Box Score San Francisco, Calif. – Leticia Galarza converted a pair of free throws, her only attempts on the night, to put the SF State women's basketball team out front for good in a 72-70 win over Humboldt State on Friday night at The Swamp. 

The Gators (13-10/9-8 CCAA) were led by the strong play from seniors Katie Batlin, Angela Van Sickel and Lauren Varney.  Batlin led all scorers with 23 points, Van Sickel added 22 and Varney chipped in 16, but it was the free throw shooting down the stretch that helped seal the deal for the Gators.

Humboldt State (11-10/8-9 CCAA) saw their eight point lead with 6:27 to play slowly evaporate over the final minutes as SFSU kept up the defensive pressure, limiting the Lumberjacks to just two points over the final six minutes.

To open the game the Gators came out hot early as Van Sickle and Batlin led the Gators, scoring 21 of the team' first 27 points.  With 12:43 in the first a layup by Van Sickle gave the Gators their largest lead of the night, a nine point cushion, 24-15.
 
The final eight minutes of the first half was a wild one, featuring eight lead changes, the first coming on a three in the corner by Humboldt State's Jain Tuey.  The Gator retook the lead for the last time in the half following a nice fast break executed by Batlin and Varney.  SF State increased their lead to five at the 3:18 mark.

From there the Lumberjacks took control, ending the half on a 12-0 run to finish the half out front 49-43.  Both sides shot well from the floor, with the Gators shooting 48 percent going 17-for-35 from the floor and 41 percent (5-for-12) from behind the arc. 

Helping Humboldt State turn the tide was the Gators foul trouble early.  The Lumberjacks were in the bonus with 14:08 to play in the first half and shot 17 free throws in the opening frame, making 11.

In the second half, the Gators defense turned it up, holding the Jacks to just 21 points in the second half after giving up 49 in the first.  To open the game, Humboldt State shot 34 percent.  In the second half that number fell to 25 percent.
The two sides spent most of the second period trading buckets, however, the Lumberjacks kept adding to their lead, eventually going up eight with 6:27 to play in the game, following a layup Tuey. 

From there, the Gators went on a 10-2 run over the next five minutes.  Van Sickel scored her final six points to eventually tie the game at 68-68 with 1:24 to play in the game.

Humboldt State returned serve, scoring their finale bucket to go up by two on a jumper from the free throw line by Megan Shields.  Batlin scored her final two points on a pair of free throws after a drive to the bucket to tie the score at 70 apiece.

The good free throw shooting continued for SF State as Galarza drew the foul after driving to the bucket and converted both free throws.  The Gators converted 70 percent of their free throws on the evening, going 14-for-20 from the charity stripe, however in crunch time SFSU had ice in their veins hitting six consecutive free throws to give them the lead for good.

The Gators will return to action tomorrow, when they host Cal Poly Pomona at 5:30 p.m. here at The Swamp.

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