SAN FRANCISCO – Trailing by as much as 14 with less than five minutes remaining, the San Francisco State women's basketball team made a late run cutting the deficit to three where it ultimately stayed as Sonoma State came away with the 54-51 win on Saturday night.
The Gators (2-16/0-11 CCAA) had two players record double-doubles on the evening. Leading the team with 15 points and 11 rebounds was junior
Kaitlin DaDalt. Her first career double-double. The 15 points is the 12
th time this season she's recorded 10 or more, which leads the team.
Joining DaDalt in the double-double action was senior
Donae Moguel, who scored 10 points while grabbing 11 rebounds as well. She has now grabbed eight or more rebounds in five of the last six games and has 100 on the year.
Offensively, the Gators were not sharp for large periods of the game. SFSU shot just 26.1 percent on the evening, going 12-for-46 from the floor. From 3-point range, SF State was 7-for-28. The Gators got a bulk of their offense from the free throw line, where they were 20-for-24 on the evening, by far their best performance from the charity stripe all season.
Senior guard
Felicia Villarruel finished with a season-high 13 points, her 8-for-8 performance from the free throw line was big reason for that.
Sonoma State (9-7/5-5 CCAA) shot 33.3 percent from the field on Saturday evening, going 18-for-54 from the field. In the second half, they were just 7-for-26 as the Gator defense did not give up any easy looks. Leading the Seawolves in scoring was Kyle Kiech who scored a game-high 20 points.
GAME NOTES
Coaches Quote
"I was really proud the way our kids hung in there tonight," said head coach
Dennis Cox. "We dug ourselves in a hole again, we were down 14 with four minutes to play, and to come back and have a chance to tie at the buzzer says a lot about the way they fought. I though as the game went along our intensity level rose on the defensive end of the floor. I was proud of the effort, I know it didn't translate into a win, but I think we're progressing, we hung together."
Furious Comeback
Trailing by 14 with 4:57 left in the game, the Gators went on two big runs late. First a 9-0 run that culminated with a 3-point bucket from DaDalt in the corner. And finally an 8-2 run over the final two minutes that finished with three-straight free throws when Villarruel was fouled on a 3-point attempt. Over the final 4:47 seconds, the Gators went on a 17-6 run and held the Seawolves to 0-for-5 from the floor during that stretch.
Double Up On The Double-Double
For the first time this season, the Gators had a pair of double-double's when
Kaitlin DaDalt and
Donae Moguel both tallied double-doubles. The last time this happened was on January 18, 2014 when former Gators Katie Batlin and Lauren Varney recorded a double-double against UC San Diego.
Next Up
The Gators return to the road when they travel to San Marcos on Thursday to take on Cal State San Marcos. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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Gator Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The department offers 12 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball and Men's Wrestling.
Gator Athletics places great emphasis on academic performance as well as athletic achievement. The program offers student athletes the opportunity to reach their educational goals, as well pursue meaningful athletic accomplishments. For more information, visit SF State Athletics' website, Twitter and Facebook pages.
