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Dons Depart For Final Road Trip Of 2010
Feb. 10, 2010
ON TAP: The Dons take their final regular season road trip of the season this weekend, heading to Los Angeles to play Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. Thursday, USF will face the Waves in Malibu at 7 p.m. before taking on the Lions Saturday at 2 p.m.
LAST TIME ON THE FLOOR: USF continued its skid, dropping a pair of games to San Diego and Saint Mary's. Rheina Ale led the Dons in both games, extending her 10-plus point scoring streak, while Whitney Daniels pulled down seven rebounds in both contests.
NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE: The Dons will return to War Memorial Gym next weekend to host rival Santa Clara Saturday, February 20 at 7 p.m.
USF CREATES A PINK ZONE: The USF women's basketball team will hosted its annual "Pink Zone" game, Saturday against the Gaels. Fans were encouraged to join the Dons and Gaels in the unified effort to raise breast cancer awareness by wearing pink to the game. As part of the event, USF and SMC sported pink shooting shirts during warm-ups. The USF coaching and support staff recognized the event by wearing pink, while the officials will use bright pink whistles. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association began the WBCA "Pink Zone", formerly known as "Think Pink", in 2007 as an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in women's basketball, on campuses and in the community. In 2007, over 120 schools unified for the effort, helping to make the inaugural year a success.
DONS LOOKING TO STOP SKID: This week, the Dons will be looking to break a 15-game losing streak when they head to Los Angeles. The 15 game skid is 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.
OKEREKE POST CAREER NIGHT IN PORTLAND: Senior guard/forward Nnenna Okereke posted a career night in Portland, setting (or tying) personal records in three categories. Okereke tied a personal best with eight points, a feat she also accomplished against Sacramento State (1/5/10). Thursday, the native of Berkeley also tied a personal best with one assists, while setting a career-high with a pair of steals.
FRESHMAN GAIN VALUABLE EXPERIENCE: This season, USF's roster features four freshman, who are earning valuable playing time in their first season on the Hilltop. Three of the four have earned the starting nod at some point this season, while as a group, they average 12.1 minutes a game. Mel Khlok, a guard from Sacramento, has earned four starts this season, averaging 4.3 points and 2.9 boards a game. Forward Bailey Barbour has been a force down low for the Dons, earning two starts, averaging 2.6 rebounds in conference play. Whitney Daniels, a forward from Southern California, has started the past four games, averaging 3.3 boards against WCC foes. Ashley Boggs, a guard from Petaluma, averages 2.3 points, 2.0 rebounds a game as a reserve for the Dons.
DONS, BRONCOS JOIN TO AID HAITI RELIEF EFFORTS: In response to the devastating earthquake last month in Haiti, the Dons and Broncos teamed up two weeks ago to help raise money to fund relief efforts in Haiti. Both teams agreed to initiate a fund-raising drive prior to the local rivalry game Saturday, January 23 at Santa Clara's Leavey Center. Donations were accepted at the main entrances and additional checks were mailed directly to the SCU women's basketball office. In total, the Dons and Broncos collected over $4,200. In conjunction with $2,500 raised by the USF men's basketball team, the Dons basketball programs have raised $6,700 towards Haiti relief.
ALE CONTINUES TO PUT UP DOUBLE DIGITS: Sophomore guard Rheina Ale has posted double-digits in the past 11 games and in 17 of the past 19. The run includes three games with 20-plus points, including a career-high 25 points, 24 in the second half at Pacific. As a freshman, Ale posted 17 games with 10-plus points, including the final four games of the 2009 campaign.
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 rounded out USF players with career nights, pulling down two boards.
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.
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 PEPPERDINE: Pepperdine heads into Thursday's game with a 14-8 overall record, 5-3 in West Coast Conference play. Pepperdine is paced by Miranda Ayim, who averages 15.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.6 blocks per game. The Waves are coached by Julie Rousseau, who in four years in Malibu, boasts a 66-82 career record.
SERIES RECORD/STREAK: Pepperdine leads the all-times series with USF 27-26. The Waves have won the past four meetings, with the Dons taking the three prior to that.
LAST MEETING: Vania Singleterry recorded her first double-double of the season as the University of San Francisco women's basketball team dropped a 67-43 decision to visiting Pepperdine at War Memorial Gym. Singleterry was one of two Dons to score in double-digits in the contest, while posting a game-high 10 rebounds.
2010 MEETINGS:
• Jan. 16, 2010 - PEP 67, @USF 43
2008-09 Series:
• Jan. 29, 2009 - @PEP 73, USF 47
• Feb. 28, 2009 - PEP 55, @USF 47
SERIES NOTES:
• Pepperdine's win at War Memorial Gym was the first time since a seven game win streak between 1998 and 2000 that the Waves have taken more than three straight from the Dons.
SCOUTING LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: Loyola Marymount enters the weekend with a 9-13 overall record, 2-6 in leaguge play. LMU is paced by Alex Cowling, who averages 16.2 points, 6.3 rebounds per game. The Lions are coached by Julie Wilhoit, who is in her 14th year with Loyola Marymount.
SERIES RECORD/STREAK: USF leads the all-time series with the Lions 28-24, including two consecutive wins last season by the Dons.
LAST MEETING: San Francisco women's basketball was unable to hold onto a halftime lead, dropping a 63-55 decision to visiting Loyola Marymount at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco. Rheina Ale and Vania Singleterry continued their respective streaks of double-digit scoring efforts, leading the Dons offensively in the loss.
PRIOR TO THE DONS:
• LMU hosts Santa Clara Thursday evening.
2010 MEETINGS:
• Jan. 14, 2010 - LMU 63, @USF 55
2008-09 Series:
• Jan. 31, 2009 - USF 58, @LMU 56
• Feb. 26, 2009 - @USF 65, LMU 61
SERIES NOTES:
• The Dons have won two of the past three meetings.
• Prior to the pair of USF wins, Loyola Marymount won the past 10 meetings.
