LOS ANGELES — The San Francisco State women's basketball team had three players in double digits but fell 92-65 on Thursday evening at Cal State LA.
- Three Gators (0-6/0-3 CCAA) reached double digits, led by 13 from Taimane Lesa-Hardee. Lesa-Hardee has reached double digits in five of the Gators' six games this season. Madison Corder and Muirae Gomez added a dozen points apiece.
- Freshman Nicole Flennaugh scored a career-high 21 points for the Golden Eagles (3-5/1-3 CCAA).
- The Golden Gators outscored the Golden Eagles 30-24 in the point.
- The difference came in transition, where SF State surrendered 26 fast break points.
Kelea Pickeral-Dennis got the Gators on the board first and the teams jockeyed for position early on. Madison Corder's jumper with three and a half minutes to go put the Gators up four, the biggest advantage by either team at that point. Two minutes later, Giselle Mahinay connected with Jolene Armendariz for a three-pointer that put the Gators up five. However, the Golden Eagles answered with a Sydney Bordonaro three ball and Alyssa Fisher beat the buzzer to tie the game 17-17 to end the first quarter.
A pair of Flennaugh free throws with 8:25 to go in the quarter kicked off a 12-0 run for Cal State LA and the Gators never recovered. The Golden Eagles outpaced the Gators 29-11 in the quarter on 69.2 percent (9-of-13) shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from deep. The Gators suddenly faced a 46-28 halftime deficit.
The deficit grew in the third quarter as Cal State LA posted a 33-point quarter and remained hot with 12-of-20 (60 percent) shooting from the field.
SF State won the fourth quarter but it was too little, too late. The Gators used a 9-0 run with five points coming from Lesa-Hardee and four from Corder to trim the deficit. Over that period, the Gators defense limited Cal State LA to 0-of-7 shooting. SF State finished the game on an 8-0 run while keeping Cal State LA to 0-of-6 shooting over the same period.
SF State plays its first home game of the season on Saturday, December 5 at 5: 30 p.m. when the Gators host Cal State East Bay. That is Purpleout and the first 350 fans through the doors at Saturday's doubleheader will receive a free replica SF State purple jersey. The game will be streamed on the CCAA Network and live stats will also be available at sfstategators.com.
