LA JOLLA, California - The San Francisco State fell to No. 2 UC San Diego in the CCAA Tournament opener by a final score of 87-36.
- Taimane Lesa-Hardee had ten points and three rebounds while Jhaina Stephens, Toni Edwards and Amani Alexander each had eight. Stephens hauled in ten rebounds for her 12th double-digit rebound performance the season and fourth consecutive contest.
- The 25 percent (15-60) is the lowest shooting percentage of the season, and the Gators (10-18) only got to the line four times.
- The win gives the Tritons (27-0) their best start start in program history.
The game caps off a successful season for SF State. The Gators earned the most overall victories since 2015-16 and the most CCAA wins since 2013-14 while reaching the postseason for the first time in six years. The Gators averaged 64.6 PPG, which is the eighth-highest in a season in program history, and the 134 three-pointers are the fifth-most since the 1987-88 season.
Isabella Lamonea's 51 three's are the seventh-most by a Gator while Edwards' 124 assists are the fifth-most and the most by a player since the 2001-02 campaign. Stephens wraps up her career second all-time with a 50.3 field goal percentage and a 76.3 percent from the line. Her 786 points are the 19th-most in program history and her 493 rebounds are the 14th most.
Alexander tied it up, 3-3 with a triple but the Tritons pushed their lead to 8-3 after Joleen Yang's three-pointer. Palmer added a layup off a pass from Lesa-Hardee to counter a Yang bucket. The hosts continued their lights-out start with a 13-3 run as they went up 16-6 before Lesa-Hardee made a jumper with 6:12 remaining. The freshman added a three from the right side to cut it to seven and the defense held UC San Diego scoreless for over two minutes and Stephens' 13-foot jumper narrowed it to five. Yang's second three-pointer ended the offensive try spell for the hosts and made it 21-13 with just over three to go. The Tritons ended the first on a 7-0 run to go up 25-13 after ten.
Haleigh Hatfield made three free-throws to put the hosts up 13, and the 11-1 run continued with Brianna Claros' jumper as they now led 29-14. Edwards worked her way through the lane for two, her first basket of the night, and Alexander followed with a jumper at the top of the key. SF State held the Tritons to one of five from the floor as we reached the midway point of the second, but they regained their momentum following the media timeout to go up 20 with two quick buckets. Offensively the Gators struggled, failing to add to the scoreboard for over six minutes while the Tritons pulled ahead 48-18 after one.
Lesa-Hardee's third field goal started the scoring for the Gators in the second half, but the Tritons showed why they have the top-ranked offense in the CCAA and are the second-ranked team in the nation as they pushed their lead to 35 as part of a 39-9 run. Alexander dropped in the three from the left side off a pass from the top of the arc by Kaleigh Pugh as she reached eight points. Edwards converted the layup with two minutes to go in the third, and UC San Diego took a 73-27 lead after three.
Lesa-Hardee dropped in one from beyond the arc as SF State reached 30 points. Both teams struggled to score for nearly three minutes before Edwards battled through the lane for two with 7:10 remaining. Stephens hit a pair of jumpers and reached ten rebounds towards the end of the fourth.
