Feb. 20, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - The University of San Francisco women's basketball team ended a 17-game losing streak, knocking-off visiting Santa Clara 58-52 Saturday night at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco.
Santa Clara (3-24; 1-11 WCC) had led by nine in the opening moments of the second half. Lena Gipson made eight field goals and scored 21 points to go along with 15 rebounds.
USF (5-24; 1-11 WCC) used a 19-4 push in the second half to lead for the final 11 minutes. Rheina Ale led all Dons in scoring with 17 points and Katy Keating made a pair of 3s.
The Dons avenged a 54-47 loss to the Broncos at SCU's Leavey Center on January 23rd. If the two teams end the regular season tied in the WCC standings, conference tournament seeding will be decided by RPI. Both schools will host No. 21 Gonzaga and Portland next weekend.
The Broncos established leads of six on a number of occasions in the first half. All nine of Maggie Godlenberger's rebounds came before the intermission and Gipson had 10 first-half points.
Ashley Armstrong's offensive rebound and baseline layup as the halftime horn sounded put the Broncos up 29-23 at the break.
What had grown to a nine-point Santa Clara lead was cut to one, 34-33, on a Rheina Ale three-pointer with 13:52 to play. Moments later, Ale sank another 3 from the top of the key to tie the game, 38-38.
USF was an efficient 6 of 9 from 3-point range as a team. Ale's shooting - coupled with a four-minute SCU scoreless stretch - saw the Dons surge ahead 50-40 with eight minutes remaining.
The play of Alyssa Shoji and Gipson kept SCU close. The pair combined to score 15-straight Bronco points in the second half before Armstrong added another driving layup to make it 52-48 USF with 3:38 on the clock.
Clinging to a four-point lead, Brittany Brumfield rolled-in a scoop shot in the paint, putting the Dons up by six with under two minutes to play - securing USF's first victory since December 10.
