ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The eighth-seeded Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (27-6) saw its historic season come to an end on Wednesday in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Semifinals, falling 70-68 to Minnesota State at St. Joseph Civic Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
Jordan Vasquez – 16 points | 20 rebounds
Charity Gallegos – 20 points | 5 assists | 4 rebounds
Truitt Reilly – 12 points | 10 rebounds | 2 blocked shots
Mina Tameilau – 12 points | 3 assists
HOW IT HAPPENED
Truitt Reilly got things started early with a jumper to put CSUSM up 2-0 in the opening 20 seconds.
The Mavericks answered with a 15-2 run capped by a jumper off a turnover by Natalie Bremer at 4:35 of the first quarter.
CSUSM answered with a 3-pointer by Ranson at 4:05.
A 7-0 run capped by a Reilly 3-pointer cut the Maverick lead to 19-18 to end the first quarter.
An old-fashion 3-point play by Truitt evened the game at 23-all at the 6:57 mark of the second quarter.
CSUSM trailed 34-30 at the half after shooting 57.1% (12-of-21) to MSU’s 37.5% (12-of-32).
The deciding factor in the first 20 minutes was turnovers as CSUSM committed 15 as the Mavericks converted 14 points.
Reilly led CSUSM in the first half with eight points while MSU was led by Bremer’s 14 points.
An old-fashion 3-point play by Vasquez made it 41-37 MSU at the 5:49 mark of the third quarter.
A Gallegos 3-pointer out of the third quarter media timeout cut the gap to 43-42 with 4:29 remaining.
A Vasquez layup gave CSUSM its first lead since the opening 20 seconds, making it 46-45 at 2:54 mark of the third quarter.
Gallegos’ converted an old-fashion 3-point play to put the Cougars up 49-47 at 2:18 of third quarter.
CSUSM took its largest lead of the third quarter on a layup by Tameilau to make it 53-49 with 31 seconds remaining.
The Cougars held a 53-51 lead at the end of the third quarter after only turning the ball over twice in the 10 minutes.
After trailing for the first part of the fourth quarter, a Vasquez layup evened the game at 58-all with 5:32 remaining.
A big 3-pointer by Gallegos put CSUSM up 61-58 at 5:10 mark.
The Mavericks went up 65-64 on a Bremer jumper at 2:35.
A pair of made free throws by Tameilau gave CSUSM back the lead at 66-65.
Another Bremer jumper gave MSU the lead at 1:15, making it 67-66.
Gallegos drew a foul at 46 on the clock, going to the line and making both free throws to make it 68-67.
MSU’s Emily Herzberg made only the front end of her two free throws to even the game at 68-all with 20 seconds remaining.
A last-second layup by Herzberg gave the Mavericks the 70-68 win.
FAST BREAK
This was CSUSM’s first trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight and was its first national semifinals appearance.
The Cougars shot 45.5% (25-of-55) from the field while holding the Mavericks to 39.4% (26-of-66).
CSUSM turned over the ball a season-high 27 times to the NCAA Division II leader in forced turnovers.
The Cougars got 38 points inside the paint to MSU’s 28.
CSUSM got 16 points on second-chance opportunities to the Mavericks’ 12.
The Cougars led for 7:29 of the game, 4:40 of it in the fourth quarter, while the Mavericks were on top for 29:01.
Vasquez collected her 23rd double-double of the season (16 pts, 20 reb.) and the 49th of her collegiate career.
