TURLOCK, Calif. – As the saying goes… third time’s a charm. In its third consecutive appearance in the championship game of the CCAA Tournament, the No. 23/RV Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (23-5) finally earned its first tournament title with a 74-62 win over No. 6/4 Cal State Dominguez Hills (28-2) on Saturday night at Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena.
TOP 4 PERFORMERS
Charity Gallegos – 29 points | 5 assists | 4 rebounds | 2 steals | 4-of-6 3FG
Dyannah Buckner – 14 points | 4 rebounds | 2 assists
Kelsey Forrester – 12 points | 5 rebounds | 2 assists | 4-of-5 3FG
Jordan Vasquez – 8 points | 8 rebounds
Kate Carlson – 6 points | 6 rebounds | 1-of-1 3FG
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUSM began the game down 7-2 after a Joe’l Benoit layup with 5:59 remaining in the period.
The Cougars went on a 6-0 run with two good free throws by Buckner, a Tameilau layup and two more good free throws by Dynnah Buckner to put CSUSM ahead 8-7 with 4:18 left in the quarter.
Dominguez Hills soon went on a 10-3 run and took an 18-10 lead on an Amaya Snowden 3-pointer with 1:48 remaining in the period.
A 3-pointer by Forrester capped the quarter’s scoring as CSUSM had a 20-16 deficit after 10 minutes.
CSUDH took a 23-16 lead to begin the second period with a layup by Danyell Booker and a good free throw by Nala Williams.
CSUSM then scored seven unanswered points to knot the game at 23 on a 3-pointer by Forrester with 6:01 left in the second quarter.
The Toros’ Auren Isaacson made a last-second layup to tie the game at 33 heading into the halftime break.
CSUSM shot 54.5% (12-of-22) from the field in the first half while CSUDH came in at 48.1% (13-of-27).
Dominguez Hills took a six-point lead at 44-38 on a Benoit fast-break layup with 4:40 to go in the third quarter, but CSUSM soon took its own six-point lead with a 12-point run that ended on a Dynnah Buckner 3-pointer with 2:01 left.
The Cougars closed out the third quarter with a Gallegos 3-pointer at the buzzer to put CSUSM ahead 55-48.
The fourth quarter was all CSUSM as the Cougars never trailed and had a lead of at least four points throughout.
The Cougars took their first double-digit lead of the game on Carlson’s first 3-point attempt at CSUSM to go up 69-58 with 3:26 to play.
CSUSM took its largest lead of the game in the final 25 seconds of the game on the backend of Gallegos’ two free throws to give the Cougars the eventual finals score of 74-62.
FAST BREAKS
Leading the Cougars in scoring both games of the tournament, Charity Gallegos was named the CCAA Tournament MVP. Kelsey Forrester joined her on the All-Tournament Team.
Gallegos’ 29 points tied her career high and were the most by a Cougar this season as she was one point off the program’s single-game record. She scored the same amount against the Toros in last year’s tournament as a member of Chico State.
CSUSM ended the game shooting 47.9% (23-of-48) from the field while holding the Toros to 40.4% (23-of-57).
The Cougars were one 3-pointer shy of tying the program’s single-game record as they tallied 12.
CSUSM shot a season-best 60% (12-of-20) from beyond the arc.
CSUSM outrebounded CSUDH, 35-33.
The Cougars tallied more assists at 11-8.
CSUSM led for 19:03 while CSUDH was on top for 16:25.
This is Head Coach Renee Jimenez’s second CCAA Tournament Championship. She earned her first as the head coach at Cal State Monterey Bay in 2011-12.
UP NEXT
With its ticket punched to the NCAA West Regional, CSUSM will see who it will be facing in the NCAA Division II Selection Show taking place on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. (PT) on NCAA.com.
