SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State women's basketball team opened its 2008-09 campaign in convincing fashion Wednesday night with a 73-34 rout of Dominican University in the Main Gymnasium. The Gators (1-0) captured their second straight opening-night victory, while the Penguins (0-4) suffered their fourth loss in a row.

Senior Desiree Butler (Lancaster, California, Lancaster, Pasadena City College) scored a career-high 21 points, including 16 in the second half and drilled two of the team's three triples. Junior ZaLisha Oliver (Sacramento, California, Luther Burbank) also reached double figures with 12 points of her own, while senior Krystle Mays (Long Beach, California, Chatsworth) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Despite committing 19 first-half turnovers, it was SF State who took advantage of Dominican miscues, as the Gators outscored the Penguins, 31-13, off turnovers and owned a tremendous 54-27 rebounding advantage, including a 21-8 margin on the offensive end, en route to the big victory.

“We told our players to  be patient,” said SF State head coach Joaquin Wallace regarding his team's halftime adjustments.  “We wanted to be sure that we rotated the ball and attacked the top person in their zone defense, and that would open up things inside. Then, Desiree was able to hit from outside to give us some runs.” 

SF State held Dominican to just a single field goal in the first 12-plus minutes of the game, but led just 16-9 as the Penguins hit seven free throws during that stretch to remain within striking distance.  After the two sides traded baskets, Dominican went on an 8-1 run to tie the score at 19-19 with 2:08 remaining in the first half. 

That would be as close as the visitors would get, however, as the Gators took a 24-19 lead into intermission, following a free throw and consecutive field goals by Butler and Oliver.

In the second half, SF State broke open a 28-24 contest with a 12-2 run, punctuated by a Mays tip-in from the left side, making the score 40-26.   Shortly thereafter, Butler took control of the game by herself, scoring 12 straight points during a 2:41 stretch to give the home team an insurmountable 59-30 advantage.

 The Gators will be back in action this weekend when they travel to the Pacific Northwest for the Wildcat Classic in Ellensburg, Wash. SF State faces host school Central Washington on Friday, Nov. 21, beginning at 4:30 p.m., before tangling with Western State (Colo.) on Sat. Nov. 22, starting at 7 p.m.