Hayward, Calif.--- SF State senior post player Donisha Tate (Oakland, California, Las Posita College) recorded her second double-double of the season tonight as she keyed the Gators 70-62 road California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) victory over the Cal State East Bay Pioneers. Tate scored 12 points and grabbed a game high 15 rebounds for the Gators, who shot 48% from the field and held the Pioneers to just 31% shooting.
“I am encourage on how we were able to score the ball tonight; howevery we have to do a better job of valuing the possessions as we have done a poor job of decision making,” said SF State Head Coach Joaquin Wallace. “An ugly win, but we will take it,” added Wallace.
SF State started the game with an 11-3 run in the first five minutes capped by a ZaLisha Oliver (Sacramento, California, Luther Burbank) jumper. The Gators (7-9, 3-5 CCAA) increased their lead to 11 (18-7), but Cal State East Bay outscored its visitors 20-15 to cut the lead to 33-27 with just 2:14 left in the half. SF State finished the half on a 7-0 run to take a 40-27 lead into the locker room.
Cal State East Bay (0-13, 0-8 CCAA) started the second stanza with a 7-3 run to cut the Gator lead to 43-34 at the 17:09 mark, but the Gators outscored the Pioneers 16-9 in the next seven minutes to take a 60-43 lead.
The hosts would not go away as they went on a 17-6 run of their own to cut the Gator lead to 66-60 on a three by Andrea Rodriguez with 3:49 left in regulation. On the Gators' next possesion, Dominique Hunter (San Francisco, California, Gateway) scored off an assist fromJessica Hout-Freeman (Fremont, California, Washington)to give SF State a 68-60 lead with 3:26 to go in the game. Once again, the Pioneers would not go away as they scored the games' next two points on two free throws to cut the Gator lead to six (68-62) with just 1:33 on the clock. Donisha Tate's jumper sealed the game for SF State as they took the 70-62 victory.
Claudia Nelson finished with a game high 15 points to lead the Pioneers while Emily Valenziano had 11 points.
Dominique Hunter added 11 points and three blocked shots for the Gators while Jessica Hout-Freeman added 10 points and three assists. SF State had 17 assists for the game led by Juliet Masei (Mojave, CA, Dickinson State)with a season high six. The Gators will return to the court this Saturday, January 16 for a 5:30pm scheduled conference contest in La Jolla againts the No. 7 UC San Diego Tritons.
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