Riverside, CA--Simone DeCoud scored a team-high 21 points Saturday afternoon behind five three-pointers, as the UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team improved to 3-0 on the season with a 66-53 victory over visiting San Francisco. The Highlanders 3-0 start to the season is the first in the program's Division I history, and the first since the 1995-96 squad accomplished the same feat.

The Dons (3-1) jumped out to a 17-9 lead midway through the first as the Highlanders struggled to find their stroke from the field. UC Riverside connected on just three of 15 shots during the first nine-plus minutes of the game, but one of those makes was a three-pointer by Brittany Crain with 5:47 gone in the half. That basket gave the junior 1,000 points for her Highlanders career, as she became the second fastest player to reach that mark, doing so in 59 games.

UCR still trailed by seven, 21-14, with 7:13 to go before intermission, but the Highlanders went on a 12-0 run to take their first lead of the game. Four different players scored during the run led by DeCoud's pair of three-pointers. San Francisco's Aundrea Gordon connected on a pair of free throws with 25 seconds to go, cutting the UC Riverside lead to three, 26-23, as the teams headed into the locker room.

USF's Taylor Proctor led all scorers through the first 20 minutes of play with 11, while DeCoud paced the Highlanders with nine.

The Dons scored the first eight points of the second half to regain the lead, 33-28, but that advantage was short-lived. Crain drained a pair of mid-range jumpers and a free throw to tie the score, and DeCoud's three ball put UCR back on top. By the time the dust settled, the Highlanders had a 12-point lead, 45-33 with 11:37 to go.

San Francisco chipped away at the UCR lead over the next six minutes, trailing by seven with 4:16 on the clock, but the Highlanders pulled away scoring their final nine points of the game from the charity stripe.

Crain and Michelle Curry joined DeCoud in double figures scoring 16 and 14 points respectively. Proctor led three Dons in double digits with 13.

The Highlanders are on the road this week as they travel to New Mexico for a Thanksgiving Tournament where they take on Stephen F. Austin on Friday, November 28 at 4 pm. On Saturday, they will play either host New Mexico or Boston University.