SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Despite a late push in the fourth quarter, the San Francisco State women's basketball team fell to host Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday night, 68-59.
- Taimane Lesa-Hardee scored 13 for her seventh double-digit scoring performance of the year. Toni Edwards also dropped 13 points for her fifth double-digit game in the last six contests and tied a career high with five rebounds.
- Danielle Palmer added 13 points and was 6-of-13 from the field while registering five boards and tied a career best with four blocks.
- Isabella Lamonea and Jhaina Stephens each poured in nine points.
- The Gators (8-9/7-5 CCAA) shot just 32 percent (20-63), which is the second-straight game they have shot 32 percent or lower.
- The 68 points are the third-most scored by the Coyotes (8-9/7-6 CCAA) this season. The 27 bench points, compared to just two by SF State, was the difference maker in the contest.
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Lesa-Hardee drained a three from the right side off a pass from Palmer from under the hoop to start the scoring. Following a Palmer basket, the Coyotes went on a 6-0 run to grab a 7-5 advantage, including a bucket from Jasmine Sauser, who is seventh in the CCAA with a .450 field goal percentage. The hosts pushed their lead to six following a Daisia Williams triple before Lesa-Hardee ended the run with a jumper with 4:11 left in the first to make it a 12-8 game. The Gator offense struggled in the latter part of the first, going 1-for-10 from the field and scoreless for over two minutes. Lamonea got SF State back on track with her first three-pointer of the evening to cut it to four, 16-12.
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Palmer made a jumper off a pass from Lamonea to begin the second as the Gators trailed 20-14. At the eight-minute mark, Stephens grabbed the offensive board and hit the bucket the other way for her first points of the contest. A pair of Lesa-Hardee free throws narrowed the deficit to three, 21-18, and, following another host basket, Lesa-Hardee made her second three-pointer of the night and third field goal in her last four attempts that made it a two-point game once again midway through the frame. Stephens converted another jumper and followed with two from the charity stripe that brought SF State to within one, 26-25 with 4:13 left in the half. However the hosts went back up by five on a 5-1 run over 1:53, which was capped off by another Williams jumper. Both teams struggled going into halftime, with SF State ending the quarter 1-6 from the floor and the Coyotes going 1-4 as they carried a 32-28 lead into the break.
Palmer's two jumpers made it a 37-32 game with 8:12 left in the third, giving her four field goals in the game. San Bernardino grabbed their largest lead of the night, 40-32, following a free throw with 6:05 remaining before Edwards answered with a layup. Stephens, who boasts a .530 field goal mark that ranks her second in the conference, sunk the jumper a step underneath the arc that narrowed the deficit to four in the closing minutes, and Edwards was a perfect 2-for-2 from the line as part of a 6-1 run that made it 42-40. After a pair of host free throws, Edwards cut it to one with a three with 1:14 left in the quarter.
Lesa-Hardee tied things up, 49-all, with another from deep a minute into the fourth, but the hosts quickly regained the lead from the line and a layup to go back up by three. SF State again battled back to make it a one-point game, this time off a basket from Palmer, and the redshirt senior put the Gators up by one with another jumper off an assist from Edwards for their first lead since the first quarter, 53-52, with five minutes to go. The Coyotes bounced back with buckets from Jamellia Clark and Sauser to regain a three-point advantage. Edwards answered a San Bernardino three-pointer that kept the Gators within striking distance only down four with under two minutes left. Williams iced the game with her sixth basket of the night and added a pair from the line to widen the lead to seven, and San Bernardino got two more free throws before Lamonea made it a five-point game with a three at the top of the key off a pass from Palmer with 18 ticks left. But the Coyotes went 4-for-4 from the line in the final 16 seconds for the win.
The Golden Gators continue the road trip as they take on Cal Poly Pomona this Saturday, January 26, and the contest will be broadcasted on ESPN 3 as part of the Division II Showcase.
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