TURLOCK — The best free throw shooting team in the conference got to used that talent down the stretch to pull away as Cal State San Bernardino ended Stanislaus State's season with a 76-66 decision in the first round game of the CCAA Tournament Tuesday night.

The No. 4 seeded Warriors ended their season — the best since the 2002-03 team went 18-10 — with a 16-11 record.

Cal State San Bernardino, the No. 5 seed, will face top-seed Cal State Dominguez Hills in the 5:35 p.m. semifinal game on Friday at the Stockton Arena. CSUDH defeated Cal State L.A., 91-66, Tuesday night in Carson.

Cassidy Sanders-Curry led the Warriors with 15 points and five assists and Alysa Valentine chipped in 13 points. Ana Burch scored 11 and Reana Hardin netted 10. The Warriors' top rebounder, Riley Holladay, had six boards as they were out-rebounded by CSUSB, 41-27.

Led by Brianna Harden's 22 points, the Coyotes had five players in double figures in scoring. But it was their free throw shooting ultimately made the difference.

CSUSB entered the night as the CCAA's top free throw shooting team at 76.3 percent per game. Tuesday night, the Coyotes were a sparkling 22 for 26 (84.6 percent), including making all 13 attempts when the contest turned into the foul-and-stretch the game in the final 77 seconds. 

An 8-0 Coyote run in the middle of the final quarter turned a 56-55 Stan State lead into a seven-run advantage for the visitors. Harden capped that run with a triple, which finally ended on a Stanislaus layup by Hardin. But the Warriors would score just one more bucket (and four more points, including to Sanders-Curry free throws) after that, a Riley Holladay layup with 31 seconds left.

A really tight game that featured eight ties and eight lead changes finally went the Warriors' way with back to back Hardin baskets for five points that gave Stan State a 39-32 lead with 7:22 in the third quarter.

But a hustling and feisty Coyote team won't go away, answering with a 7-0 run for a see-saw battle. An Alexcia Mack trey, a Harden jumper, followed by another Harden three-pointer made it 63-56 with 3:30 left, forcing the Warriors to send CSUSB to the line down the stretch.

Stanislaus finished the year with a 10-3 home record at Fitzpatrick Arena. The Warriors were playing in their first home postseason game since March 8, 1991 and were looking for the program's first postseason win since March 9, 1990. They are now 0-3 in three CCAA Tournament first round games.