Box Score San Francisco, Calif. – A 17-7 run midway through the second half proved to be the difference, as the SF State women's basketball team defeated CS Dominguez Hills by a final score of 66-53 Friday night at the Swamp.  Leading the way for the Gators was Lauren Varney and Katie Batlin, who each poured in 16.

Defensively SF State (12-9/8-7 CCAA) was relentless, causing 15 turnovers which resulted in 17 points.  Most of that damage coming in the second half. 

"I thought defensively we played our best game of the season in conference," said head coach Dr. Joaquin Wallace.  "We came out and set the tone early in the first half and followed that up in the second half.  We played all 40 minute tonight, limiting them to fewer than 30 percent shooting on the evening."

Adding to the defensive pressure in the second half, was in the increased attention on the boards.  The Gators were outrebounded 25-18 in the first half, which helped the Toros overcome a poor night shooting.  Ten of those 25 boards came on the offensive side of the ball allowing for easy second chances.  

"We talked about rebounding, boxing out, trying to limit their second shots," said Wallace when asked about second half adjustments.  "The biggest thing we talked about was constantly playing help defense and knowing where the ball was.  That and we wanted to get out and run in transition.  In the first half we had only one assists, we finished the game with 11."

The added pressure defensively certainly helped the Gators.  Also helping open things up was the red-hot shooting from behind the arc in the second half.  After starting the game 0-for-4 from behind the three point line, the Gators hit went 4-for-7 from deep, including back-to-back threes in the corner by Jennifer Le and Leticia Galarza.  Galarza was a huge in the second half, scoring all 13 of her points after the midway point.  She finished the night going 4-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three point range.

Ultimately, the combination of Batlin and Varney proved to be too much, as both players added eight points each in the second half, all coming from the paint.  Varney finished the night going 5-for-7 from the floor and chipped in six points from the charity stripe.  Batlin finished the night going 7-for-11 and added seven boards and a team-high four assists. 
Leading CS Dominguez Hills (14-5/10-5 CCAA) was Monay Lee, who finished the night with a game-high 17 points.  Only five of which came after halftime; she finished the night going 7-for-17. 

The Gators jumped out to an early 5-2 lead to start the game, their largest lead of the first half was six points.  Lee's 12 first half points helped close the gap, and the two teams went into their locker rooms with the score 26-23.

Angela Van Sickel poured in seven points on the night; six coming in the first half which helped SFSU maintain their lead their tight lead in the first half.  Leading the Gators on the glass was Brianna Harden who tallied eight, to go along with her three points.  Jennifer Le finished the night with five points and three boards, while Michelle Sutton finished with six points on the night.

"It was a great win against a great team," added Wallace.  "We have to come out tomorrow with the same effort against another tough opponent."

SF State returns to action tomorrow, when the Gators host Cal State LA at 5:30 p.m. at The Swamp.