Happy Tuesday September 29th!

Today we start team practice! Up to this point we have only been able to have 4 of our girls on the court at any one point in time. Now we get all 12! Its only for 2 hours a week, but thats better then nothing.

Individuals went really well. Each position got better every time they stepped on the court. And as rough as conditioning is, we going to put the work in now to become the best possible team we can be.

The city has been amazing! We've had some great weather and I know some of our girls went and checked out the Free Concert in Golden Gate Park last weekend. This time of year there is something in the park almost every weekend.

Super excited about practice starting, I'll let you know how it goes!

Dons Back on the Hilltop!

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been in school for almost two weeks now and it’s Labor Day! We’ve had an exciting start to our Fall Sports Season with our women’s soccer team winning it’s first two games at Negoesco against Marist and San Francisco Academy of Art. Our defending WCC Champion Men’s Soccer Program had an impressive home victory against 2008 NCAA Tournament Participant University of Missouri-Kansas City. Our Women’s Volleyball and Cross Country Teams will be in action this weekend on the hilltop. As you can tell there is a lot of action taking place on our campus.

It’s been great seeing the returning players come back to campus a year older and wiser! We’ve also welcomed six, yes, six newcomers to our program and all indications are pointing to this new group making quite an impact on our team! Before we get into our pre-season workouts in full force, we have been completing our conditioning tests. It’s been a great start to our season as the team showed quite a commitment to each other by coming back in great condition. We can hardly to be able to get on the court with the players next week!

The 2009-10 edition of your Lady Dons is a very enthusiastic, young group of ladies who are hungry to get to the top of the West Coast Conference! We will be tested early and often by a demanding non-conference schedule, but it’s a schedule that will prepare us for the always tough West Coast Conference.

We’re all looking forward to an exciting year in War Memorial! Speaking of War Memorial, we practically have a brand new gym. New floor, new baskets, new banners, new courtside seating and new lighting have only added to the allure of a gym where some of the all-time great basketball players have played.

I hope you all have a fabulous Labor Day weekend!

GO DONS

Coach Haave

Graduation Day!

Seniors Shay Rollins, Alexis Musante and Leslie Walker Graduated today! Congratulations to our Seniors!

In the Picture from Right to Left: Shay Rollins, Alexis Musante and their roommate KK. (Leslie not pictured)

Check this out!

Kudo's to coach Abby for her fantastic artwork on the following movie. We leave Sunday! Super Excited!!!!

2009 Signee's

Check our the newest members of the Lady Dons Family:

From Southern California we have 2 incoming freshmen joining us,

Bailey Barbour, a 6'3" Post player from Inglewood High School. 

Whitney Daniels, a 6'2" Forward from Mira Costa High School. 

From Northern California we have 2 incoming freshmen,

Ashley Boggs, a 5'11" Shooting guard from Sacred Hearth Cathedral.

Melody Khlok, a 5'9" Guard from John F. Kennedy High School. 

Our latest Signee is a Junior College Transfer joining us from Western Nebraska Community College. Tawny Drexler, a 6'0" Forward coming from Golden Colorado. 

Check out our Tour Link! We leave for Scandivania in two weeks!

Click here to visit our Tour Central!

San Francisco Women's Basketball HighLight Reel 2008-2009

Elite Camp Summer 2009

Elite Camp Flyer

Attention Future USF Basketball Players!

A reminder that our first ever Elite Camp is this Summer June 13th and 14th 2009. It is open to High Schoolers grades 9-12. The camp will feature:

1. NCAA Recruiting and Eligibility Rules Lesson

2. Chalk Talk with current Lady DOns Players and Coaches

3. Individual Skill Instruction

4. 5 on 5 Full Court Games

5. Introduction to Collegiate Level Weight Training with USF Strength and Conditioning Staff

6. Participation in Official USF Lady Dons Training Drills

7. Campus and Athletic Facilities Tour

8. Camp T-Shirt and Basketball

9. Skill Competitions and Awards

10. All-Star Team Selection and Game

And all sorts of other great features like hanging out with our fantastic Staff!

See you this summer :-)

P.S. Check out the link for the flyer 

End of Season Banquet

The Dons wrapped up the 2008-2009 Season with an End of Year Banquet on April 27th 2009. This was a great opportunity to gather friends, family, and supporters of the program to recap the highs of the season and present the Annual Awards. 

The Awards were as follows:

Best Offensive: Senior Shay Rollins after averaging 16.3 ppg and dishing out 70 assists.

Best Defensive: Sophomore Donnisha Taylor who had 76 defensive rebounds and 23 steals on the season.

Rebounding Award: Freshmen Vania Singleterry who led the team with 57 offensive rebounds and recorded 4 double digit rebounding efforts this season.

Most Improved: Freshmen Katy Keating, who averaged almost 4 ppg and 4 rpg and started the the last 13 games of the season. 

Coaches Award: Rheina Ale and Heidi Anton. This award goes to the player (s) who work hard day in and day out and do everything that is asked of them. 

Perseverance Award: This was not an annual award but was giving to Leslie Walker. Walker starting with the Dons program as a Freshmen Manager and over three years earned herself a spot on the squad and became a co-captain and scholarship player her senior year. 

The Banquet ended with the Seniors Final remarks and the year end highlight video posted below:

Next for the Team is our European trip to Scandivavia!  Departing May 24th. Keep posted!

Shay Rollins Earns 1st Team All West Coast Conference

The Dons coaching staff would like to congratulate Senior Shay Rollins for being named First Team All-West Coast Conference after averaging 14.8 points, 2.4 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game this season. 

Spring Workouts on the Hilltop

March madness is over, the NCAA has a new National Champion, and the College basketball season has come to an end. But wait! Over here at the Hilltop our Lady Dons are hard at work doing Spring individuals!

As the saying goes "Championships are won in the off season." Now is the time to develop our speed, agility, and skill. And our team is hard at work. You can find the Dons in the weight room and on the court building towards next season and developing their individual skill. 

A sample of a typical Spring Week for our team looks like this:

Monday: Weights and Open Gym

Tuesday: Weights and Individuals

Wednesday: Conditioning and Individuals

Thursday: Weights and Individuals

Friday: Weights and Open Gym

We have short, intense individual workouts  and the weight sessions are with our Strength and Conditioning Coach Evan Nielsen. 

Its really exciting to see the progress our team makes every week. Next Season, Look Out! The Lady Dons will be ready!