By Jeff Faraudo
#WCChoops columnist | ARCHIVES
 
Ioanna Krimili finally came alive in the fourth quarter Saturday, helping lift third-seeded USF to a 69-63 victory over Saint Mary’s and into the semifinals of the University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
 
But the Dons’ All-WCC guard had a rough time for much of the afternoon, hounded by the Gaels’ defense. 
 
That left it to sophomore Lucija Kostic to provide a spark. How’s this for a stat line: 13 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 steals, 3 blocked shots. Her rebounds and steals were career-high totals.
 
At 6-foot-2, Kostic plays something of a point forward role for the Dons (15-9). The offense runs through her as she directs traffic and leads the team in assists. 
 
But she entered the game averaging just 2.9 points, so her season-high scoring performance was just what the Dons needed. Coach Molly Goodenbour joked that Kostic would need to ice her arm after hoisting up six shots.
 
"And we needed every single one of those points,” Goodenbour said. “It’s wonderful to see. She is a good shooter. She’d just rather be a pass-first kind of player. Today we needed those baskets she made. She did a phenomenal job for us.”
 
Kostic, who shot 6 for 6, said she almost had no choice but to shoot because the Gaels (7-19) often left her wide open.
 
“We have a team full of great shooters, so if I was scouting the team I would leave me open, too,” she said. “They left me open and (the shots) went in, so that’s good.”
 
Krimili, the redshirt freshman from Greece, leads the WCC in scoring but had just five points through three quarters on 1-for-8 shooting. With 5:04 left and the Dons nursing a 50-49 lead, she curled around a screen, took a pass from Lucie Hoskova and swished a 3-pointer.
 
“She’s a phenomenal shooter,” Gaels senior Maddie Holland said. “That was definitely in our scout. I think we just had a lapse there.”
 
Krimili went on to score 10 fourth-quarter points to finish the game with 15. Hoskova led the Dons with 18 point and Jessica McDowell-White, a recent transfer from Eastern Michigan, scored 10 off the bench.
 
The win sends the Dons into Monday’s 2 p.m. semifinal against second-seeded BYU (217-4). USF beat the Cougars in San Francisco last Saturday, but Goodenbour knows how difficult repeating that outcome will be.
 
“BYU’s a great team,” she said. “They have six all-conference players on their roster. They’re going to be fired up. They’ve got tournament experience. We are unexperienced. 
 
“We probably go back into that underdog role, which we’ve been in all year. Really, we have noting to lose. We’re going to come out and try to give them a great game.”
 
SURVIVING THEIR NERVES: USF was picked 10th in the preseason WCC coaches poll so playing as a favorite is a new experience. Goodenbour is pretty sure her players felt that. 
 
“I think it was good for us, for this young group, to get this first game out of the way,” she said. “I think they were a little bit nervous. I think they felt a little bit of pressure being a higher seed. We haven’t been in that position all year long where we’re expected to win a game. Hopefully, we’ll play a little bit better on Monday.”
 
GAELS FEELING OPTIMISTIC: Saint Mary’s struggled to a 6-18 regular-season record, hampered by injuries and COVID-19, which prompted All-WCC forward Sam Simons to opt out of the season and remain at home in Australia.
 
But after his team’s performance in Vegas, beating Pacific and playing competitively against USF, coach Paul Thomas said he’s feeling upbeat about his team’s future.
 
“Once our seasons are over every coach is probably optimistic and has a wait-until-next-year attitude and I’m no different,” he said. “I think we have probably all of our pieces coming back and we’re adding some good pieces, and I’m super-thrilled about that. I’m very excited.”
 
Thomas said the team’s only goal Saturday was to underdog COVID testing because that would only happen if the Gaels won the game. He’s hopeful for a COVID-free season on 2021-22.
 
He said he’s in a better state of mind now than he was after the Gaels’ 19-point loss to Pacific in the regular-season finale. “And I think our team is, too, which is most important.”
 
STAT OF THE GAME: USF and Saint Mary’s each attempted 31 layups in the game and he converted 16 of them.
 
QUOTE OF THE GAME: “She doesn’t feel like she had her best game, but she was able to come through really when we needed her and hit big shots in the fourth quarter.” — USF coach Molly Goodenbour on Ioanna Krimili