ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Behind a career-best 23-point performance by Dynnah Buckner, the No. 23/23 Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (11-2, 8-1 CCAA) started the weekend strong with a 62-50 win over Sonoma State (8-7, 5-4 CCAA) on Thursday evening at The Wolves’ Den.
TOP PERFORMERS
Dynnah Buckner – 23 points | 71.4% FG | 3 rebounds | 2 steals
Kelsey Forrester – 12 points | 4 3PT | 4 rebounds | 3 assists | 2 steals
Jordan Vasquez – 10 points | 8 rebounds
Kate Carlson – 6 points | 9 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
Forrester wasted no time, tying the school career record with a 3-pointer in the opening 20 seconds of the game.
CSUSM jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes of play.
The first quarter concluded with the Cougars on top 23-12 after shooting 47.1% (8-of-17) from the field while holding the Seawolves to 30.8% (4-of-13).
Despite being outscored 12-11 in the second quarter, the Cougars took a 34-24 lead into the locker room.
An 8-0 SSU run capped by a Donnelli Allen jumper gave the Seawolves their first lead of the game at 41-42 with 2:06 on the clock in the third quarter.
CSUSM responded with a Charity Gallegos pull-up jumper followed by a Forrester 3-pointer from the corner to retake the lead at 45-41.
The Seawolves closed out the third quarter with an Ali McDonald left-handed layup to make it 45-43 CSUSM.
The Cougars led the entire fourth quarter and made it a double-digit lead once again on a Dynnah Buckner 3-pointer at the 3:36 mark.
CSUSM kept it a double-digit lead to finish with a 12-point victory.
FAST BREAKS
Forrester became the CSUSM 3-point career leader in the second quarter with her 191st, passing Cassie Damyanovich (2011-15). She is now on track to passing the CCAA record of 226 held by Maddy Wong (2016-20) of Chico State.
With her 23-point performance, Dynnah Buckner is now three points away from the 1,000-point career milestone.
CSUSM’s 45 rebounds tied a season best for the third time while outrebounding the Seawolves who finished with 29.
SSU scored 22 points off CSUSM’s 20 turnovers.
The Cougars tallied 26 points in the paint to SSU’s 22.
CSUSM shot 39.3% (22-of-56) from the field compared to the Seawolves’ 29.3% (17-of-58).
With their fourth consecutive win against SSU, the Cougars are now 10-4 in the all-time series and 4-3 when playing in Rohnert Park.
UP NEXT
The Cougars will conclude their four-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 14 at Cal Poly Humboldt with a tipoff at 5:30 p.m.
