SEASIDE, Calif. – Stellar defense and sharp shooting helped the San Francisco State women's basketball team cruise to a 71-48 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay on Sunday afternoon.
Jhaina Stephens registered her fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Courtenay Brown led all scorers with 22 points, giving her two-straight contests with 20+ points, and
Tyiteyana Jefferson recorded her first double-double of the 2017-18 campaign with 12 points and ten boards. SF State allowed a season-low 48 points on Sunday, holding the Otters to just 25 percent (17-of-69) shooting on the day which is the lowest mark by an opponent this season.
"I am so proud of our team for this huge win going into Christmas Break," said Head Coach
Kristina Danella. "We had a great week of preparation, especially keying in defensively, which showed today by holding them to 48 points which is 12-below their season average. Offensively, I thought we did a great job of attacking and moving the ball. It was a total team effort and all eight of them contributed on both ends of the court."
Rachel Iozzia's three-pointer from the left side started a 7-0 run for the Gators (4-5/2-4 CCAA) to open up play. Stephens put SF State up by five with a layup off an assist from Brown with just over six to go before Monterey Bay's (3-9/2-5 CCAA) Jordana Price hit a jumper to stop the bleeding and bringing the score to 7-4. The Gators continue to roll and take an 11-4 lead with 4:05 to go capped off by a Stephens jumper in the paint off a great pass from Iozzia from the right side. Brown put the Gators up 15-7 converting from the charity stripe in the first period, and later hit another pair of free throws as the Gators cruised to an 18-9 lead after the first ten minutes.
Brown hit a triple to open up the second quarter and put the Gators 21-11. The Otters then mounted a 7-0 run to make it a three-point game midway through the period. SF State bounced back behind Brown's jumper and Iozzia's second three of the afternoon, extending their lead to 30-20 at the four-minute mark. Jefferson stole the ball and then hit a jumper going the other way to put the visitors up 40-25 as they headed to the locker room. The 40 first-half points are the second-most scored by the Gators in the first 20 minutes this season, with the most being 49 in the season opener against Dominican.
Both teams traded baskets to start the second half. Courtney Keaton's three-pointer narrowed the Otter deficit, and Brianna Tucker hit a jumper to make it 42-32 at the halfway point in the third quarter. Monterey Bay battled back to within single digits, however the Gator sharp shooting continued with Brown hitting a clutch three which put SF State up 47-36 with just over three to go in the period. Jefferson's conversion from the line gave the Gators a 55-38 advantage going into the final quarter of regulation.
Brown remained stellar at the line as she hit two more and gave SF State a 57-38 lead.
Amani Alexander got her first points of the day with 2:27 left in regulation as the junior sunk a jumper to put the Gators up 65-43. Back-to-back jumpers by Iozzia sealed the win for the Gators as they secured the 71-48 road victory.
SF State now has four wins on the year, matching their win total from last season. The pair of CCAA victories so far also match the total conference wins from the 2016-17 season.
"Going into a 12-day break by matching the win total from last year already this early in the season makes the win even sweeter," continued Danella. "We have a very tough and important trip down to San Diego and San Marcos when we return so we need to come back ready to go!"
Up Next
The Gators continue the road trip on Dec. 29 as they travel south to take on UC San Diego for a 2 p.m. tip-off. SF State will then wrap up 2017 on Dec. 31
st as they battle Cal State San Marcos at 1 p.m.
