SAN FRANCISCO – Bolstered by a trio of double-digit scorers, the San Francisco State women's basketball team cruised to a 69-43 victory over Cal State L.A. in a California Collegiate Association game Friday at the Main Gymnasium. The Gators jumped out to a 13-point halftime lead and never looked back, improving to 12-10 on the season and 6-9 in conference play, while the Golden Eagles drop to 3-19 overall and 2-13 in the CCAA.
“Defensively we played very well,” said SF State head coach Joaquin Wallace. “That's been the staple of our team the whole season. Now we're finding a way to put the ball in the basket. We're starting to get some offensive continuity, which is making the game a whole lot easier for us.”
Desiree Butler (Lancaster, California, Lancaster, Pasadena City College) led the Gators with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, to go along with a team-best four assists. Kalia Williams (Los Angeles, California, Saint Monica, San Jose State University) also got into the act, notching a season-high 13 points off the bench, while ZaLisha Oliver (Sacramento, California, Luther Burbank)contributed 11 points. Not to be outdone, SF State also received 10 rebounds apiece from Donisha Tate (Oakland, California, Oakland, Las Posita College) and Dominique Hunter (San Francisco, California, Gateway).
The Gators once again turned in strong defensive performance, limiting CSULA to just 27.1 percent shooting on 16 of 59 field goal attempts, while owning a 23-16 edge in turnovers. SF State also held a 54-39 rebounding advantage and outscored the Golden Eagles 28-14 in the paint.
The Gators jumped out to an 18-11 lead on Ashlee Austin-Bean's (Los Angeles, California, Bishop Montgomery) layup with 11:04 left in the first half. CSULA kept the host team in sight momentarily, pulling to within 24-22 at the 5:25 mark on a triple by Cassie Suffolk.
However, SF State took charge at this juncture, as Marlee Rice (Los Angeles, California, Venice) nailed a 3-pointer and converted a layup on consecutive possessions to spark an 11-0 blitz, giving the Gators a comfortable 35-22 cushion at intermission.
SF State shifted into overdrive in the second half, building an insurmountable 54-32 lead onJessica Hout-Freeman's (Fremont, California, Washington)layup at the 10:31 mark. The Eagles could draw no closer than 16 points the rest of the way, as the contest turned into a runaway. The Gators defense held CSULA to just seven field goals in the period, while connecting on 16 of their 34 shot attempts.
Suffolk paced the Eagles with a game-high 15 points to go along seven rebounds, while Sequoia Crandall had nine points and seven boards in the defeat.
SF State continues its homestand on Saturday, Feb. 14, when it takes on Cal State Dominguez Hills in a CCAA clash beginning at 5:30 p.m.
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