For SF State's women's basketball team, sweeping L.A. schools at home will always feel good. But when a weekend of wins shows all-round improvement and puts your team back in the hunt, that feels really good.

Just a day after a stunning come-from-behind victory over CSU Dominguez Hills, the Gators eased past Cal State L.A. 66-51 Saturday, improving to 4-4 in conference play (7-8 overall).

"We were really good this week," Gator freshman Dominique Hunter said. "We had a little slump last week but our shooting is improving, so that's a plus."

Hunter had just eight points in the win, but overall the Gators landed 35.7 percent of shots from the field—a huge improvement over last Saturday's 25 percent success rate, which included a dismal 13.9 percent in the first half.

Desiree Butler led with a game-high 18 points and Brio Rode chipped in 12, while Krystal Mays helped out by grabbing 11 rebounds. Veronica Williams paced CSULA with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The host Gators charged to a 12-point lead with 6:18 left in the first half thanks to a 16-1 run that included four-straight three pointers, and never once looked back.

Employing a high-tempo offense and a smothering full-court press in the second half, the Gators soon extended the cushion to 20 points. Jazzi Johnson tried to rally CSULA with 10 second-half points—including eight from the free-throw line—but the Gators found ways to respond to every bucket, never letting the lead drop below 12.

For Gator coach Joaquin Wallace, beating two L.A. teams in a single weekend was not only a bit of history, but a definite sign of improvement, too.

"This is the first time we swept the L.A. teams ever," Wallace said. "But to come out here and win both these games is important to us as it shows we're moving in the right direction."

He admitted to being excited about entering the second half of the season with a winning record, and with a victory over CSU Monterey Bay Wednesday, followed by a good road performance next weekend, a 6-4 record looks pretty decent going into the stretch.

"The first half [of the season] is all about positioning," he said. "You want to be in a position to make a move [for the playoffs] in the second half, so if we can come out of this week in third or fourth place, I think then we'll play our best basketball."

The Gators began their season playing 11 straight on the road, losing three of four conference games in the process. But since opening their home stand early this month, they've gone 3-1 and looked markedly confident—with the exception last Saturday's defeat—in the process.

"I told the girls, once we get home in front of your own rims, in your environment where you know what's going on, that'll be a great situation for us," Wallace said. "You can see right now, we're starting to get comfortable, our offense is looking a lot better and defensively we're doing really well."

The Gators haven't given up more than 55 points at home this year, and Wallace said there's no reason why they can't become the best defense in the conference.

But for freshman center Hunter, for now just winning two games back-to-back is a catharsis.

"Finally," she said. "We've been wanting this for so long and we've finally got it, so we're right there and we're getting better every day."