SF State women's basketball took a savage bite out of the competition March 3, but it wasn't enough to scare off Cal State Dominguez Hills, who beat the Gators 62-59 in the first round of CCAA Championship play.

"In the beginning we were having trouble rebounding," senior Desiree Butler said, but added that the Gators "got a couple stops defensively" in the second half.

Butler led SF State with a career-high 18 points and sunk six 3-pointers in her final game as an SF State Gator. Junior ZaLisha Oliver pitched in 17 points, while sophomore Dominique Hunter contributed a team-high six total rebounds.

The Gators went into the championship round "really confident," said junior Madeleine Schwartz after SF State secured their spot in CCAA championships.

Dominguez Hills took control at the very beginning of the game with a 3-point shot just over a minute into the game. After being held down 15-7, the Gators began to pick up steam, capped by six good free throw shots from Oliver. But the Toros were able to fend off the Gators, holding the lead 33-25 going into the locker room.

Dominguez Hills continued their success into the second stanza, increasing the score gap to 53-41. But the Gators weren't going to go quietly, closing the gap enough to make it a two point game, 56-54, with just two minutes left on the clock.

Butler's last 3-pointer of the game brought the score to 59-57, Toros leading, with 25 seconds left. But Dominguez Hills hit 3 free throws to take the game 62-59.

"At the end, there were plays we didn't execute," Butler said.

The Gators ended their 2008-2009 season with a 14-14 record, going 8-12 in conference. They took 6th place in regular season conference play.

"Going from ninth place to sixth place is a great thing," SF State head coach Dr. Joaquin Wallace said.