Men’s Basketball
On November 24, while most students were thinking about turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, the men’s basketball team was on the road to play the Bobcats of Montana State. The Bobcats are 4-1 this season after recent routs of Cal Poly (73-57) and Minot State (92-67). USF entered the match with confidence after an exciting 83-81 win in overtime against the Colorado Buffalos. Junior forward Angelo Caloiaro played a huge part in the victory scoring a career high 26 points and was named West Coast Conference Player of the Week. Even with the momentum the Dons failed to turn out a result against the Bobcats falling 76-59 in the Midwest. Montana State took control of the game early, leading 17-8 after six minutes, and USF never would respond with a lead.
USF shot terribly from beyond the arc making only two 3-pointers throughout the contest. Overall, both teams shot at about 40% but the Bobcats were able to convert from outside the arc, which tipped the balance in their favor. Michael Williams and Perris Blackwell lead the scoring for USF putting up 17 points each. Blackwell also hit the boards aggressively, tallying 7 rebounds for the Green and Gold.
The Dons’ next match was Saturday the 27th at home versus the Loyola Chicago Ramblers. The Ramblers started off the 2010-2011 season very strong posting an undefeated 6-0 record but have only played marginal teams like Western Michigan and Alabama State. The Dons looked to stretch their home-unbeaten streak to 7 games but couldn’t close out an early lead for the win.
San Francisco lead the Ramblers until 4 minutes left in the game when Loyola’s Ben Averkamp sunk two free throws making the score 55-54 Dons. The game continued to go back and forth as each team exchanged the lead 4 times. With 10 seconds left and the Dons up 62-61, a fight for a loose ball led to a controversial foul against USF sending Ramblers’ Terrence Hill to the free throw line. Hill would go on to sink both shots shifting the lead 63-62 Loyola. USF took the ball down the court and with 4 seconds to go Cody Doolin threw up a shot but couldn’t find the basket. Rashad Green crashed the backboard for the rebound but missed the put back.
USF will face Holy Names on Wednesday, December 1 at War Memorial Gym. Tip off is set for 7 p.m..
Women’s Basketball
The Lady Dons spent Thanksgiving week playing in the 2010 Holiday Inn Express-Midtown Thanksgiving Tournament at University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. First, the Dons tipped off against the Lobos of UNM on Friday, November 26. USF couldn’t find their rhythm and trailed the entire match while UNM came out firing and controlled the game 40-15 at half. New Mexico’s Jasmine Patterson led the team on offense with 11 points and Jourdan Erskine led the defense with 7 boards.
Turnovers continue to be the Lady Dons biggest weakness as they gave up 23 to the Lobos that resulted in 29 points. Offensively San Francisco struggled to complete passes recording only 7 assists for the night. No USF player had more than one assist.
After an opening loss to New Mexico the Lady Dons went on to play a consolation game against the University of Rhode Island, Saturday November 27. The URI Rams are 3-3 this season and gave USF a run for their money. The game was a nail-biter with momentum going back and forth resulting in a half time tie at 32 points apiece. Down by 2 with seconds to go in the first half Lady Dons Kelly Jo Mullaney received the inbound pass and went from coast to coast making the fast break lay-up to give San Francisco the momentum going into halftime.
To open play in the second half strong three point shooting gave the Lobos the lead until USF’s Mel Khlok hit basket to put the Lady Dons up 50-48. The next ten minutes of the game were all about USF, as Khlok would continue to score 8 more points putting the Lobos away for the rest of the game. Katy Keating led the scoring for the Lady Dons with 19 points 4 rebounds and 2 assists. San Francisco also improved their passing drastically, guard Rheina Ale recorded 7 assists leading the teams 18 overall. At the buzzer the Lady Dons led the Lobos 87-76.
The Lady Dons will continue play on Wednesday, December 3 against Sacramento State in Sacramento at 7 p.m.
Editor-in-Chief: Heather Spellacy
Chief Copy-Editor: Burke McSwain
Sports Editor: Matt Steinbach
