PORTLAND, Ore. --- Junior Holly Blades scored 15 points and Portland was within six at the break, but the San Francisco Dons pulled away in the second half to claim an 82-63 win over the short-handed Pilots in a West Coast Conference women's basketball game played on Saturday afternoon at the Chiles Center. Blades just missed a career-high in points, and freshmen Ellie Woerner and Darian Slaga chipped in with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Most of Blades' damage came during the first half after the Pilots (2-13, 0-4 WCC) fell behind early. Blades started knocking down three's, and her shot from deep about five minutes into the second quarter pulled Portland within two. Blades then converted a pair from the free throw line, and just like that the game was tied.
 
Ashley Gray followed with a nice move down low, which capped an 11-0 Portland run and gave the Pilots their first lead of the game.
 
San Francisco (10-5, 1-3 WCC) recovered, tying the game briefly, but Blades again drilled a three-pointer to hand the lead back to the Pilots. Taylor Proctor then answered with a three and the Dons ended the period on a mini 10-4 run to take a 44-38 advantage into the locker room.
 
The Pilots cooled off somewhat in the third quarter, while the Dons continued to shoot close to 60 percent. Portland remained within reach for much of the third, including when Slaga buried a corner three-pointer to make it a seven-point game with seven minutes left in the stanza. From there the Dons pushed the lead to 17 points and USF held Portland to just nine points in the final frame to seal the win.
 
Blades shot four of seven overall, hit three three-pointers and helped the Pilots claim a 30-21 edge in bench points. Woerner reaches double digits in scoring for the 12th time this season, while junior Kaylie Van Loo dished a game-high six assists.
 
San Francisco senior guard Zhane Dikes led four Dons in double figures with 19 points and 10 rebounds. The Dons finished at 51.7 percent shooting on the day, connected for six three-pointers and went 14-for-18 at the line.
 
The Pilots shot 38.9 percent, combined for nine three's and shot 12 of 19 on free throws. Turnovers weren't much of a factor, but the Dons did out-rebound the Pilots 43-23.
 
Next up for the Pilots is a visit from northwest rival Gonzaga next Saturday. Tip-off at the Chiles Center for the Pilots and Bulldogs is set for 2 p.m.