SAN FRANCISCO -- Cal State LA's women's basketball team had one get away Saturday night in a California Collegiate Athletic Association contest at San Francisco State.

The Golden Eagles led by 14 points midway through the third quarter, but stumbled down the stretch in a 55-54 loss to the Gators in The Swamp. Cal State LA (14-13, 11-8 CCAA) took a big hit in its quest to host a first-round CCAA Championship Tournament game. The Golden Eagles remain in sixth place in the conference, but are now 1 1/2 games out of fourth place heading into the final week of the regular season. The top four teams will host first-round games. Cal State LA has already clinched a tournament spot.

Samantha Lee had a team-high 17 points with 15 of them coming via 3-point shots. Christine Delapina had 14 points, while Rikke Fabricius had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Kaitlin DeDalt had a game-high 25 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute, for San Francisco State (4-21, 2-16 CCAA). The Gators entered the weekend without a conference victory, but posted wins over Cal State Dominguez Hills and the Golden Eagles. Donae Moguel had 10 points.

Rachael DiRegolo had eight points and five rebounds for the Golden Eagles.

Cal State LA was done in by a poor fourth quarter. The Golden Eagles were just 3-of-13 from the floor and made only 2-of-7 free-throw attempts.

Cal State LA shot 39.1 percent for the game (18-of-46) and was 7-of-18 from 3-point range. San Francisco State shot 32.1 percent (17-of-53) and was 7-of-19 from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles, though, were only 11-of-21 from the free-throw line, while the Gators were 14-of-19. Cal State LA had a 35-34 rebounding edge, but also committed 15 turnovers to 11 for the Gators.

The Golden Eagles started well and scored the first eight points of the game, the first four by Fabricius and the next four by DiRegolo. A 3-pointer by Lee gave the Golden Eagles an 11-2 lead and Cal State LA settled for an 11-5 lead after one quarter.

The Golden Eagles had their lead cut to 26-23 late in the first half but took a 28-23 halftime lead after a layup by DiRegolo.

A 3-pointer by Delapina pushed the lead to 35-25 early in the third quarter and a 3-pointer by Lee gave the Golden Eagles a 42-28 lead midway through the third quarter. After San Francisco State sliced the lead to 45-37 by the end of the period, Lee bumped the lead back to 10 points early in the fourth. A 3-pointer by Lee gave Cal State LA a 50-43 lead with 7:30 to go, but the Golden Eagles then went nearly six minutes without a basket and lost their grip on the game. After the Gators took a 52-51 lead on a pair of free throws, Delapina scored on a layup to give Cal State LA a 53-52 lead with 1:49 to go. San Francisco State grabbed a key offensive rebound to set up a go-ahead 3-pointer by DeDalt with 1:22 to go. Delapina hit one free throw with 11 seconds left to make it 55-54 and the teams traded turnovers down the stretch.

Cal State LA will conclude the regular season with a home game against Cal State San Marcos next Saturday on Senior Night.