SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The eighth-seeded and No. 24 Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team (27-6) will continue its historic run on Wednesday, facing fifth-seeded and No. 13 Minnesota State (30-5) at 6:30 p.m. (PT) in the NCAA Division II Semifinals at the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri. The game will air live on CBS Sports Network.
D2CCA ALL-AMERICAN HONORS
Jordan Vasquez was named a first-team All-American by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association on Tuesday.
The D2CCA West Region Player of the Year and CCAA Player of the Year has tallied 16.7 points and 11.5 rebounds per game this season.
Vasquez has lead the Cougars to a program-record 27 wins, a CCAA Tournament and Regular-Season Championship, their first NCAA Divison II Elite Eight appearance and now their first Final Four appearance with a win over top-seeded Gannon on Monday night.
Her 11.5 rebounds per game rank fifth in the country while her 22 double-doubles for the year place second. Vasquez ranks fourth for double-doubles on the Division II active career leaders list with 48.
VASQUEZ – All-American First Team
LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars pulled off an 85-80 overtime upset over top-seeded Gannon in the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals on Monday.
Vasquez collected her 22nd double-double of the season (26 pts, 10 reb.) and the 48th of her collegiate career.
The Cougars trailed by as much as 12 in the third quarter before coming back and forcing overtime.
CSUSM outscored Gannon 11-6 in the overtime including a 4-of-4 performance at the free throw line to defeat the Golden Knights.
COUGAR FACTS
This marks CSUSM’s first trip to the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Elite Eight and Final Four.
With Monday’s win, CSUSM has tallied a single-season record 27 victories in 2023-24.
This is the fourth consecutive season that CSUSM has tallied 20 or more wins. Last season, the Cougars matched their program win record with a 25-6 overall record 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.
Jordan 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 13th in Division II with a 77.8% free throw percentage.
CSUSM’s 33.8 3-point field-goal percentage ranks 37th in the nation while its 42.5 field-goal percentage ranks 53rd.
With a 56.6 field-goal percentage, Jordan Vasquez is 14th in Division II
Vasquez is second in Division II in double-doubles with 22 in the 33 games.
As the West Region leader, Vasquez ranks sixth in the nation with 11.5 rebounds per game and fourth with 380 total rebounds.
Charity Gallegos ranks 26th in Division II in 3-point percentage (38.5) and 20th in total 3-pointers (82) while ranking 32nd in 3-pointers per game (2.48).
GAME 34 | MINNESOTA STATE
Date Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Time 6:30 p.m. PT (8:30 p.m. CT)
Location St. Joseph, Mo.
Venue Civic Center
Records CSUSM (27-6)
MSU (30-5)
Live Stats NCAA Stats
Live Video CBS Sports Network
Tickets HomeTown Ticketing
FINAL FOUR DEBUT
Wednesday will mark the first meeting between CSUSM and Minnesota State.
MSU is making its second trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
In their Elite Eight debut, the Mavericks were crowned the 2009 NCAA Division II National Champions after defeating Franklin Pierce in the championship game, 103-94.
MSU began the 2023-24 regular season with a 2-4 record, including losses to then-No. 24 Texas Woman’s, Southern Nazarene, Fort Hays State and conference rival then-No. 25 Minnesota Duluth. However, the loss to the MSUD Bulldogs at home in late November sparked a school-record 19-game winning streak, surpassing the record set by the National Champion 2008-09 team.
During that stretch, the Mavericks owned a scoring margin of +25.6. Minnesota State eventually lost to Northern State in Aberdeen, before closing out the regular season and conference tournament with five consecutive wins.
MSU is the Division II leader in turnover margin at 13.00.
The Mavericks are second in the nation with 17.1 steals per game.
Minnesota State is also boasting the fourth-most points per game (83.1) and scoring margin (20.0) in Division II.
The Mavericks are averaging 16.0 offensive rebounds per game, ranking 10th in the nation but are 224th in defensive rebounds per game at 23.8.
Ranking fourth in the nation with 3.53 steals per game, Joey Batt is leading the Mavericks with 16.3 points per game.
Wednesday’s winner will advance to the NCAA Division II National Championship game and face the winner of second-seeded Texas Woman’s and third-seeded Ferris State on Friday, March 29 at 5 p.m. PT (7 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).
