ROCKLIN, Calif. – Senior post Chidera Okoye hauled a career-high 17 rebounds while sophomore Lexi London scored a team-best 12 points, but St. Francis was unable to protect a late lead, falling by a 45-36 final in the varsity nightcap of a non-league girls' basketball doubleheader at Whitney High Saturday night.

The Troubadours slip to 11-13 for the season. The Wildcats, the No. 3-ranked Division II program in the state according to MaxPreps, improves to 18-8.

Okoye's total on the boards – consisting of four on the offensive end and 13 defensively – surpasses the 16 she posted at Franklin almost exactly one year ago on January 31, 2023. Impressively, she amassed this number while contending with Whitney's 6-foot-3 Stanford commit, Harper Peterson; and the Sierra Foothill League's rebounding leader, 5-foot-10 junior Tylie Kitchen.

In fact, Okoye's rebounding efforts proved pivotal in holding Whitney in check as St. Francis stormed to a 15-1 start to the contest. Senior Brianna McGahan scored eight of those 15 points, including three-pointers on either side of the court. McGahan later assisted a Lexi London three-pointer at 5:46 in the second period, then knocked down a baseline jumper of her own 24 seconds later to keep the Troubies in front by a 22-9 lead. Whitney managed to cut into that margin with a run of eight straight, with Kitchen, Marissa Shihadeh and Sammy Schuler posting steals to stop the SF offense.

St. Francis led, 24-17, at the halftime break, then increased its advantage to as much as 11 by the 1:45 mark in the third period. Okoye scored three times in the paint, including the putback that set the board at 36-25. Schuler went to the line for Whitney to hit a pair of free throws, beginning what eventually grew to a 20-0 run to end the game.

Peterson's defense also proved crucial in the 18-0 fourth for the Wildcats. She blocked three shots in the span of two minutes early on, then Kendall Dykstra swatted London's three-point attempt at the 4:55 mark. Peterson assisted Kitchen with 3:17 to go to cut the Troubie led to 36-34, the smallest since the game was still 3-1. Dykstra when hit both free throws to equalize at 36-36 – oddly, the first tie of the contest. Finally, Peterson and Schuler hit back-to-back pull-up jumpers to give Whitney the lead for good.

Prior to the varsity game, St. Francis' JV Gold posted a 60-40 win over the Wildcats, thanks to a career-high 22 points by freshman Audrey Bashore. Reese Walker and Layla Hernandez also chipped in 10 points apiece, while Natalia Zitelli added another nine.

While the Troubie varsity surrendered a long scoring run to erase a sizable lead, JV Gold's win had the opposite trajectory: a 22-3 outburst spoiled Whitney's comeback efforts. The Troubies led 29-19 at halftime and 35-25 at the 5:28 mark in the third before the Wildcats buried three straight three-pointers to close the gap to just 35-34.

Lizzie David answered with a trey of her own to push the Troubies back up by four, then assisted Walker on a score to make it 40-34. Then in the fourth period, Lauren Herbelin hit a baseline jumper before assisting Walker on two more buckets to push SF to a 52-37 lead with 4:48 left in the contest. Zitelli followed with a steal and fast break on the subsequent inbound, then Bashore stuck a corner three at 4:19 to make the lead an even 20 at 57-37.

JV Gold improves to 17-8 with the win, making it an 11-1 mark in the 2024 calendar year.

The SF varsity and JV Gold enter the final stretch of Delta League play with doubleheaders at Davis (Monday) and Sheldon (Wednesday) before returning home to host Pleasant Grove on Friday.