SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The third-seeded and No. 16/22 Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (23-5) is set to compete in its third consecutive NCAA West Regional and will face sixth-seeded Central Washington (21-8) in the quarterfinals at 12 p.m. on Friday in the Torodome on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, California.
FREE TICKETS FOR STUDENTS
The first 100 CSUSM students (with a valid CSUSM student ID) will receive complimentary game tickets by showing up at the CSUSM pass list table at the Torodome, thanks to the generosity of Dick Lansing and Carleen Kreider. If CSUSM advances to the semifinals and championship game, this offer will continue to be valid.
LAST TIME OUT
In its third consecutive appearance in the championship game of the CCAA Tournament, the Cougars finally earned its first tournament title with a 74-62 win over then-No. 6/4 Cal State Dominguez Hills last Saturday night at Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena.
Charity Gallegos tied her career high of 29 points, the most by a Cougar this season, and was one point shy of 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.
The Cougars defeated Cal State LA in the CCAA Tournament semifinals by score of 76-69 the previous day.
Leading the Cougars in scoring both games of the tournament, Gallegos was named the CCAA Tournament MVP. Kelsey Forrester joined her on the All-Tournament Team
CSUSM Women’s Basketball 2023 CCAA Tournament Champions
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS
This marks CSUSM’s third consecutive trip to the NCAA West Regional Tournament, first as the No. 3 seed. In the previous two times, the Cougars were the No. 4 seed.
With its win over then-No. 6 CSUDH, CSUSM moved up to No. 16 in the latest WBCA Top 25 Poll and once again broke into the D2SIDA Top 25 Poll.
This is the third consecutive season that CSUSM has tallied 20 or more wins in a season. In 2019-20, the Cougars finished with a 25-5 overall record before their season was canceled due to the pandemic, and last season, they finished with a 22-4 overall record.
Five Cougars were recognized on the All-CCAA teams with Dynnah Buckner, Kelsey Forrester and Jordan Vasquez earning first team honors, Mina Tameilau second team honors and Charity Gallegos honorable mention.
CSUSM is the top ball-handling team in the CCAA, ranking 53rd in turnovers per game (14.2) and 62nd in assist/turnover ratio (0.93) in the nation.
The Cougars are the CCAA free throw percentage leader at 76.4% (395-of-517) while ranking 28th in Division II.
CSUSM stayed in the No. 1 spot in the CCAA in 3-point field-goal percentage this week with a 34.7%.
The Cougars are second in the conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to 59.7 points per game.
CSUSM moved in to the top spot in the CCAA with a 42.4 field-goal percentage.
Charity Gallegos ranks No. 2 in the CCAA in assist/turnover ratio at 1.96.
Kelsey Forrester is the CCAA 3-point field-goal percentage leader at 43.4%, ranking No. 7 in the nation.
Ranking second in the CCAA, Forrester is 11th in the nation with 2.93 3-pointer per game and 82 total 3-pointers.
Dynnah Buckner ranks second in the CCAA with a 82.4 free throw percentage and 103 with 94 made free throws.
Forrester has accumulated 235 career 3-pointers and is now chasing newly crowned CCAA 3-point leader Nicole Flennaugh of Cal State LA who has 254.
GAME 29 | NO. 6 SEED CENTRAL WASHINGTON
Date Friday, March 10, 2023
Time 12 p.m.
Location Carson, Calif.
Venue Torodome
Records CSUSM (23-5)
CWU (19-8)
Live Stats SideArm Stats
Live Video CCAA Network
Tickets HomeTown Ticketing
QUARTERFINALS AGAINST CWU
Friday’s game will be the first time these two teams have played each other in program history.
The Cougars and Wildcats have had five common opponents this season with both teams defeating Cal State East Bay, Stanislaus State and Westminster. CWU split its series with Seattle Pacific while CSUSM was victorious against the Falcons in its preseason. Western Washington went 3-0 against the Wildcats and Cougars in the regular season.
CWU finished third in the GNAC standings with a 9-9 conference record.
The Wildcats defeated Simon Fraser in the GNAC Tournament Quarterfinals, 88-62, but fell 76-62 to Montana State Billings in the semifinals.
CWU is the NCAA Division II leader in defensive rebounds per game, averaging 31.5.
The Wildcats’ 18.2 assists per game are the fourth highest in the nation and second in the GNAC.
CWU is averaging 9.5 3-pointers a game, ranking eighth in the Division II.
The Wildcats have the fifth-worst average in the country in number of trips to the free throw line, only averaging 12.28 per game.
Samantha Bowman, the GNAC Player of the Year, ranks fourth in the country with 22.1 points per game and second in the with 25 double-doubles. She is also one of 14 Division II players who have tallied one triple-double this season.
Two other Wildcats are in the GNAC’s top 10 in scoring, Valerie Huerta with 18.2 points per game and Asher Cai with 14.2 points per game.
Huerta is fifth in the country with a 45.6 3-point field-goal percentage.
POTENTIAL SEMIFINAL AND CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
Joining CSUSM and CWU in the regional are top-seed and host Cal State Dominguez Hills, second-seeded Western Washington, fourth-seeded Montana State Billings, fifth-seeded Cal State LA, seventh-seeded Azusa Pacific and eighth-seeded Cal Poly Pomona.
Of the teams in this season’s NCAA West Regional, CSUSM has played the fourth-toughest schedule (.562) as WWU has played the toughest at .594, followed by CWU at .580 and CPP at .570.
If CSUSM is successful in its quarterfinal game against CWU, CSUSM will face the winner of second-seeded WWU and seventh-seeded APU in the semifinals on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The winner of the semifinal matchup will play in the West Region Final on Monday at 7 p.m.
CSUSM and WWU faced each other once this season with the Vikings registering a 63-46 victory on Nov. 19th in their own tournament. The Cougars are 0-2 against WWU in the all-time series.
The Cougars defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills in the CCAA Tournament Championship, 74-62, to capture the program’s first tournament title.
CSUSM and CPP split their series this season with the home team coming out victorious. The Cougars registered a 75-53 win on Jan. 26 after falling 68-65 in Pomona.
The Cougars went 3-0 against Cal State LA this season with their most recent win coming in the CCAA Tournament Semifinals at 75-69.
CSUSM has faced MSUB just one time in program history as it earned a 62-60 win over the Yellowjackets on Nov. 28, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
COUGAR OUTLOOK
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 238-142 (.626) 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 113-71 (.626).
