SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Freshman Elise Vipond scored 20 points, senior Lexi London tallied a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, while freshman Hassanah Ramsey-Gilbert grabbed 11 boards to go with five assists, but St. Francis surrendered a 10-1 run down the stretch of the fourth period to fall by a 54-47 final against Lincoln of Stockton in the varsity half of a non-league girls' basketball doubleheader Tuesday night.

The Troubadours dip to 0-2 for the year. The Trojans, defending Tri-City Athletic League champions and a 2025 NorCal Regional qualifier, open their season at 1-0.

Vipond and London accounted for more than three fourths of St. Francis' scoring output. Sophomore Keanna Daneshvar sparked the Troubies with six points, all in a span of three minutes across the first and second periods. Ramsey-Gilbert added three while junior Natalia Zitelli chipped in two. Zitelli also had two steals, with Vipond leading that department with three. Additionally, Ramsey-Gilbert led the Troubies with five assists, including both of Daneshvar's buckets in the first half.

The game featured wild swings with a total of 10 lead changes. London opened the game with a corner three-pointer, scored a runner plus the and-one free throw at the 2:12 mark in the first, then finished the frame with another drive to keep SF in stride with its guest to a 13-13 tie. Ramsey-Gilbert assisted Daneshvar to start the second, then Daneshvar went 2 of 2 from the line as part of an 11-0 overall Troubie run. Vipond dominated that stretch, turning a London pass into a three-pointer then scoring back-to-back transition goals to push SF up as much as 26-16. The Trojans managed six unanswered to close that gap to four but a Vipond three from Zitelli with 39 seconds gave the Troubies a 29-22 lead at the break.

Ramsey-Gilbert hit her lone field goal on the opening possession of the second half to extend the SF advantage to 31-22, only for Lincoln to respond with 11 straight points to regain the lead. Sophomore Lilly Mingram drained a three from the right side to bring the Trojans to a 33-31 edge. Zitelli later finished a fast break on a London outlet with Vipond ending the period with a pair of free throws, sending the game to the fourth frame in a 37-37 deadlock.

Lincoln senior Riley Baquiran pushed her team back up by five, first by burying a corner three at 6:51 then running down what appeared to be an errant outlet pass for another field goal with 6:12 left. Then St. Francis bounced back with a 6-0 run to reclaim a 43-42 edge: Vipond made 1 of 2 after getting fouled in transition, London finished a fast break of her own, then Vipond knocked down her third trey of the night with 4:10 left to play.

Unfortunately for St. Francis, Mingram poured in a three from the top of the key just 20 seconds later, giving the Trojans the lead for good. Namie Aoki later sent in a three-pointer from in front of her bench, then Mingram fed Terrazia Smith on a high-low feed at the two-minute mark to culminate a 10-1 overall run for Lincoln.

The varsity loss followed another win for St. Francis' JV Gold squad, which rolled to a 33-17 victory against the Trojan jayvees. Junior Audrey Bashore led the way with 17 points and five steals, sophomore Emmy Cheatham sank a pair of threes en route to eight points, with a trio of post players enjoyed strong contributions. Lydia Holcomb contributed five points (including her first three-pointer), four boards and a block. Carley Glenn accounted for the remaining three points while matching Holcomb's rebounds. Lena Mundhenk provided a team-leading six rebounds to go with two steals.

Impressively, Gold only surrendered two field goals in the first three periods, holding a 16-2 lead after eight minutes, a 24-5 advantage at halftime, and a 27-11 edge through the third.

Both varsity and JV Gold return to action on Monday at Rio Americano, with game times at 5:30 and 7 p.m. The Troubadours' JV Red team will make its season debut on December 2 as part of an overall home tripleheader with Vista Del Lago. Next Tuesday's home event also features the Booster-Q plus the school's annual toy drive for the Stanford Settlement Neighborhood Center.