SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Lexi London scored a game-high 25 points, freshman Hassanah Ramsey-Gilbert totaled a double-double of 12 points and 18 rebounds, while freshman Elise Vipond drained three three-pointers en route to 18 tallies as St. Francis stormed past Will C. Wood, 65-36, in the varsity nightcap of a non-league girls' basketball tripleheader Tuesday night.
The Troubadours improve to 4-3 for the year, enjoying both their season high for points and season best for margin of victory. The Wildcats are now 4-5 overall, losing to the exact score as they did against defending Northern Section champion Pleasant Valley just five days earlier.
London shot 10 of 17 from the floor with seven rebounds. Vipond shot another 6-for-13 overall to go with four assists. Ramsey-Gilbert beat her previous rebounding best of 14 boards, set exactly two weeks prior against Vista Del Lago. Overall, it supplemented an outstanding overall defensive game, as she logged five blocks and four steals.
In fact, St. Francis' victory was marked by its defense, with Colleen Medina and Natalia Zitelli holding the two leading Wildcat scorers – senior Nateyah Ebuen and junior Abigail Ward – to a single field goal in the second half. Medina also scored a pair of buckets while amassing five defensive rebounds and a team-leading six steals.
The Troubies led wire-to-wire in the contest, with Ramsey-Gilbert hitting both Vipond and London on outlet passes for an 8-0 start. Wood pulled to within a single possession at 10-8 when Ward drained her first of two three-pointers in the contest at the 1:27 mark, but St. Francis responded with eight straight points: London on a pump fake at the right block, Ramsey-Gilbert and Vipond going 4-for-4 at the line, then Ramsey-Gilbert opening the second period with a rebound and putback. The Troubies led 30-15 in the final minute before halftime, although Wood managed to finish on a 7-0 run to close within 30-22 hole.
Still, London finished a baseline drive to open the third frame, then Vipond later buried a corner three with 5:55 to extend the SF lead to 36-24. The Troubies maintained at least a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the game. London and Vipond drained back-to-back threes to end the third with a 48-30 margin, then Medina assisted Zitelli in transition to make it a 20-point game for the first time just 31 ticks into the fourth.
Yet another freshman, Natalie Dimen, got into the fray down the final stretch. She pulled up for a mid-range baseliner with 1:25, then her steal led to a Ramsey-Gilbert score with just 22 seconds to go.
The varsity win followed an equally decisive 49-16 for St. Francis' JV Gold squad. Junior Audrey Bashore finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and five steals, with sophomore Saihej Sekhon continuing to develop her key role on the team with eight points and four boards. In all, six Troubies scored at least one field goal in Gold's win: Bashore, Sekhon, Lydia Holcomb, Lena Mundhenk, Kalaya Moore and Peyton Smith. Meanwhile, Piper Bates, Catherine Gustafson and Carley Glenn combined for 13 rebounds off the bench, with Bates also tallying three steals.
JV Red led off the night with a 52-13 loss against Antelope. Freshman Emily Nguyen netted eight points, with six coming within a four minute span in the third, to lead her team offensively. Ella Renzo scored twice, putting the Troubies on the board with her drive early in the second, then converting a Maeva Mahlmann inbound pass into additional points midway through the fourth.
This marked Red's final action of the 2025 calendar year, although varsity and JV Gold return to action in one week for a home doubleheader against Grant Union on December 23.
