San Francisco freshman forward Carey Sauer poured in a career-best 28 points to pace the Lady Dons to a 61-51 victory over Portland for their first win in the Rose City since 1991.

The Lady Dons improved to 11-15 overall and 4-9 in league play while the Pilots fell to 10-18 overall and 3-10 in the WCC. USF also got 9 points from Jennifer madkins and 6 each from Sarah Wanless and Melanie Turner. Turner also added nine rebounds.

Portland had three players in double figures led by sophomore forward Tami Standishs 17-point, seven-rebound effort. Junior Sharon Rissmiller notched 12 points and seven rebounds while sophomore Heather Reeder had 11 points and four rebounds. Playing with just eight healthy players, the Pilots fell behind by as many as 12 points on two different occasions in the first half. However, Standish kept Portland in the game, scoring 11 of her 17 points in the first period as the Pilots trailed by only five points at the half.

In the second half, Portland never trailed by more than five points on several different occasions, but just could not get over the hump. USF proved to be too tough, pulling ahead by as many as 10 points with 4:16 remaining in the game to clinch the victory.

The Pilots closed to within five points with just over a minute to play, but the Dons made 8-of-9 from the free throw line down the stretch to keep Portland from coming any closer. Sauers 28 points came on 8-of-15 shooting, including 12-of-12 from the free throw line. She also had seven rebounds on the night.

USF outrebounded Portland, 47-36, and outshot the Pilots, 35.3% to 30.6%.