SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The eighth-seeded and No. 24 Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (26-6) will make its NCAA Division II Elite Eight debut on Monday, facing top-seeded and No. 4 Gannon (35-2) at 4 p.m. (PT) at the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri.
WEST REGIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Jordan Vasquez was named the NCAA Division II West Regional Tournament MVP and junior Charity Gallegos joined her on the West Regional All-Tournament Team.
Gallegos was named to the West Regional All-Tournament Team last year.
Vasquez, Gallegos WR All-Tournament Team
LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars won their first NCAA Division II Regional Championship 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.
To get to the championship game, CSUSM took down Point Loma (82-61) in the quarterfinals and No. 16 Western Washington (62-56) in the semifinals.
A different Cougar led CSUSM in scoring each game of the West Regional. Jordan Vasquez recorded a career-high 30 points against PLNU while Ava Ranson also clinched a career-best 23 points against Western Washington. On Monday, Charity Gallegos led all scorers with 27 points against Montana State Billings.
2024 NCAA West Regional Championship – Cal State San Marcos Women’s Basketball
COUGAR FACTS
This marks CSUSM’s first trip to the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Elite Eight.
With this past Monday’s win, CSUSM tallied a single-season record 26 victories in 2023-24.
This is the fourth consecutive season that CSUSM has tallied 20 or more wins in a season. Last season, the Cougars matched their program win record with a 25-6 overall record that they set in 2019-20 at 25-5 before the season was canceled due to the pandemic. In 2021-22, CSUSM finished with a 22-4 overall record.
Jorodan Vasquez was selected as the D2CCA West Region Player of the Year, a first for the program. Joining Vasquez on the D2CCA West Region first team was Charity Gallegos as the only two CCAA players on the top team.
Vasquez was named CCAA Player of the Year, making her CSUSM’s second in program history. Akayla Hackson collected the honor in 2021-22.
Three Cougars were recognized on the All-CCAA teams with Vasquez and Charity Gallegos earning first-team honors and Mina Tameilau earning second-team honors.
The Cougars rank 17th in Division II with a 77.2% free throw percentage.
CSUSM’s 34.3 3-point field-goal percentage ranks 21st in the nation while its 42.5 field-goal percentage ranks 53rd.
With a 55.8 field-goal percentage, Jordan Vasquez is 18th in Division II
Vasquez is fourth in Division II in double-doubles with 21 in the 32 games.
As the West Region leader, Vasquez ranks sixth in the nation with 11.5 rebounds per game and fourth with 369 total rebounds.
Charity Gallegos ranks 17th in Division II in 3-point percentage (40.0) and 20th in total 3-pointers (82) while ranking 29th in 3-pointers per game (2.56).
Listen to what Head Coach Renee Jimenez had to say at the @NCAADII Elite Eight Pregame Press Conference! #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/riAA2GnZhr
– CSUSM Women’s Basketball (@CSUSM_WBB) March 24, 2024
ELITE EIGHT DEBUT
This marks the first meeting between CSUSM and Gannon.
Gannon will be making its third trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight after winning the Atlantic Region in 2010 and 2013.
In 2010, Gannon defeated Tusculum, 70-66, before falling to Emporia State, 97-94, in overtime in the semifinals.
Tuesday’s 72-47 win over No. 3 Fayetteville State was the Golden Knights’ first Atlantic Region final since 2013.
Gannon has only suffered two losses this season with the first one coming against then-No. 23 Glenville State (74-70) in the Atlantic Region Challenge on Nov. 10th and the second occurring on the road against Indiana (Pa.), 53-52, in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) competition.
Gannon is holding opponents to the second-lowest field-goal percentage in the country at 33.7%.
The Golden Knights’ defense is also holding opponents to an average of 52.9 points per game, fourth best in Division II while holding their foes to the third-lowest 3-point field-goal percentage at 23.9% in the nation.
Gannon’s 19.6 fouls per game is the 30th highest in the nation.
WBCA NCAA Division II Player of the Year Samantha Pirosko is averaging 19.6 points per game (13th in DII) and 8.1 rebounds per game (86th in DII) while posting the 13th-best free throw percentage in the country at 88.3% (212-of-240).
Monday’s winner will advance to the NCAA Division II Final Four and face the winner of fourth-seeded Georgia Southwestern and fifth-seeded Minnesota State on Wednesday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. PT (8:30 p.m. CT).
2023-24 OUTLOOK
CSUSM began the season ranked No. 22 in the WBCA Division II Top 25 Preseason Poll.
The Cougars were voted to finish second in the 2023-24 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
Nine Cougars return from the 2022-23 team, including All-CCAA first-teamer Jordan Vasquez, second-teamer Mina Tameilau and honorable mention selection Charity Gallegos.
CSUSM is joined this year by four transfers, including Camille Johnson (Sonoma State), Rose Morse (UC Riverside), Ava Ranson (Montana State) and Truitt Reilly (Western Washington).
Closing out the Cougars’ roster of 16 are freshmen Kaitlyn Beall (Dream City Christian School), Maddie Leiva (Santa Margarita Catholic HS) and Jade Ramirez (Pinewood HS).
THE JIMENEZ FILE
Head coach Renee Jimenez enters her ninth season in charge of the Cougar women’s basketball team, a program that is only in its 13th season of existence.
Last season, CSUSM made it deepest run as a NCAA Division II program in 2022-23 by making it all the way to the NCAA West Regional final. The Cougars won the program’s first-ever CCAA Tournament Championship.
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 in 2021-22.
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 and followed it up with a No. 3 seed in 2022-23.
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 266-150 (.639) in her 16 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 ninth season at CSUSM, Jimenez has tallied a record of 141-79 (.641).
