SAN FRANCISCO – A late second-half surge by the San Francisco State Women's Basketball team was not enough as the Gators fell to visiting Fresno Pacific 68-58 on Friday night in the Thanksgiving Classic.
 
The Sunbirds (2-4) stormed out to take an early 5-0 lead before Erika Nilsen put the Gators (1-2) on the board with back-to-back jumpers to bring the score within one early on in regulation. With 30 seconds left in the quarter, Jhaina Stephens made a nice steal in the defensive zone and dished to a streaking Laura Lawson, who put in the layup to make it 16-14 which ended the first frame scoring.
 
Cassie Pisik's triple opened up the second to widen the visitor lead, and sparked a Sunbird scoring spurt where they took a 21-14 lead midway through the quarter. Courtenay Brown's three and Lawson layup made it a three-point game with just under six to go, and another Lawson bucket brought the score to 24-22. Pisik hit a jumper going the other way to put Fresno Pacific back up by three, however Rachel Iozzia drained a three from the right side to knot the score at 25-all. Lawson continued her hot first half with points off a jumper and free throw, cutting into the Sunbird lead 30-28 as we headed into the break.
 
A couple of Stephens free throws ended a 9-0 run by Fresno Pacific to start the second half. The visitors put together another series of baskets for another run towards the end of the period that Erika Nilsen ended with a corner three which brought the score to 49-35. Fresno Pacific ended up scoring 22 in that key third period and carried a 52-37 advantage into the final ten minutes of regulation.
 
SF State battled in the final period as Stephens sunk her shots from the charity stripe and Kayleigh Pugh added a pair of jumpers. Nilsen's three brought the Gators within six with just under two minutes to go, but Jessica Malazarte answered the very next possession with a three of her own as the as the shot clock wounded down extended the lead once again, 63-54. Fresno Pacific put the game away in the end by hitting clutch free throws to seal the 68-58 road victory.
 
Stephen's 13 boards are a season-high while her 13 points tie a season high for the junior. Lawson added a season-best 12 points, all of which came in the first half, and Nilsen added ten in the effort.
 
Up Next
The Gators wrap up Thanksgiving Classic action tomorrow, Nov. 25 at 5:30 p.m. against Notre Dame de Namur. Live stats and video for both games will be provided, and be sure to follow @sfstate_wbb for in-game updates.