By John Crumpacker
WCC Columnist

Not many people outside the 415 area code thought much of San Francisco’s chances of advancing past the first day of the West Coast Conference women’s basketball tournament. Lo and behold, the No. 9 Dons did just that in a 76-69 victory over No. 8 Portland on Thursday at the Orleans Arena.

Coach Molly Goodenbour’s team, just 2-16 in conference play, will live to fight another day, that day being Friday when the Dons take on No. 5 Loyola Marymount at noon. USF lost twice to LMU in the regular season, 66-58 at Gersten Pavilion and 73-66 at Memorial Gym.

“I told the team I’m really happy for them, really proud of them,’’ Goodenbour said. “This is a great accomplishment for our young team. I told them to have a good attitude, hustle, communicate and play good defense. We were able to be in the game and be competitive.’’

In the other second-round game of the women’s tourney, No. 7 Santa Clara plays No. 6 Pacific at 2 p.m. The Broncos avoided an upset by No. 10 San Diego and tamed the Toreros 63-59 to advance. Santa Clara split with Pacific, losing at home (74-70) and winning in Stockton (88-83).

“I told the team we’ve got about an hour to enjoy this and then we start prepping,’’ Santa Clara coach Bill Carr said. “It’s going to be a different game. We’re going to have to get some rest to take care of business.’’

Guard Tia Hay certainly took care of business for the Broncos as she had a game-high 25 points to go with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Her play was pivotal for SCU in the fourth period as the Broncos overcame a 10-point deficit.

“We came out more aggressive in the second half,’’ Hay said. “We pushed the ball. When we push the ball, we tend to score. We all have our roles to do. All of us contributed.’’

Said Carr, “Tia’s carried the load most of the year. Tonight, was no different. We had a number of people step up.’’

As the women’s tourney heads into Day 2, here’s What We Learned about Day 1:

1. USF, 2-16 in conference play this season, should be markedly improved in 2019-20 if for no other reason than its eight freshmen will be sophomores. Three yearlings contributed greatly to USF’s win over Portland as point guard Marianna Klavina scored 22 points in Shannon Powell’s absence (see 5 Questions feature also on WCCsports.com), Lucija Kostic had 18 and Abby Rathbun 17.
2. Likewise, San Diego (2-16) should see better days next season. Six of coach Cindy Fisher’s players were lost to season-ending injuries in what was essentially a lost season. Against Santa Clara, Fisher relied on seven players and came within a missed shot and a turnover in the final seconds of scoring an upset. “Six players back from season-ending injuries is the silver lining,’’ Fisher said. “These guys (her healthy players) gained so much experience. We’re going to be a very good basketball team.’’
3. Come tournament time, it helps to have a higher seed. Playing on Thursday puts USF and Santa Clara at a disadvantage as they quickly prepare for the second round. No. 5 LMU and No. 6 Pacific come in rested, as will No. 3 Pepperdine and No. 4 Saint Mary’s, who received byes into the quarterfinals on Saturday. No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 BYU don’t open play until the semifinals on Monday. The format of the tournament is not conducive to upsets, but that won’t prevent USF and Santa Clara from giving it a go on Friday.