SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State women's basketball team used a decisive 15-2 run over the final eight-plus minutes of the first half to key a 62-40 victory over visiting Dominican University in a non-conference game Saturday night in the Main Gymnasium.
The Gators (5-5) received double-digit scoring efforts from three players, including senior Donisha Tate (Oakland, Calif., Oakland, Las Positas College), who tied for team-high honors with 13 points to go along with a game-best 17 rebounds for her third double-double of the year. Meanwhile, the Penguins' (2-4) Alisha Flaaten led all players with 15 points in the loss.
“Tonight was a great bounce-back win for us after losing a tough conference game on Wednesday,” said SF State head coach Joaquin Wallace. “We played extremely well defensively in the first half. However, we need to learn how to finish off games in the second half and learn how to value each possession in the game.”
Freshman Sidney Dobner (Newbury Park, Calif., Newbury Park HS) matched Tate's output with a season-high tying 13 points on 6-of 8 shooting, while senior transfer Juliet Masei (Mojave, Calif., Desert HS, Dickinson State) equaled a season best as well with 10 points of her own.
As a team, the Gators connected on 24-of-58 field goal attempts (41.4 percent), while limiting DU to just nine baskets from the floor on 57 tries (15.8 percent) for the entire game, including a 3-for-32 clip (9.4 percent) in the first half. In addition, SF State dominated the middle, maintaining a considerable 65-29 rebounding advantage and a 28-6 margin on points in the paint. The Gators also won the turnover battle, 29-17.
After Flaaten sank two free throws to bring the Penguins to within 8-5 at the 11:54 mark of the first half, SF State responded with a 7-0 spurt, capped by a Masei jumper, to go up 15-5 with 8:28 remaining. A three-pointer and another pair of foul shots by Flaaten cut the deficit in half to 15-10 at the 6:54 mark. However, that would be as close as DU would get for the rest of the evening as two free throws by senior ZaLisha Oliver (Sacramento, Calif. Luther Burbank HS) and a Dobner triple from the left corner ignited the Gators' critical 15-2 blitz before intermission.
SF State kept the momentum going in the second half, unleashing a 12-3 run over the first 4:49 of the period as a Tate layup gave the home team its largest lead of the night at 42-15. The Penguins managed to narrow the gap to 16 points at 47-31 after two free throws by Kelsey Janusch with 7:30 to go in the contest. However, a three-point play by Williams and another Dobner layup restored the Gators' cushion to over 20 points at 52-31 with 5:14 left to play.
SF State will have the next 10 days before it tangles with Emporia State on Tuesday, Dec. 22, at 2 p.m. in the Main Gymnasium.
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