SAN FRANCISCO – A strong second half was not enough on Friday for the San Francisco State women's basketball team as the Gators dropped a heartbreaker to Cal State East Bay, 64-58.
Tyiteyana Jefferson scored a season-high 18 points and added seven rebounds while being a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.
Jhaina Stephens dropped 16 for her 12
th double-digit scoring performance of the season.
Amani Alexander and
Kaleigh Pugh both added nine in the effort, and
Jacqueline Moss (five) and
Rachel Iozzia (one) rounded out the Gator scoring.
The gritty Gators (4-12/2-11 CCAA) got to the line 13 times in the first half, including two and-ones while not allowing the Pioneers (12-7/8-5 CCAA) a free throw attempt in the first 20 minutes. SF State would hit 67 percent (12-of-18) from the line in the contest while holding the Pioneers to just seven made free throws.
In her first start of the season, Alexander hit back-to-back buckets in the first quarter to narrow the Gator deficit to 12-8. The Pioneers then pushed their lead to ten at 20-10 capped off by Morgan Greene's three pointer. With 1:44 left in the first, Stephens dished to Pugh from the top of the key who then battled for the bucket and the foul to cut the Pioneer lead to eight. Pugh later hit another contested basket and the and-one in the closing seconds before Kayla Blair drained a triple to put East Bay up 25-17 at the break.
East Bay opened up the second with five-quick points to take a 30-17 lead. Stephens then scored the next seven Gator points, including an and-one with six minutes left in the half. In the closing minutes Jefferson hit two from the charity stripe following foul off a tough rebound and then hit a layup off a dish from Alexander to make it 39-30. Another Pugh free throw ended the first half scoring, with the hosts down 41-31.
Stephens began the third quarter with a jumper and Alexander hit one more from the line to cut it to nine. East Bay finally got to the line at the 5:07 mark, with Bri Guillory hitting one for their first free thrown of the contest. With two left in the quarter, Stephens went coast-to-coast for the basket and another and-one, and followed with a jumper the next possession as SF State only trailed by four. The Gators outscored the Pioneers 15-8 and only trailed 49-46 going into the final period.
Jefferson hit a jumper to start the fourth as the Gators only trailed by one, and Moss pumped in a triple off an assist from Iozzia to give the Gators a 51-49 lead with 7:39 left in regulation. Jefferson hit her second from beyond the arc, putting the hosts up 57-52, and Pugh extended the lead form the line with 2:36 left. With SF State holding on to a 58-57 lead, Janae Chamois hit a three from the corner with 34 seconds remaining to put the Pioneers up by two, and the visitors then hit four free throws down the stretch for the 64-58 victory.
Up Next
The Gators look to make it two-straight against Cal State Monterey Bay tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at The Swamp. Live stats and video for the contest will be provided, and be sure to follow
@sfstate_wbb for in-game updates.
