AZUSA, Calif. – The No. 24 and second-seeded Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (26-6) won its first NCAA Division II Regional Championship and punched its ticket to the Elite Eight with a 73-71 win over No. 19 and fourth-seeded Montana State Billings (28-7) at the Felix Event Center on the campus of Azusa Pacific University on Monday night.
WEST REGIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Jordan Vasquez – MVP
Charity Gallegos
TOP PERFORMERS
Charity Gallegos – 22 points | 6 assists | 4 rebounds | 2 steals
Jordan Vasquez – 19 points | 5 rebounds | 1 assist
Truitt Reilly – 12 points | 8 rebounds | 4 blocks | 2 assists
Ava Ranson – 11 points | 3 assists
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game got off to a fast and furious start as both teams combined for 31 points before the first media timeout at the 4:01 mark as CSUSM led MSUB 16-15.
After one quarter of play, the Cougars led 18-17 after shooting 50% (8-of-16) from the field to the Yellowjackets’ 46.7% (7-of-15).
CSUSM took its largest lead of the first half on a driving layup by Vasquez to give the Cougars a 37-30 lead with 2:13 to go in the second quarter.
The Cougars ended the first half with a 39-33 lead shooting 56.7% (17-of-30) while the Yellowjackets ended the first 20 minutes at 44.8% (13-of-29).
In the second period alone, CSUSM shot a hot 64.3% (9-of-14) from the field and was 2-of-2 from beyond the arc while holding Billings to 42.9% (6-of-14).
Gallegos matched MSUB’s Dyauni Boyce with a half-leading 15 points.
The Yellowjackets brought the deficit down to two at 46-44 following a Boyce layup and two free throws with 3:21 remaining in the third period.
Still ahead by two at 50-48, CSUSM went on a 5-0 run with two free throws by Camille Johnson and Gallegos’ third 3-pointer of the game to make it 55-48 with 1:02 left in the third quarter.
The Cougars entered the final quarter with a 57-50 lead. The Yellowjackets shot 55.6% (5-of-9) in the third period while the Cougars clocked in at 41.7% (5-of-12).
A Mina Tameilau 3-pointer opened the fourth quarter and gave CSUSM a 60-50 lead with 9:41 to play.
Billings used a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to three at 62-59 following a jumper by Shayla Montague with 6:14 remaining.
Two good free throws by the Yellowjackets’ Kola Bad Bear cut the deficit to two at 64-62.
Montague put Billings within one at 68-67 with a 3-pointer before a layup by Bad Bear gave the Yellowjackets the lead at 69-68 with 46.7 seconds remaining.
A layup and good free throw by Vasquez with 36.5 seconds remaining gave CSUSM the lead once again at 71-69.
A driving layup by Bad Bear on the next possession knotted the game at 71-all with 31.9 ticks remaining.
With four seconds remaining, Ranson was fouled by Boyce and sent to the free throw line where she made both shots to put CSUSM up 73-71.
After a Yellowjacket timeout, Boyce missed a driving layup before Reilly came down with the rebound and send the Cougars to the Elite Eight.
FAST BREAKS
CSUSM ended the game shooting 50.9% (28-of-55) while MSUB was just a margin better at 51% (25-of-49).
The Cougars missed just one of their 13 free throws (92.3%) while the Yellowjackets were 16-of-20 (80%).
CSUSM outrebounded MSUB by a 26-23 margin.
The Cougars had a 15-10 advantage in assists.
Both teams tallied four steals while CSUSM committed one more turnover than MSUB at 12-11.
With her second basket of the night, Tameilau surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her collegiate career, spending two seasons at Cal State East Bay before joining CSUSM ahead of the 2022-23 season and scoring the majority of those points as a Cougar.
CSUSM tallied its 26th win of the year, setting a new single-season record for the Cougars.
UP NEXT
CSUSM will play in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight beginning with the quarterfinals on Monday, March 25 at Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri. All regional winners will be reseeded after the completion of the Atlantic Regional on Tuesday.
