SAN FRANCISCO - Strong play from the free throw line and double-doubles by Danielle Palmer and Jhaina Stephens led the San Francisco State women's basketball team to its third-straight victory on Monday as they defeated Cal State East Bay, 69-60.
- Palmer had career highs in points, with 14, and rebounds, with 12 in her first career double-double. Stephens continued her strong December with her second-straight double-double and fourth of the year with 16 points and ten rebounds. It is the first time since February of 2018 that two Gators have recorded a double-double in the same contest. (Stephens with 18 and 17 and Kaleigh Pugh with 15 and ten).
- Toni Edwards scored 11 pints and led the way with four assists. Taimane Lesa-Hardee and Taisia Fleming each had eight points.
- The victory is the third straight for SF State (5-7/4-3 CCAA), and the first three-game win streak since the 2015-16 season. It also matches the win total from a season ago.
- The 29 free throws by the Gators are the most since 2013 and ties the most recorded in the CCAA this year.
- The 69 points scored against the Pioneers (5-6/2-4 CCAA), who have allowed the fewest points per game in the conference at 57.2, are the third-most conceded by East Bay this season.
Stephens got the scoring going with a quick layup, and she and Madison Corder made it a 6-2 lead after four from the charity stripe. The Pioneers tied it up 8-8 after three-pointers by Regina Sankey and Kincso Kelemen, and grabbed their first lead of the night on Delia Moore's triple with six minutes left in the first. Fleming narrowed the deficit to one with two free throws, and Stephens added two more for the lead as SF State remained perfect from the line. Palmer put the Gators up 18-11 with back-to-back buckets from in the paint as part of a 10-2 run in the closing minutes. Pugh and Edwards both added layups to give the Purple and Gold a 23-16 lead after one. The Gators, who have made the third-most free throws in the CCAA, went 9-of-10 from the line in that first period.
Another Pioneer triple, this time from Savannah McGill, cut into the SF State lead with 6:36 left in the half at 25-23. Edwards pushed the lead back up to four following a steal and two from the stripe. With 3:56 left in the half, Felming grabbed the offensive board and tossed it in as the hosts now led 29-25. Palmer and Stephens wrapped up the half with more points to give SF State a 36-33 lead.
Palmer made her fourth field goal of the contest off a nice pass from Edwards in the lane to regain the three-point advantage. With 3:56 left in the third, Amani Alexander got SF State's first triple of the game, which came off a pass from Fleming to make it a 47-40 lead. Meanwhile defensively the Gators held East bay to just one field goal in their last ten attempts. Two Edwards free throws gave the Gators either largest lead of the night, 50-40, and Fleming added to the lead with her second bucket as SF State started to run away with things.
Lesa-Hardee made a triple to break up a Pioneer run, and two more Stephens free throws regained the ten-point lead, 58-48. The strong play from the line continued as Fleming made both with 5:53 left that created a 15-point lead. The visitors battled back with another three-pointer, but the SF State iced the game from the charity stripe as they wrapped up 2018 with a win.
The Golden Gators begin the new year on January 3, 2019 at Cal State Dominguez Hills at 5:30 p.m. Live stats and a live stream will be provided.
