SAN MARCOS, Calif. – A 21-8 fourth quarter lifted the No. 16/NR Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (6-1, 3-0 CCAA) to a 78-59 CCAA victory over San Francisco State (4-5, 1-3 CCAA) on Thursday night in The Sports Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
Dynnah Buckner – 19 points | 7-of-11 FG | 4 rebounds
Kelsey Forrester – 12 points | 4-of-5 FG | 5 rebounds | 2 steals
Charity Gallegos – 10 points | 3 steals
Deannah Buckner – 6 points | 6 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Cougars trailed 16-12 at the end of the first quarter after shooting 25% (4-of-12) from field while the Gators turned in a 41.2 (7-of-17) field-goal percentage.
CSUSM took its first lead of the game at 2:08 of the second quarter on a pair of free throws by Dynnah Buckner to make it 29-27.
Despite only shooting 38.5% from the field in the second quarter, CSUSM knotted the game at 31-all at the halftime break.
A Dynnah Buckner baseline layup to open the third quarter gave CSUSM a 33-31 lead.
The Gators responded with an 8-2 run to take a 39-35 lead at the 7:24 mark capped by a Joelene Armendariz 3-pointer.
A pair of free throws and a Mina Tameilau layup sparked a 9-0 run for the Cougars to go up 46-39 with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
A steal by Forrester and a fast-break layup by Katie FitzGerald put CSUSM up 57-51 at the end of the third quarter.
CSUSM shot 64.3% from the field and outscored SF State 26-20 in the third quarter.
The CSUSM offense exploded in the final quarter, outscoring the Gators 21-8.
The Cougars took their largest lead of the game at the 2:32 mark of the fourth quarter on Malia Mastora’s 3-pointer to make it 75-53.
CSUSM shot 64.29% (9-of-14) from the field while holding SF State to 25% (2-of-8). The Gators went 0-of-3 from behind the arc and 4-of-8 at the free throw line in the final 10 minutes.
FAST BREAKS
With Thursday’s victory, Head Coach Renee Jimenez is one win away from her 100th CSUSM victory.
The Cougars extended their conference regular-season win streak to 20 games that began on Dec. 9, 2021 with a 76-70 victory at Cal State Monterey Bay.
CSUSM led for 20:08 of the game and 16:34 of the second half.
The Cougars tallied a season-high 12 steals in the contest while forcing the Gators to make 19 turnovers.
The Gators had a slight edge in rebounds at 32-30.
Eleven different Cougars contributed to the scoring while SF State had just eight.
The Cougars scored 42 of their 78 points in the paint while SF State had just 28 of their 59 points.
CSUSM converted on 19 fast breaks while the Gators were only able to score on three.
Twenty-five of CSUSM’s points came from turnovers to SF State’s 15.
The Cougars improved to 9-2 in the all-time series against SF State and 5-1 when playing in San Marcos.
Check out @JonathanRifkind’s interview of Head Coach Renee Jimenez after CSUSM’s win over SF State Thursday night in The Sports Center. #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/fTXR3f5Oux
– CSUSM Women’s Basketball (@CSUSM_WBB) December 9, 2022
UP NEXT
The Cougars will close out their 2022 home schedule on Saturday when they host Cal State Monterey Bay at 1 p.m. in The Sports Center.
