SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team clinched a spot in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament with its program-record 19th win of the season in the Cougars’ 75-66 victory over Cal State LA on Thursday night in The Sports Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
Chloe Eackles – 18 points | 6-of-10 FG | 7 rebounds | 3 blocked shots
Emma Forel – 18 points | 15 rebounds | 7-of-11 FG | 35 minutes
Akayla Hackson – 12 points | 5 assists | 3 rebounds | 2 blocked shots
Stephanie Custodio – 11 points | 5 assists | 4 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED •The Cougars snuck out to a 14-7 lead after the Golden Eagles shot just 11.8% from the field in the first quarter.
•Fifteen of CSUSM’s first 26 points came off 3-pointers.
•The Cougars took a 38-26 lead into halftime behind a 12-of-26 (46.2%) performance from the field with half of the buckets from beyond the arc.
•CSUSM led wire-to-wire with its largest lead of 19 points coming in the third quarter on an Eackles 3-pointer at 2:18 to make it 53-34.
•The Golden Eagles cut CSUSM’s lead to 10 points (70-60) on a layup by Rachael DiRegolo with 1:51 remaining in the game, forcing a Cougar timeout.
•CSULA outscored CSUSM 6-5 in the final minute and a half, but the Cougars’ cushion was too large for the Golden Eagles to overcome.
FAST BREAKS •This will be CSUSM’s second consecutive trip to the CCAA Tournament, falling last season to eventual conference champion UC San Diego, 70-63, in the semifinals.
•The Cougars improve to 19-4 (14-4 CCAA) while the Golden Eagles fall to 9-14 (7-10 CCAA).
•Eackles collected a career-high 18 points, passing her previous record of 13 points set her freshman season.
•Forel registered her 10th double-double of the season, ranking her second in the CCAA.
•CSUSM tallied 17 points off fast breaks while CSULA finished with only three.
•The Golden Eagles had 18 offensive boards to CSUSM’s seven, ending the game with a 42-39 advantage on total rebounds.
•The Cougars shot 45.5% (25-of-55) from the field while holding CSULA to 33.3% (24-of-72).
•CSUSM knocked down six of its eight 3-pointers in the first half while the Golden Eagles notched seven of their eight in the second half.
•This marks CSUSM’s fifth consecutive win over the Golden Eagles.
•With the win, the Cougars took a 6-4 lead in the all-time series against CSULA and are now 4-1 when playing in The Sports Center.
Head Coach Renee Jimenez says it’s nice for her program to have some tradition in expecting to clinch a spot in the CCAA Tournament every year. #BleedBlue #goCCAA #ncaaD2 pic.twitter.com/ET3WAbw3lM
– CSUSM Women’s Basketball (@CSUSM_WBB) February 14, 2020
Chloe Eackles talks about what went into tonight’s CCAA Tournament-clinching win as she posted a career-high 18 points. #BleedBlue #goCCAA #ncaaD2 pic.twitter.com/3VpOTkuep1
– CSUSM Women’s Basketball (@CSUSM_WBB) February 14, 2020
UP NEXT
The Cougars host Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday at 1 p.m. in The Sports Center.
