SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco women's basketball team closed out the weekend with a thrilling come from behind 76-74 win over Dominican at Main Gym. Trailing by as much as 14 in the third quarter, the Gators clawed their way back to take the lead and win the game.
- The Gators now sit at 2-2 while the Penguins are 3-2
- Ashley Hart followed up a big performance yesterday with 22 points and was two rebounds shy of a double-double.
- The defense finished with 15 steals to Dominican's 10
- Mya Blake had 17 points, Muirae Gomez had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
- The Gators only held a lead for 4:59 minutes while Dominican had a lead for 32:03.
- SF State had a season high 19 offensive boards with Gomez collecting six
- The Gators went 17-20 from the free throw line.
The Gators kept things close in the first quarter. Tied at 13 all, Dominican score a pair of baskets to take a five-point lead. A buzzer-beater two from Hart cut the lead to three as the quarter ended. Hart made a layup to open the second quarter and cut the lead to one. Dominican's offense got hot and the Penguins took a 39-28 lead with 2:06 left in the second quarter. A two-pointer from Blake cut the lead to single digits but the Peguins responded with a three to take a 42-30 lead going into the second half.
SF State's offense got to work in the third quarter and exploded for 30 points. Dominican got into foul trouble early and allowed the Gators nine tries from the free throw line. The Gators made all nine. A three from Blake in the final seconds of the third quarter gave the Gators a 60-57 before Dominican's Riley Friauf scored a basket at the last second to cut the lead to one.
In a tight final quarter, neither team lead by more than four points. With 1:08 remaining, Kali Myers made both free throws to give the Gators a 75-73 lead. Dominican landed one of two frees to cut the lead to one but fouled on the following possession. Blake made one of her free's to give the Gators a 76-74 lead with 12 seconds left in the game. The Penguins' Alessandra Salise missed her shot and Dominican could not get off a second shot as the time expired.
"Today we showed we can be a team that plays in the postseason" said Head Coach Natasha Smith. "We are a shooting team but tonight our shots didn't fall. We relied heavily on a resilient defensive effort. Winning the rebound war came up big and concentrating on making our free throws. For a young team, it is definitely a statement game that we hope pushes us in these next five games in our regular season. I fell like we are prepared, confident and hungry. We want ever game bad enough to make this an exciting year for women's basketball at San Francisco State."
San Francisco State opens conference action on Saturday, November 27 against Cal State Monterey Bay. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.. The match will be broadcast free on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Updates will also be available on Twitter at @sfstate_wbb.
