SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior guard Sydney Teoh scored 19 points, senior Brianna McGahan added another 15, while sophomore Laila Mendoza chipped in 10 in just 20 minutes of play, as St. Francis pulled away to a 54-35 win over Lincoln of Stockton in the varsity nightcap of a girls' prep basketball tripleheader Monday night. 

The Troubadours improve to 2-0 for the year. 

The varsity game followed a double-overtime thriller, with a short-handed St. Francis JV Gold squad rallying back from a 42-37 deficit with 71 seconds left in regulation, only to fall in extra frames by a 58-50 final. The night opened with JV Red outlasting a late surge from the Trojan frosh squad to win, 35-25.

The varsity final belies the competitiveness of the overall contest, as St. Francis overcame an initial 7-0 hole, led by two at the halftime break, scored eight unanswered to start the third quarter to a 27-19 lead, only to have that margin diminish to just 29-26 on a Lailah Leonard-Roberts fast break with 2:38 left in the third. 

McGahan give the Troubies some initial breathing room after the Leonard-Roberts score, drawing a foul in the paint and hitting the front end from the line with 2:38 left. Her transition bucket on the next possession expanded the lead to 32-26, then a technical foul against the Trojans put her on the line for one more free throw to make it 35-26 at 2:14.

Teoh stole the show for the remainder of the period. She beat Lincoln's speedy sophomore point Riley Baquiran on a one-on-one battle from halfcourt to the hoop, assisted McGahan for another bucket, then drew contact on a runner with a second left. Teoh made both free throws, then stole the ensuing inbound pass at the buzzer, keeping SF in front, 41-31.

The fourth quarter saw an offensive outburst from Mendoza, who had assisted Tayli Paeu-Lindgren down the stretch in the third. The sophomore rookie converted a feed from Teoh after Lexi London's defensive stop early in the fourth, took an assist from McGahan as part of a three-point play at 4:25. Then McGahan set up Mendoza in similar fashion a minute later to extend the Troubie lead to 48-35 with 3:30 to go. 

St. Francis weathered Lincoln's press down the stretch, with Teoh going for another head-to-head battle with Baquiran with under a minute to go, and assisting McGahan yet again with 19 tickets as part of her team's overall 11-0 finish.

The Troubies' strong home stretch in the varsity game ran in contrast to the JV Gold loss in Monday's second game, which saw the Trojans pull away late in the second overtime. St. Francis had only six healthy players, with Annie Swanson – a post for the JV Red team last year – largely running the point. 

Despite the short-handed roster, the Troubies did not fall into foul trouble until overtime thanks to a difference in offensive styles: Lincoln largely relied on a perimeter game, while St. Francis hammered the lane and drew more fouls as a consequence. In fact, the Troubies went to the line 18 times, albeit for a 15-for-33 overall success rate.

While Layla Hernandez (13), Reese Walker (12) and Lauren Herbelin (11) each finished with double-digit rebounds, the most timely heroics belonged to guard Bianca Espanola. Espanola knocked down a three-pointer, then completed a three-point play in consecutive possessions to erase what had been a 27-21 deficit early in the third. Then after the Trojans pulled ahead to a 38-30 lead, she buried a pull-up jumper as part of 6-0 run that cut the margin to just 38-36.

Still, Lincoln found its shooting stroke in the fourth often enough to take a 42-37 lead with just 1:11 remaining. On the next possession, Herbelin and Annie Swanson swung the ball around to Espanola at the right free throw extended. Espanola sank the shot with ease, pulling the Troubies to within one possession with roughly a minute left in regulation. Then Herbelin's weakside defensive rebound gave SF another full shot clock with which to equalize. Swanson missed the initial attempt, and Walker's second chance went long, but Hernandez was there for the putback, tying the game at 42-42 with just 10 seconds left. Walker's and Swanson's trap prevented any final heroics by Lincoln, forcing the overtime.

Herbelin's three-pointer off a Swanson trigger gave SF an early 45-42 lead, but Lincoln rallied back for four straight points.  With 13.8 seconds remaining, and St. Francis facing the 46-45 deficit, Audrey Bashore came up with a steal and drew the bonus free throws. She missed the first but made the second to tie the game at 46-46. Lincoln appeared to have one last chance to take the win, only for Hernandez to glove the shot with 2.7 seconds remaining.

The Troubies entered the second overtime with just five players left, with Walker having fouled out with a minute left in the first extra stanza. Espanola gave her team an initial 48-46 boost when her interception resulted in a transition score at 3:12. But that ended up being the last SF field goal for the night, as Lincoln finished on a 12-2 run, mostly on fast breaks.

Espanola finished with 13 points, all after halftime, while Walker posted a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The JV Red squad won decisively, scoring 15 points in the second quarter to hold a 22-5 lead, then going up by a 31-11 margin through three after back-to-back Abi Hall scores. Grace Gustorf assisted Meredith Little early in the fourth, then scored on a drive of her own to move up by a 35-13 edge just two minutes into the fourth. Lincoln finished with 12 unanswered down the stretch, almost all from the same two players assisting each other, but ran out of time to neutralize such a SF lead.

Monday's tripleheader continues a preseason mostly at home for St. Francis. The Troubies' JV Gold and varsity host Vista Del Lago on Wednesday going into the Thanksgiving break, with JV Red having the night off due to Vista opting not to carry a frosh girls' team. Still, several JV Red players will play for the depleted Gold team on Wednesday.

Start times are 5:30 (JV Gold) and 7:00 (varsity) on Wednesday. Tickets are available on GoFan.co.