SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State women's basketball team fell to visiting Southern Oregon 62-60 in the Gators' final exhibition contest.
The Raiders opened up with a 4-0 lead before a couple of
Courtenay Brown layups leveled the score. The Gators ended the first quarter on an 8-2 run, starting with Jacquelin Moss' three-pointer and ending with a pair of free throws by the freshman in the closing minute.
Southern Oregon bounced back to take a 21-18 advantage midway through the second frame, highlighted by Toria Bradford's eight points. Bradford closed out the half with a free throw to bring the Raider lead to 27-20 at the break.
The Gators rolled in the third quarter outscoring the Raiders 24-12 behind 60 percent (9-of-15) from the field. The hosts ended the frame on a 13-0 run, which
Rachel Iozzia got started with a deep three off an assist from
Tyiteyana Jefferson as San Francisco carried a 44-39 lead going into the final quarter.
The Raiders leveled the score to begin the fourth at 44-44 before Iozzia sunk another three to take the lead right back. The Raiders' Remi Mejia converted a layup and then drained another from beyond the arch to widen their lead before Ariel Augustine made it 54-49 with a triple of her own. San Francisco State narrowed the deficit as
Laura Lawson drove in for the layup, and
Imani Smith followed with another basket and a free throw. Lawson knotted things on a jumper with just under three to play, and Smith regained the Gator lead 58-57 with a basket of a dish from Jefferson. A clutch three by Augustine put the Raiders back up by two with a minute remaining, but Jefferson drained a left-handed layup going the other way to level things once again. However in the very next Southern Oregon possession, Destinee Jones drove to the lane for a quick two for the 62-60 lead with just over 12 seconds left. The defense did the rest for the Raiders as they held San Francisco State scoreless in the closing seconds.
The Gators shot 49 percent (23-of-47) from the field, with Smith leading the way with 14 points, eight boards and five assists. Iozzia added nine points on the night, which came on 3-of-6 from beyond the arch. San Francisco State opens up the regular season this Sunday, Nov. 19 as Dominican travels to The Swamp. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. Live video and stats will be available at sfstategators.com, and in-game updates will be available on Twitter at
@sfstate_wbb.
