SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Cal State San Marcos senior forward Jordan Vasquez has been named CCAA Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and head coach Renee Jimenez was tabbed as CCAA Coach of the Year as the conference announced its annual awards on Tuesday. In addition, junior guard Charity Gallegos joined Vasquez on the All-CCAA first team and senior forward Mina Tameilau was named to the All-CCAA second team.
Vasquez is CSUSM’s second CCAA Player of the Year in the last three years, joining Akayla Hackson (2022). In 2022, Vasquez was named the CCAA Newcomer of the Year.
Vasquez was twice named CCAA Player of the Week this season, making it four in her career. She became the sixth Cougar to reach the 1,000-point mark at CSUSM and will finish her collegiate career with almost 1,700 points with her time at Fort Lewis included. Vasquez has tallied a conference-best 18 double-doubles in 21 games and 11.9 rebounds per game, ranking her third in both categories in Division II. She is averaging 15.7 points per game (7th in CCAA) with a CCAA-high 55.1 field-goal percentage. This is her third All-CCAA first-team selection.
Jimenez earned her fourth career CCAA Coach of the Year honor. She previously earned the award in back-to-back seasons (2019-20, 2021-22) with the COVID cancelation year in between. Jimenez first received the honor as the head coach at Cal State Monterey Bay in 2010-2011. With Jimenez at the helm, the Cougars have recorded their fourth consecutive season with more than 20 wins and claimed their third CCAA Regular-Season Championship in four years.
Gallegos is CSUSM’s No. 1 3-point shooter, ranking second in the CCAA with 2.63 3-pointers per game, 41.5 3-point field-goal percentage and 71 total 3-pointers. Leading the team with 15.8 points per game, Gallegos is sixth in the CCAA with a 44.7 field-goal percentage and 89 total assists. She is supporting a 1.65 assist-to-turnover ratio which ranks her third in the conference. She is also leading the team with 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 33.1 minutes per game. This season, Gallegos picked up her third CCAA Player of the Week honor of her career. This is her third All-CCAA honor and second time being named to the first team.
Tameilau has been ice at the charity stripe line for CSUSM this season, ranking second in the CCAA with an 82.7 free-throw percentage (81-of-89). She ranks third on the team with 11.6 points and 0.7 steals per game. Tameilau has tallied 16 double-digit games in scoring with three over 20 points, including a 24-point performance against Point Loma in the season opener. This is Tameilau’s third All-CCAA second-team nod.
Since joining the CCAA in 2015-16, CSUSM has tallied 25 All-CCAA award winners.
The top-seeded Cougars received a bye and will face the winner of the Cal State LA-Cal State San Bernardino game (Thursday at 2:30 pm) in the CCAA Tournament Semifinals at 2:30 p.m. on Friday at Coussoulis Arena in San Bernardino. The CSUSM Dean of Student’s office is sponsoring a bus for both the semifinals on Friday and if the Cougars advance to the finals on Saturday that will also include a free game ticket. Reserve a spot for Friday’s game by clicking here and for Saturday’s game by clicking here.
