SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. --- The Portland Pilots overcame an early double-digit deficit to pull within six of San Francisco in the second half, but the Dons responded and would go on to claim a 90-69 win in a West Coast Conference women's basketball game played on Thursday night at War Memorial Gym. Portland's Ellie Woerner led three Pilots to score in double figures with 19 points, which matches a career-high.
 
San Francisco (13-8, 4-6 WCC) jumped out to a quick start and soon led 29-9. But the Pilots had an answer in the form of a 21-10 run to climb back into the game. Woerner had eight points during the outburst and Holly Blades buried a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it a nine-point game just before the break.
 
USF's Rachel Howard did connect on a jumper just before the buzzer to allow the Dons to take a 41-30 lead into the locker room at half.
 
Portland (2-19, 0-10 WCC) continued its outburst into the third quarter, and a jumper and another three-pointer from Woerner soon had the deficit down to six points with 6:43 left in the frame. From there the Dons tried to pull away, but the Pilots hung around with the help of a three-pointer from Julie Spencer to trim the USF lead to 10 points.
 
But the Dons recovered before cruising to the 21-point win.
 
Woerner hit five three-pointers, Blades connected on four and the Pilots combined for nine three's on the game. Woerner, a freshman, leads the team in scoring for the 15th time this season and she reaches double digits in points for the 17th time.
 
Blades added 14 points, Ashley Gray chipped in with 12 and both Blades and Woerner finished with a team-high six rebounds.
 
The Dons were hot from the floor all night long, shooting 49 percent overall, while going 12 of 22 from beyond the three-point arc and 22-for-24 on free throws. Zhane Dikes paced the Dons with 15 points and she was one of six San Francisco players to score in double figures.
 
The Pilots next make the short trek south to Santa Clara to face the Broncos on Saturday, with tip-off set for 2 p.m.