SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The top-seeded Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team claimed a 65-51 victory over 8th-seeded Sonoma State in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament Quarterfinals on Tuesday night in The Sports Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
Akayla Hackson – 22 points | 7-of-16 FG | 6-of-6 FT | 4 assists | 4 steals
Emma Forel – 14 points | 12 rebounds | 7-of-10 FG
Stephanie Custodio – 10 points | 5 assists
Dynnah Buckner – 7 points | 2 steals
HOW IT HAPPENED •After taking a 10-5 lead at the midway point of the first quarter, the Cougars saw their lead dwindle away to 14-13 at the end of the opening 10 minutes.
•Hackson sunk CSUSM’s first 3-pointer of the game at the 8:03 mark of the second quarter, starting a trend as Custodio and Kelsey Forrester followed suit in the next two minutes to put CSUSM up 23-13.
•CSUSM made five of its seven 3-pointers in the second quarter to give the Cougars a 33-17 lead at the break.
•The Cougars held the Seawolves to just four points in the second quarter while collecting 19 points.
•The Cougars shot 50% (7-of-14) from the field in the third quarter to take a 48-38 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
•A layup by Sophie Northern cut CSUSM’s lead to 52-43 with 6:20 remaining in the game.
•CSUSM answered with a 13-3 run to give the Cougars their biggest lead of the night of 19 points (65-46) with 1:46 left in the game.
•After shooting under 17.4% (4-of-23) from the field in the first half, the Seawolves came out of the break to finish the second half with 48.1% (13-of-27).
FAST BREAKS •The Cougars improve to 24-4 while the Seawolves end their season at 15-13 overall.
•As CSUSM racks up its wins, the Cougars will keep setting a new program record for victories in a season.
•The Cougars extended their win streak to a program-record ten games.
•This is CSUSM’s second consecutive trip to the CCAA Tournament Semifinals as the Cougars fell to eventual conference champions UC San Diego last year by a score of 70-63.
•Forel registered her 11th double-double of the season.
•CSUSM recorded 15 points off SSU’s 14 turnovers in the game.
•The Cougars led wire-to-wire with the score tied for less than one minute in the opening quarter.
•CSUSM had a slight edge in rebounds over SSU, finishing 38-34.
•The Cougars have shot over 40.0% from behind the 3-point line in the last seven games, turning in a 41.2% performance tonight.
•CSUSM limited Kylie Kiech to just seven points after she posted 21 points in CSUSM’s loss at SSU on Jan. 23.
•The Cougars dropped both games to the Seawolves in the regular season but still lead the all-time series 7-4.
Head Coach Renee Jimenez goes over tonight’s CCAA Tournament victory against Sonoma State and previews Friday’s semifinal matchup against Cal State East Bay. #BleedBlue #goCCAA #ncaaD2 pic.twitter.com/Wyf4NnwVtQ
– CSUSM Women’s Basketball (@CSUSM_WBB) March 4, 2020
Junior Emma Forel discusses the importance of tonight’s CCAA Tournament win over Sonoma State after suffering a pair of losses to the Seawolves during the regular season. #BleedBlue #goCCAA #ncaaD2 pic.twitter.com/Z68Tbd3SIZ
– CSUSM Women’s Basketball (@CSUSM_WBB) March 4, 2020
UP NEXT
The Cougars will face fifth-seeded Cal State East Bay at 8 p.m. on Friday in the CCAA Tournament Semifinals in La Jolla. Generous donors Dick Lansing and Carleen Kreider are purchasing tickets for the first 100 CSUSM students for Friday’s game. CSUSM students just need to show their student ID at the RIMAC Arena ticket office to receive admission.
