SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 18/20 Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (13-3, 10-2 CCAA) dropped a 74-73 nail biter to No. 10/10 Cal State Dominguez Hills (18-0, 12-0 CCAA) on Saturday afternoon in The Sports Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
Jordan Vasquez – 27 points | 9 rebounds | 84.6 FG%
Dynnah Buckner – 18 points | 4 rebounds
Kelsey Forrester – 9 points | 4 assists
Charity Gallegos – 6 points | 5 assists
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cougars wasted no time getting on the board, taking a quick 5-0 lead in the opening two minutes of play.
The Toros came back and evened the game at 5-all.
Both teams traded leads nine times and had five ties with neither team leading by more than two points in the remaining eight minutes.
CSUSM ended the first quarter with a 20-18 lead after shooting 46.2% while the Toros went 37.5%.
The Toros went up 28-22 on a second-chance hook shot by Allyah Cartajena at the 5:23 mark of the second quarter.
A fast break that started with a steal by Forrester and ended with a Vasquez layup made it 28-26 at 4:47.
The Toros held the lead to end the second quarter, taking a 40-36 advantage into the locker room after a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Dawnyel Lair.
CSUDH had a slight edge on shooting in the opening 20 minutes at 45.7% (16-of-35) to CSUSM’s 44.8% (13-of-29).
The Toros dominated the board in the first half with a 23-14 advantage.
A Forrester 3-pointer from the corner at 5:53 of the third quarter closed the gap to 48-47.
After CSUDH scored eight unanswered points, the Cougars went on their best run of the game at 6-0 to make it 56-53 with 1:42 remaining in the third quarter.
A Dynnah Buckner 3-pointer ended the third quarter, closing the CSUDH lead to 59-56.
The Cougars evened the game at 61-all on a Vasquez layup with a dish under the basket by Mina Tameilau at the 8:55 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Toros took their largest lead of the fourth quarter at 71-64 before the Cougars scored five unanswered points capped by a Vasquez made free throw with 2:34 remaining in the game.
A Vasquez layup with 10 seconds on the clock cut the score to 74-73, but the CSUDH defense stopped two CSUSM scoring opportunities to clinch the win.
FAST BREAKS
Vasquez’s 27 points were a CSUSM career-best and the second most in her collegiate career. She tallied 29 points against Adams State her freshman year while playing for Fort Lewis.
The Cougars shot 44.3% (27-of-61) from the field while the Toros turned in 41.2% (28-of-68).
CSUDH won the battle of the boards at 43-37 with 19 coming on the offensive side.
The Toros got 18 points from their bench while CSUSM’s bench added nine points.
Sixteen of CSUDH’s points came on second-chance opportunities.
CSUSM tallied 13 points off fast breaks.
The Cougars went 12-of-13 (92.3%) from the free throw line while the Toros were 13-of-27 (48.1%).
CSUSM is now 6-9 in the all-time series against the Toros and 4-4 when playing in San Marcos.
This was CSUSM’s second time facing a nationally-ranked team this season. The Cougars fell 63-46 to then-No. 2/1 Western Washington on Nov. 19.
The Cougars remain in second place in the CCAA standings, two games behind CSUDH (12-0) and one game ahead of Cal Poly Pomona (9-3).
UP NEXT
The Cougars will wrap up their four-game homestand next week starting with a Thursday night matchup against Cal Poly Pomona. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m.
