dons fell 67-43. NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE: San Francisco will face a tough challenge next weekend, traveling to the Pacific Northwest to play Portland and preseason favorite Gonzaga. Thursday, the Dons and Pilots will tip at 7 p.m. before USF faces the Zags on the 30th at 2 p.m. DONS LOOKING TO STOP SKID: Saturday, the Dons will be looking to break a 10-game losing streak when it faces Santa Clara. The 10 game skid set a school record for consecutive losses. The previous record of eight games was accomplished twice - once during the 1998-99 season and the other in 1988-89. DONS, BRONCOS JOIN TO AID HAITI RELIEF EFFORTS: In response to the devastating earthquake last week in Haiti, the Dons and Broncos have teamed up this weekend to raise money to help fund relief efforts on the island. The two teams are asking fans to make a donation on behalf of the two teams to aid efforts. San Francisco women’s basketball will make a donation to the efforts. More information can be found by visiting, http://www.santaclarabroncos.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/012010aaa.html. USF RECORDS SEASON FIRST: Four starters for USF scored in double-digits against Sacramento State, marking the first time this season the feat has been accomplished. Last season, four starters scored 10-plus points on five occasions, including during the Dons’ 64-55 victory over Sacramento State in Sacramento. During the tilt, former Don Shay Rollins led USF with 22 points. FOUR DONS POST CAREER-HIGHS AGAINST HORNETS:Rheina Ale, Brittany Brumfield, Heidi Anton and Nnenna Okereke each posted career highs as the Dons fell to Sacramento State last week. Ale earned nine rebounds, bettering her previous personal-best by one rebound. Ale had recorded eight rebounds against Loyola Maryland. Brumfield recorded a dozen points, to improver her previous career-high of nine points set in the Dons’ last outing, Loyola Maryland. Okereke posted two career highs thanks to eight points and an assist. Anton rounds out USF players with career nights, pulling down two boards. SAN FRANCISCO PARTICIPATES IN THE 2009-10 JESUIT BASKETBALL SPOTLIGHT: USF is proud of its rich Jesuit heritage and the Dons will compete in no fewer than eight games against fellow Jesuit schools during the 2009-10 season. San Francisco squares off against Santa Clara, Saturday, at the Leavey Center in a Jesuit school series dating back to the 1985. San Francisco is taking part in the Jesuit Spotlight Project for the second consecutive season, using Jesuit basketball to raise awareness of the outstanding education available at the nation’s 28 Jesuit colleges and universities. For more information, log on to www.ajcunet.edu/jesuitbasketball. 3,255 SETS DECADE-HIGH ATTENDANCE MARK: December 22, when the Dons hosted nationally-ranked Tennessee, 3,255 fans packed into War Memorial Gym. The attendance marked the highest total this decade for a women’s basketball game. The only other time since 1999 that USF cracked the 3,000 mark for a women’s game when 3,212 watched the Dons fall 75-64 to regional foe Stanford (11/19/99) in the season opener. On the flip side, the crowd marked the smallest attendance for a Tennessee game, either home or away, since January 31, 2008, when the Lady Vols played at Ole Miss in front of 3,120 fans. TAYLOR GRABS THREE-YEAR HIGH FOR REBOUNDS: Donnisha Taylor posted 17 rebounds against Cal Poly, marking a career-high, while also posting the most rebounds for a Don since the 2006-07 season. Former Don Nikki Warren pulled down 21 boards against Colorado State in a 62-51 victory, November 17, 2006. The San Francisco record for rebounds in a single game is held by Linda Walsh, who grabbed 25 rebounds against Cal Poly, December 15, 1981. ALE ERUPTS IN THE SECOND HALF, FALLS SHORT OF RECORD:Rheina Ale erupted in the second half of the contest at Pacific, scoring 24 points in the final 20 minutes. Ale posted just one point in the first half, after only playing three minutes due to two early fouls. The 24 second half points is one point shy of the school record for points in the second half, set by Dominique Carter in 2008. Ale was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including five 3-pointers, to mark the second time in her career the native of Carson has been perfect from the field in her career.
DONS’ VIKING VOYAGE: San Francisco took its game overseas in May, embarking on an 11-day, five game tour of Scandinavia. During the trip, the Dons visited Stockholm, Sweden, Oslo, Norway and Copenhagen, Denmark, facing off against some of the top’s women’s basketball programs in the region. USF finished the trip with a 3-2 record, including a victory against the top team in Norway and two victories against the Danish National Team.
USF BASKETBALL RETURNS TO KUSF: USF women’s basketball returns to the airwaves and cyberspace for the 2008-09 season with a bulk of the games available on KUSF 90.3 in San Francisco and all games available on USFDons.com. Join George Devine for the play-by-play in his 14th year behind the mic for the Dons. Other features on USFDons.com include GameTracker, courtesy of CSTV.com with live play-by-play and streaming video of all home games courtesy of Yahoo Broadcast. Devine also serves at the host of the WCC “The Road To Las Vegas” weekly webcast, which features highlights, player interviews and previews of WCC match-ups.
SCOUTING SANTA CLARA: The Broncos enter the weekend looking to snap a 10-game losing streak and improve on their 2-17 overall record, 0-4 against WCC foes. Santa Clara is paced by Alyssa Shjoi, who averas 13.6 poinrs and 2.9 rebounds per game. Lena Gipson averages, nearly a double-double with 12.4 points and 9.9 boards. SCU is coached by Jen Mountain, who is in her second season with the Broncos.
SERIES RECORD/STREAK: Santa Clara leads the all-time series record 38-32, including a 17-15 advantage when playing in Santa Clara. Since 2007, USF has won everyother game against SCU, with it due for a victory Saturday.
LAST MEETING: USF women’s basketball team dropped a close 51-46 decision to Santa Clara Saturday at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara. San Francisco tied the game 26-26 right out of the gate in the second half as Rheina Ale hit two from the free throw line, but Santa Clara never backed down as the lead went back and forth the entire half. Neither team held a lead of greater than three in the half, until Santa Clara went up by four with 42 seconds remaining.
