SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 23/23 Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (10-2, 7-1 CCAA) will wrap up its four-game road trip this week, traveling to Northern California to play Sonoma State (8-6, 5-3 CCAA) on Thursday before facing Cal Poly Humboldt (6-6, 4-4 CCAA) on Saturday. Both games will begin at 5:30 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
CSUSM collected its seventh consecutive win on Thursday with a 63-55 come-from-behind victory at Cal State San Bernardino.
The Cougars suffered their first CCAA loss last Saturday at Cal Poly Pomona, falling to the Broncos, 68-65.
CSUSM outscored the Coyotes 42-28 in the second half, shooting 52% (13-of-25) while holding CSUSB to just 34.5% (10-of-29).
Kelsey Forrester recorded a career-high seven 3-pointers at CPP, ranking her second in the CSUSM record books.
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS
The Cougars moved down to No. 23 in the WBCA Top 25 Coaches Poll while fellow CCAA opponent Cal State Dominguez Hill slipped up to No. 12
CSUSM also came in at No. 23 in the D2SIDA Top 25 Poll at No. 24 while sharing the No. 3 spot in the D2SIDA West Regional Poll.
The Cougars saw their CCAA regular-season win streak come to an end at 24 games that dated back to their 76-70 win at Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 9, 2021.
CSUSM now sits in the No. 2 spot in the CCAA standings with a 7-1 record behind Cal State Dominguez Hills (14-0, 8-0 CCAA).
CSUSM is the top ball-handling team in the CCAA, ranking 11th in turnovers per game (12.8) and 35th in assist/turnover ratio (1.06) in the nation.
The Cougars rank second in the conference in free throw percentage at 75.2% (152-of-202) and rank 43rd in the nation.
CSUSM has the second-best 3-point field-goal percentage in the CCAA at 33.2.
Four Cougars are in the top 10 in the CCAA in assist/turnover ratio with Kate Carlson the conference leader at 2.80, followed by Charity Gallegos at No. 4 (68), Kayden Korst at No. 7 (1.56) and Deannah Buckner taking the No. 8 spot (1.50).
Kelsey Forrester is the CCAA 3-point field goal percentage leader at 42.4.
With 189 3-pointers, Forrester is one away from tying Cassie Damyanovich (2011-14) for the CSUSM 3-point field goal career record.
Buckner is on course to joining the 1,000-point club at CSUSM with 974 to date. She will be the fifth Cougar to reach the milestone, joining Cassie Damyanovich (1,217), Akayla Hackson (1,167), Savannah Camp (1,112) and Heather Thompson (1,041).
GAME 13 | SONOMA STATE
Date Thursday, Jan.12, 2023
Time 5:30 p.m.
Location Rohnert Park, Calif.
Venue The Wolves’ Den
Records CSUSM (10-2, 7-1 CCAA)
SSU (8-6, 5-3 CCAA)
Live Stats SideArm Stats
Live Video ($) CCAA Network
THURSDAY AT SONOMA
The Cougars swept SSU last season with a 69-55 victory in San Marcos on Jan. 8, 2022, before bringing home a 69-57 win in Rohnert Park.
CSUSM is 9-4 in the all-time series against SSU but 3-3 when playing at Sonoma.
SSU is in a three-way tie for fourth in the CCAA standings with Cal State LA and Chico State with a 5-3 record.
After dropping their first three conference games, the Seawolves have won the next five conference games including a road sweep last weekend at San Francisco State (49-40) and Cal State Monterey Bay (58-48).
The Seawolves are ranked sixth in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage (22.6) and ninth in field-goal percentage defense (33.8).
SSU is the CCAA leader in blocks per game (3.4) with Alli McDonald leading the way with the second highest average in the conference (1.42).
McDonald has a CCAA-leading five double-doubles this season while ranking first in rebounds per game (9.3) and fifth in points per game (15.0).
SSU ranks last in the CCAA in assist/turnover ratio (.56) and turnover margin (-3.86).
SSU was picked to finish 10th in the 2022 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
GAME 14 | CAL POLY HUMBOLDT
Date Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023
Time 5:30 p.m.
Location Arcata, Calif.
Venue Lumberjack Arena
Records CSUSM (10-2, 7-1 CCAA)
HUM (6-6, 4-4 CCAA)
Live Stats SideArm Stats
Live Video ($) CCAA Network
SATURDAY NIGHT AT HUMBOLDT
Prior to Saturday’s game, the Jacks will host Cal State LA on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
The Cougars had their largest margin of victory against the Jacks in the all-time series last season in Arcata, defeating Humboldt 74-49 on Jan. 26, 2022.
CSUSM is 7-5 in the all-time series against Humboldt and 4-3 when playing in Arcata.
The Jacks are seventh in the CCAA standings wth a 4-4 record.
Humboldt has split each CCAA series weekend so far this season, most recently defeating Cal State Monterey Bay 64-48 last Thursday before falling to San Francisco State 59-56 on Saturday.
The Jacks lead the CCAA in assists per game (14.0) and 3-pointers per game (8.2).
Humboldt has the second-worst rebounds per game average in the conference at 36.4
Madison Parry is the CCAA leader in points per game (17.0) while Devon Lewis is leading the conference in assists per game (5.1).
The Jacks were picked to finish seventh in the 2022 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
CONFERENCE FAVORITE
CSUSM was picked to finish first once again in the 2022-23 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Cougars will start the new season ranked No. 12 in the WBCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the D2SIDA Top 25 Media Poll.
Nine Cougars return for the 2022-23 season including All-CCAA first teamers Jordan Vasquez and Dynnah Buckner as well as second-team selection Kelsey Forrester.
CSUSM adds three transfer, including sophomore Charity Gallegos (Chico State), redshirt junior Mina Tameilau (Cal State East Bay) and redshirt sophomore Malia Mastora (Seattle Pacific).
Beginning their collegiate campaign in Cougar Blue this season are freshmen Tatum Tamashiro and Alina Tran.
THE JIMENEZ FILE
Head coach Renee Jimenez enters her eighth season in charge of the Cougar women’s basketball team, a program that is only in its twelfth season of existence.
In 2021-22, Jimenez earned her third career and second consecutive CCAA Coach of the Year honor. She previously earned the award as the head coach at Cal State Monterey Bay during the 2010-11 season.
With Jimenez at the helm, the Cougars clinched their second consecutive CCAA Regular-Season Championship
After CSUSM’s 2019-20 inaugural NCAA Division II West Regional appearance was cut short due to COVID-19, the Cougars were finally able to make their debut in the national tournament in 2021-22 as the No. 4 seed.
The Cougars have advanced to the CCAA Tournament three times, making it to the semifinals in 2018-19 followed by back-to-back finals appearance in 2019-20 and 2021-22.
Jimenez has compiled a 228-140 (.620) in her 14 seasons coaching in the CCAA, spending two seasons at Cal State San Bernardino after a five-year stint at Cal State Monterey Bay.
In her seven seasons at CSUSM, Jimenez has tallied a record of 103-69 (.599).
