The women’s basketball team dropped to an unimpressive 4-22 overall record with their most recent loss against the St.Mary’s Gaels. The loss was also the Dons’ ninth in the West Coast Conference and extended their losing streak to 15 straight. Although USF was unable to pull off the victory, St.Mary’s certainly had a hard time pulling off the 56-46 win.
Before tip-off both USF and St.Mary’s players wore pink warm up shirts in honor of USF’s annual “Pink Zone” game. The “Pink Zone” game’s main goal is to raise awareness for breast cancer. Coaches as well as fans sported pink clothing to support the cause.
Both teams got off to a good start, although neither team could take and hold the lead. USF was moving the ball well and getting everyone involved in the offense, as eight different players scored in the first half. The Dons were also able to play sound defense, as they didn’t allow the Gaels to a large lead early in the game. The largest lead of the half was only four points, with St.Mary’s leading 30-26 with 2 minutes left in the half. But USF did a nice job of hanging around with St.Mary’s, not allowing them to expand on that lead. The game went into the half with St.Mary’s leading 32-30. USF went into the half shooting only 37.5% from the field, as well as 28.6% from three-point land but they were able to hit 80% of their free-throws (4-5). St.Mary’s struggled to find their shot as well as they shot 38.5% from the field, 28.6% from three and a laughable 28.6% of their free throws as they missed ten freebies (4-14). The Dons bench gave them a spark as they outscored the Gaels bench 15-7. But what the Gaels lacked in depth the made up for in points in the paint where they outscored USF 16-10. Both teams were evenly matched throughout the first half and the win was up for grabs going into the second half.
The start of the second half was a lot like the first half, with neither team able to gain a hold of the lead. The Gaels scored first but USF answered with a three-pointer by freshman guard Mel Khlok. USF went on to score five straight points to give them a four-point lead and momentum. From that point on St.Mary’s didn’t hold back. St. Mary’s quickly went on an eight-point run and didn’t allow USF to gain back the lead for the rest of the game. The eight straight points marked the beginning of 11-2 run. From the moment where USF led by four until the end of the game, the team scored only eight points compared to the 22 by St.Mary’s. After playing well for a majority of the game, USF was unable to keep up their level of play. At least they can build on the fact that they competed with the second best team in the WCC.
USF continued to struggle scoring points, like it has all season, especially on their recent losing streak. During their losing streak they have scored at least 55 points in only four games. Hopefully they will be able to find the basket soon because you can’t win without scoring. USF will look to do just that against Pepperdine when they visit Malibu on February 11th.
