SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 21/NR Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (14-3, 11-2 CCAA) led wire-to-wire on Thursday night in the 75-53 victory over Cal Poly Pomona (12-5, 9-4 CCAA) in The Sports Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
Katie FitzGerald – 24 points | 57.1 FG% | 3 assists
Kelsey Forrester – 14 points | 62.5 FG%
Jordan Vasquez – 12 points | 8 rebounds | 1 blocked shot
Charity Gallegos – 11 points | 3 rebounds | 2 assists
Mina Tameilau – 3 points | 6 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cougars held the Broncos scoreless until the 7:30 mark of the first quarter after taking a quick 5-0 lead.
Deannah Buckner’s pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer gave CSUSM its largest lead of the half at 39-24.
CSUSM led the entire first half, shooting 51.6% (16-of-31) from the field and 37.5% from behind the 3-point line while CPP was held to 33.3% (9-of-27) and 22.2% (2-of-9), respectively.
The Broncos outscored CSUSM 17-14 in the third quarter, but the Cougars held their double-digit lead by taking a 53-41 lead into the final 10 minutes.
The Cougars maintained their double-digit lead throughout the entire second half, taking their largest lead on a Natalie Nicolosi second-chance jumper to make it 71-49 with 2:06 remaining in the game.
FAST BREAKS
CSUSM finished the game shooting 47.5% (28-of-59) while holding the Broncos to only 34.4% (21-of-61).
Twenty-two of CSUSM’s 75 points came off fast breaks.
The Cougars got 33 points from the bench.
CSUSM finished with a slight edge in the rebounding contest, 37-35.
Both teams finished with 12 turnovers while the Cougars tallied seven steals to CPP’s three.
FitzGerald registered a career-best 24 points and four 3-pointers.
The Broncos’ four assists were the fewest by a CSUSM opponent this season.
With the win, CSUSM evened the season series to 1-1 after the Cougars dropped a 68-65 decision in Pomona on Jan. 7.
CSUSM now holds a 7-6 lead in the all-time series and is 4-2 when playing at home.
The Cougars remain in second place in the CCAA standings, two games behind conference leader Cal State Dominguez Hills (19-0, 13-0 CCAA).
The Broncos dropped to a two-way tie for third place with Chico State (13-6, 9-4 CCAA) and Cal State LA (12-6, 9-4 CCAA)
Listen to Head Coach Renee Jimenez discuss CSUSM’s 75-53 victory tonight over Cal Poly Pomona. #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/4plKNX8QFY
– CSUSM Women’s Basketball (@CSUSM_WBB) January 27, 2023
UP NEXT
The Cougars will conclude their four-game homestand on Saturday against Cal State San Bernardino at 1 p.m.
