SAN FRANCISCO - Despite a strong start, the San Francisco State women's basketball team fell to the visiting Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks, 68-65 as the Gators tipped off the 2018-19 season.
- SF State (0-1) shot 43 percent (13-of-30) in the first half while limiting the Nanooks (1-0) to 32 percent (12-of-38).
- Jhaina Stephens led the Gators with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field while adding five boards, all of which came on the defensive side. Taimane Lesa-Hardee added 13 points and was 3-of-4 from deep.
- Toni Edwards poured in 12 points, which ties her career high, and had three assists and three steals.
- Kaleigh Pugh had seven points, five of which came in the fourth quarter.
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Alaska Fairbanks came out to a 5-2 lead before Edwards hit a fast break layup that cut it to one. At the seven-minute mark, Lesa-Hardee dropped in a three-pointer that tied things up 7-7, and she later got a jumper from the right for the 13-11 lead. Megan Cistulli and Edwards got consecutive buckets to widen the advantage, which was part of an 8-0 run to end the first leading 21-13. Â
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Stephens and Alexander started the second with back-to-back jumpers to widen the lead to double digits. Isabella Lamonea got her first bucket of the afternoon from the left side, but the Nanooks then went on a 9-0 run that narrowed the Gator lead to just a pair, 29-27. Fleming countered with consecutive jumpers, the latter which came off a nice pass from Mackenzie Oribello. With under a minute left, Oribello knocked down a jumper, widening the lead to 33-27, and Palmer converted two from the charity stripe to send SF State to the locker room up 35-30.
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Alaska Fairbanks stormed out with seven-straight to start the second half before Stephens hit consecutive jumpers to tie it up, 39-all.Down 42-39 after a Nanook triple, Edwards got into double digits with a layup and cut it to one. After a Nanook timeout, Lesa-Hardee hit the step back three-pointer and extend the advantage to 46-42. However once again the visitors strung together a 9-0 run at the end of the frame, which ended with a Sabrina Ungaro three for the 51-46 lead after 30 minutes.Â
The rally continued for Alaska Fairbanks as they began the fourth with another bucket before Stephens' jumper ended the 11-0 run. SF State bounced back as Lamonea and Lesa-Hardee hit back-to-back three-pointers, both from the left side, and Stephens added another jumper that cut it to three, 59-56. Pugh knocked down a basket from in the key that tied things up, 60-all, and she later knotted the score once again with another bucket from inside the paint to make it 64-all with just over a minute remaining. With 37 seconds left, Pugh scored one from the charity stripe for the late 65-64 advantage, but the Nanooks got a clutch three-pointer from Emily Evans with 30 seconds to go for the two-point lead. SF State was unable to counter and the visitors added a free throw with a second remaining to cushion their lead. Head Coach Natasha Smith: "We still have a lot to work on, but as long as we trust that we can lean on each other and fight for each other, we will achieve all of our goals."
The Gators conclude the SF State Gator Invitational tomorrow at 3 p.m. against Alaska Fairbanks. Live stats and a stream will be provided.
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