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Dons To Host Senior Day Saturday
Feb. 24, 2010
ON TAP: San Francisco will close out the regular season this weekend, hosting two final home contests. Thursday, the Dons will welcome Portland to the Hilltop for a 7 p.m. tip. Saturday will mark Senior Day as USF honors Nnenna Okereke prior to the 2 p.m. tip against the nationally-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs.
LAST TIME ON THE FLOOR: San Francisco broke a 17 game losing streak, thanks to a 58-52 defeat of Santa Clara at War Memorial Gym. Rheina Ale led the Dons in the victory with 17 points, while Vania Singleterry added nine.
NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE: The Dons will travel to Las Vegas for the 2010 West Coast Conference Championship at the Orleans Arena. Though seeding has not been completely established, USF will be either the seven or eight seed and play Friday, March 5.
USF GIVES THANKS TO OKEREKE: Saturday will mark the annual Senior Day on the Hilltop. This season USF will recognize Nnenna Okereke prior to the Gonzaga game, as the senior departs the program as a two-year letter winner. Okereke joined the Dons from Porterville College last season and has seen action in 54 games, including making 22 starts. The native of Berkeley earned a career-high 14 rebounds as a junior against Iona. This season, she has posted two outings with 10-or more rebounds – pulling down 10 boards against Sacramento State and 13 rebounds with a career-high eight points at Portland. The co-captain of this year’s squad is expected to graduate from San Francisco with a degree in Psychology.
DONS HALT SKID: Saturday, the Dons finally broke a school-record 17-game losing streak as they took down Santa Clara 58-52 at War Memorial Gym¬. The previous record of eight games was accomplished twice - once during the 1998-99 season and the other in 1988-89.
SINGLETERRY TAKES CONTROL OVER LIONS: For the first time in 12 games, Rheina Ale was not the Dons’ leading scorer when USF faced LMU February 13¬. Instead, the honor went to sophomore Vania Singleterry with 16 points at Loyola Marymount. The 16 points tied a season-high for Singleterry, who also tallied 16 against the Lions at home in January. The guard from Murrietta seems to enjoy playing against the Lions, as her career-high of 18 points came at the hands of LMU last season.
FRESHMAN GAIN VALUABLE EXPERIENCE: This season, USF’s roster features four freshmen, 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 12.2 minutes a game. Mel Khlok, a guard from Sacramento, has earned four starts this season, averaging 4.1 points and 2.9 boards a game. Forward Bailey Barbour has been a force down low for the Dons, earning two starts, averaging 2.2 rebounds in conference play. Whitney Daniels, a forward from Southern California, has started the past seven games, averaging 3.4 boards against WCC foes. Ashley Boggs, a guard from Petaluma, averages 2.2 points, 1.9 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 in their last meeting 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.
WCC 25th Anniversary Team: To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the West Coast Conference sponsoring women’s athletics, the WCC announced a 25th Anniversary Team. The team is comprised of the top 50 former female student-athletes to have ever competed in the conference. Nine former USF standouts are included on the list. Valerie Gillon and Brittany Lindhe, both former basketball players, were named to the First Team, while Brittanie Budinger (VB), Dominique Carter (WBB), Melanie Kaiser (VB), Susie Laing (Golf), Jessica Potter (Golf), Toni Russell (WBB) and Jamie Shadian (WBB) were awarded honorable mention accolades. Lindhe will be on hand next week at the WCC Championships in Las Vegas as the conference honors the 50 women selected to the team.
ALE CONTINUES TO PUT UP DOUBLE DIGITS: Sophomore guard Rheina Ale has posted double-digits in the past 14 games and in 19 of the past 21. 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.
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. Devine will also serve as the voice of WCC basketball for seven games during the conference tournament in Vegas. He will also emcee the WCC 25th Anniversary of Women’s Sports dinner, Saturday, March 6 at the Orleans.
SCOUTING PORTLAND: Portland travels to the Bay Area with a 16-11 overall record and a 5-7 mark in conference play. The Pilots are paced by Laiken Dollente, who averages 16.1 points, 3.9 reboudns per outing. Alexis Gannis holds down the defense, averaging 8.2 rebounds per game. Portland is coached by Jim Sollars, who is in his 24th year with the Pilots.
SERIES RECORD/STREAK: Portland holds a slight 25-23 all-time advantage over the Dons. Portland has won the
past four meetings between the two schools.
LAST MEETING: San Francisco women’s basketball fought hard but fell in the final minute, 53-50, to Portland at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore. After having a 27-26 lead at halftime, the Dons led for a majority of the second half but were unable to hold onto their edge in the final minutes to remain winless in West Coast Conference action.
2009-10 Series:
• Jan. 28, 2010 - @POR 53, USF 50
2008-09 Series:
• Jan. 15, 2009 - POR 68, @USF 50
• Feb. 12, 2009 - @POR 79, USF 41
SERIES NOTES:
• USF last defeated Portland during the 2008 season at War Memorial Gym 65-51.
SCOUTING GONZAGA: Gonzaga enters the weekend ranked as high as 19th in the national polls, boasting a 23-4 overall, 12-0 WCC record. The Bulldogs are led by national-award candidates Heather Bowman and Courtney Vandersloot. Bowman averages 15.3 points per game, while Vandersloot leads the nation with 250 assists, averaging 9.3 per game. GU is coached by Kelly Graves, who is in his 10th season with the Zags.
SERIES RECORD/STREAK: The Dons hold a 25-22 all-time advantage in the series with the Zags. Gonzaga was won the past eight consecutive meetings.
LAST MEETING: USF women’s basketball held their own, until midway through the second half, against league-leading Gonzaga but it wasn’t enough as the Dons fell 93-53 at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane. Three Dons scored in double-digits for USF, including a career-high 11 by Heidi Anton.
2009-10 Series:
• Jan. 30, 2010 - @GON 93, USF 53
2008-09 Series:
• Jan. 17, 2009 - GON 63, @USF 42
• Feb. 14, 2009 - @GON 71, USF 35
SERIES NOTES:
• San Francisco holds a 14-8 record against the Zags when playing on the Hilltop.
• The last time the Dons defeated Gonzaga at War Memorial Gym was Feb. 15, 2003, also marking the last time that USF defeated GU in a regular season contest.
• The Don’s last victory over the Zags came at the 2006 WCC Tournament in Spokane, when USF earned a 75-67 victory over second-seeded Gonzaga.
