SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State women's basketball team made a late run but came up short, 53-47, versus visiting Stanislaus State on Sunday afternoon.
- SF State (0-9/0-6 CCAA) held the Warriors to just 21-of-63 (33.3 percent) from the field, the lowest mark by an opponent this season, but Kaleigh Taylor dominated the game at both ends of the court. The Warriors' (8-2/4-0 CCAA) center led all players with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
- Brittney Livingston added 10 points for Stan State.
- Taimane Lesa-Hardee logged her fourth consecutive game with double digits. The Gators guard scored 13 points and matched a season-high eight rebounds in a full 40-minute effort.
- Madison Corder and Muirae Gomez also played a full 40 minutes. Corder added 11 points and seven rebounds while Gomez finished the day with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.
- SF State was haunted by turnovers and free throw shooting yet again. The Gators committed 21 turnovers , resulting in 10 points off turnovers, and missed seven free throws.
The Gators took a 1-0 lead before the clock started thanks to an administrative technical. The Warriors answered with the next five points but SF State held the Warriors to 23.5 percent (4-of-17) shooting in the quarter and only trailed 12-7 at the end of the quarter.
A Lesa-Hardee three-pointer with 3:05 to go cut the lead in half but the Warriors used a pair of free throws and back-to-back layups to push the lead up to nine.
The long ball kept it close as Erisman splashed a three to cut the lead back to six. The Warriors missed a three, setting up a final possession for SF State but the Gators committed their 13th turnover of the half and trailed 25-19 at the half.
The Gators fell behind by nine in the third quarter before a six-point run trimmed the lead to three. Ashley Hart had a chance to cut the lead to one but went 1-of-3 at the line. She had two more opportunities and made one to cut the lead to two, 32-30. A Warriors putback pushed the deficit back to four but Hart rattled home a three with 1:10 to go to pull SF State within a point.
Kyanna Davis' layup put the Warriors back up three and the Gators answer didn't fall. With 1.1 seconds remaining in the quarter,
Samantha Erisman reached from behind but it was only the Gators' second foul of the period. The Gators came up with a deflection on the first inbounds but with .04 left on the clock, Davis came off a screen and hit an off-balance jumper to put the Warriors back up five.
Stanislaus State stretched its lead to 10 and forced a Gators timeout with 7:33 to go in regulation. The Gators made 3-of-4 free throws, then Gomez made a layup to cut the lead to five but Angelica Baylon's layup in the lane rolled in to seal it. Lesa-Hardee made two more free throws and Kaleigh Taylor answered with one for the Warriors.
The Gators return to the court on Thursday, January 2 versus Cal State San Bernardino, the first of a stretch of four home games to begin the new year. The game will be streamed on the CCAA Network and live stats will also be available at sfstategators.com.
