SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior Natalia Zitelli scored a career-high 11 points while senior Lexi London narrowly missed a third straight double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds, as St. Francis erased a brief third-period deficit to claim a 43-29 win over Vista Del Lago in the varsity nightcap of a non-league girls' basketball tripleheader Tuesday night.
The Troubadours even their record to 2-2 overall.
London drained a pair of three-pointers en route to her team-leading point total while tallying four assists and a pair of blocked shots. Freshman Elise Vipond added another eight points, with fellow ninth-grader Hassanah Ramsey-Gilbert grabbing 14 boards. Senior Colleen Medina and sophomore Keanna Daneshvar chipped four and two points, respectively.
St. Francis opened the game with eight straight points and held an 18-12 lead at the break, but surrendered seven unanswered Eagle points to start the second half. Vista senior Makenna Cassidy drove the lane just after the six-minute mark for the go-ahead score, but Ramsey-Gilbert finished a third-chance attempt in the paint on the next trip down to restore the Troubie lead at 20-19.
SF never trailed again after that score. London assisted Zitelli down low to make it 22-19, then Vipond blocked Leila Tureck to help protect the lead. London followed with a block against Cassidy, which resulted in a Zitelli fast break and a 24-19 edge at the 4:37 mark. Zitelli later made it a double-digit lead with 1:55 remaining in the third, collecting a Vipond dish at the left block and finishing off the glass. St. Francis entered the fourth with a 34-21 lead, and largely maintained that margin for the entirety of the period.
The 29 points allowed represents a season-best for the Troubies, who have allowed just 165 total in their four games for a 41.3 average. The total is the lowest by an opponent since St. Francis beat Center, 61-21, at last year's Lincoln Invitational.
The varsity win followed a split by the two Troubadour junior varsity squads. JV Gold improved to 4-0 for the year, with a 47-31 win over the Eagles; while JV Red lost by a 32-8 final in its season opener. Junior Audrey Bashore tallied 22 points with five steals while sophomore Carley Glenn amassed eight points and eight boards for Gold. For Red, freshman Lily Jimenez shot 1-for-2 from the line then added a three-pointer, while Ella Renzo and Emily Nguyen each scored field goals in the final frame.
All three squads return to action at home on Thursday. JV Red will kick off the night with a 4 p.m. game against West Park, while Gold and varsity take on McClatchy at 5:30 and 7 p.m., respectively.
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