SAN FRANCISCO – For the second time this season the San Francisco State women's basketball came up a winner against Central Washington, posting a 52-36 triumph over the Wildcats on Friday in the Main Gymnasium. With the victory, the Gators improve to 6-2 on the year, while CWU falls to 1-7 overall.
“I thought it was a solid defensive effort on our part,” said SF State head coach Joaquin Wallace. “However, we need to execute a little bit better in our half-court offense. We're aggressive and we're very athletic inside, but we need to finish off those baskets in the paint. If we do that, then the rest of our offense will open up.”
Despite shooting just 27.3 percent from the field, he Gators trailed just once in the ballgame at 8-6 until a jumper and a 3-point basket by junior
Jessica Hout-Freeman (Fremont, California, Washington) put the home team ahead to stay, 11-8, with 12:41 left in the first half. SF State then extended its lead to nine points on three occasions before settling for a 25-18 cushion at the break.
The Gators were never threatened after intermission, building a 44-22 bulge at the 7:47 mark after a jumper and a pair of free throws by freshman
Marlee Rice (Los Angeles, California, Venice). Two foul shots by Jenn Jacobs capped a brief 8-2 Wildcat spurt, which trimmed the deficit to 46-32 with 4:51 remaining in the contest. However, CWU would draw no closer the rest of the way as a bucket by junior
Kalia Williams at the 2:47 mark pushed the margin back to 20 at 52-32.
The Gators won the turnover battle, 32-17, and converted 15-of-21 free-throw attempts compared to just 4-of-7 for the Wildcats. SF State also maintained a decisive 26-12 advantage on the offensive glass.
Sophomore
Morgan Aycox (Bartlett, Illinois, Bartlett) led the Gators with 12 points, including 6-of-8 from the charity stripe to go along with a season-best six rebounds. Meanwhile, Rice notched 10 points and also came up with a season- and game-high five steals. Sophomore
Dominique Hunter (San Francisco, California, Gateway) tied for game rebounding honors with eight caroms.
Hilary Tanneberg paced the Wildcats with eight points, while teammate Shaina Afoa posted eight boards.
SF State retruns to the court on Monday, Dec. 29 when it takes on the Academy of Art University in a non-conference game on the road.
Box Score
