SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State women's basketball team had a strong second half that included a 26-18 third quarter but the Gators couldn't overcome a slow first quarter in a 77-67 loss to Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday afternoon inside the Main Gym at Don Nasser Family Plaza.
- Ashley Hart followed up a career night with a team-high 17 points for the Gators (1-10/1-7 CCAA)
- The Gators had four players score in double digits for back-to-back games with Madison Corder and Muirae Gomez each adding 12, and Samantha Erisman scoring 11 points on 9-of-12 free throw shooting.
- Hart led all players with eight rebounds, which matched a career-high. Corder and Gomez each had seven apiece.
- Jayda Villareal led all players with 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, with six of those coming from distance. Jackie Ricketson added 15 points and Leilia Orji had 10 points for the Broncos (9-5/5-3 CCAA).
The Broncos opened the game on a 15-2 run and the Gators never quite recovered. The Gators pulled to within five, 20-15, but a foul on an offensive rebound and a pair of turnovers saw the deficit grow back to double digits, 26-15, at the end of the quarter.
The Gators cut the lead to eight on a Lesa-Hardee three-pointer but CPP responded with an 18-4 run, with all of the Gators' points coming from Corder. A couple of second chance buckets by Hart kept the Gators competitive but Villareal came off a screen and hit a three-pointer with seven seconds left in the half to make it a 20-point game.
SF State returned from the locker room energized and pounded the ball inside. All but one of the Gators' nine field goal attempts came inside the paint and the Gators converted five of them, all layups. Cal Poly Pomona's only answer was to foul, which resulted in 16-of-18 free throw shooting for the Gators in the quarter alone. That frustrated the Broncos bench, which was whistled for a technical foul. Hart finished the half with a layup that cut the lead to a dozen, 67-55.
Hart opened the fourth quarter with another layup to cut the lead to 10. Corder, at the time the team's leading rebounder, headed to the bench with her fourth foul with 6:19 to go. The Gators caught a break when Kasey Smit missed both free throws and Erisman, who subbed in for Corder, laid one in to cut the lead to single digits. With just under three minutes to go, Corder got a hand on a ball that Lesa-Hardee came up, which created a second chance by Hart that cut the lead to 67-74.The Gators went scoreless after that though, being held quiet for the final 2:57.
The homestand continues as the Gators host Chico State on Thursday, January 9 at 5:30 p.m. The four-game homestand wraps uon Saturday, January 11 with a 1 p.m. game versus Sonoma State. Both games will be streamed on the CCAA Network and live stats will also be available at sfstategators.com.
