SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The No. 16/24 Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (9-1, 6-0 CCAA) posted a come-from-behind 61-55 victory at Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday night in The Den.
TOP PERFORMERS
Dynnah Buckner – 20 points | 8 rebounds | 5-of-10 FG
Jordan Vasquez – 9 points | 6 rebounds
Kate Carlson – 6 rebounds | 4 points | 4 assists
Kayden Korst – 8 points | 2 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cougars took their first lead of the game on Katie FitzGerald’s two free throws at the 6:34 mark of the first quarter.
San Bernardino held a 15-10 lead following the first quarter.
CSUSM trailed 27-21 at halftime after shooting only 17.6% (3-of-17) from the field but stayed in the game by going 5-of-6 (83.3%) at the free throw line.
A fast-break feed from Kelsey Forrester set up Vasquez for an easy layup to even the game at 34-all with 5:49 remaining in the third quarter.
CSUSM finally took its first lead of the second half on a Dynnah Buckner layup with 3:51 on the clock.
The third quarter ended on a Dynnah Buckner left-handed layup that knotted the game at 44-44.
CSUSM took its largest lead of the game on a fast-break layup by Mina Tameilau with 8:46 remaining.
The Coyotes closed the lead to one point on a Samantha Henley layup, but Forrester responded with a 3-pointer from behind the NBA line to make it 53-49 with 5:30 remaining in the game.
A Tameilau 3-pointer from the top of the key gave CSUSM a 56-51 lead with just over a minute remaining.
In the last minute, CSUSM went 7-of-8 from the free throw line to clinch the 63-55 victory.
FAST BREAKS
The Cougars extended their CCAA regular-season win streak to 24 games that began back on Dec. 9, 2021 with a 76-70 victory at Cal State Monterey Bay.
CSUSM outscored the Coyotes 42-28 in the second half, shooting 52% (13-of-25) while holding CSUSB to just 34.5% (10-of-29).
This marks the fifth time that Dynnah Buckner has scored 20 or more points in a game in her career.
The Cougars matched their season-best 45 rebounds, 11 more than San Bernardino.
CSUSM scored 16 points off fast breaks compared to CSUSB’s three.
Ten different Cougars contributed to offense in Thursday’s game.
With the win, CSUSM is 8-3 in the all-time series against the Coyotes and 5-0 when playing in San Bernardino.
This marks the Cougars’ sixth consecutive win over CSUSB.
With 956 career points, Dynnah Buckner is closing in on joining the 1,000-point club.
UP NEXT
The Cougars will continue their four-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 7 when they play at Cal Poly Pomona at 1 p.m.
