LOS ANGELES – A late offensive surge by the San Francisco State women's basketball team was not enough on Saturday as they fell to host Cal State Los Angeles, 76-67.
 
Rachel Iozzia registered 16 points on 57 percent (4-of-7) from deep and five steals, which are the most by a Gator this season. Courtenay Brown added 12 points for her eighth double-digit scoring performance of the year. Jhaina Stephens grabbed a team-high six rebounds and recorded seven points.
 
SF State (4-11/2-10 CCAA) shot 53 percent (9-of-17) from three-point range, their best mark of the year, and tied a season-high with 20 free throws made. The Golden Eagles (7-11/6-6 CCAA) shot 51 percent (30-of-59) from the field, which is the second-highest shooting mark allowed by SF State this 2017-18 campaign.
 
The Gators opened up to an 8-7 lead behind Iozzia's five points and Tyiteyana Jefferson's three. The Golden Eagles then put together a 10-0 run before Erika Nilsen hit a three-pointer, bringing the score to 17-11. Los Angeles closed out the period with a 9-0 run to carry a 26-10 advantage in the second quarter.
 
Rachael DiRegolo hit two layups to push the host lead to 19 before Iozzia hit another three off an assist from Stephens. Stephens then got to the line and hit both free throws for her first points of the evening, making it 30-16. Halfway through the period Brown and Jacqueline Moss each hit buckets from beyond the arc to cut the deficit to 12. SF State outscored the Golden Eagles in the second to bounce back and trailed just 43-27 heading into the locker room.
 
Following a Jefferson layup to start the second half the Golden Eagles pushed their lead to 20, their largest of the contest. With 4:54 left Brown hit another triple off Iozzia's dish, and she later knocked down another from deep from Kaleigh Pugh, cutting the deficit to 53-45. However, Los Angeles regained a double-digit advantage in the closing minutes to carry a 59-48 lead to the 4^th quarter.
 
Trailing 62-48, Stephens knocked down two from the charity stripe to make it a 12-point game. The Golden Eagles continued to convert offensively and, flowing two consecutive Madison Adams triples, lead 74-54 with 5:08 remaining. SF State closed out the contest going 6-of-8 from the line to cut the deficit to single digits at 76-67 as time expired.
 
Up Next
The Gators return home to host Cal State East Bay on Jan. 19 and Cal State Monterey Bay on Jan. 20 at 5:30 p.m. Live stats and video for the contest will be provided, and be sure to follow @sfstate_wbb for in-game updates.