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SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team will look to keep the ball rolling as it heads to San Francisco State Thursday (Jan. 5) seeking its seventh consecutive win.

The Otters and Gators will tipoff at 5:30 p.m. as the opener of men's/women's doubleheader action. If you can't make it to The City for the game, follow all of the action live on www.OtterAthletics.com. Rob Ponce will call the play-by-play.

SCOUTING THE GATORS: The Gators have struggled through the first third of the 2011–12 season, opening with a six–game losing streak and entering Thursday's encounter with the Otters having lost three straight. Offense has been a major issue, with SFSU averaging 48.4 points per game—11th in the CCAA. Junior guard Nicole Hicks in the only Gator averaging in double figures at 10.6 points per game. Hicks owns both SFSU 20–point games this season, including a 25–point afternoon in a pre–Christmas loss to Grand Canyon.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters ran their season–opening winning streak to 10 games with a 49–42 victory in The Swamp on Jan. 4, 2011. Julie Heurung was the only player for either team to reach double figures, finishing with 10 points. The Otters shot just 28 percent for the game but out–rebounded the Gators 53–35 en route to the win.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Otters shook off the rust from Christmas break, overcoming a hot start by Cal State East Bay to upend the Pioneers 68–56 in Pioneer Gym. Junior forward Brittani Jefferson (Palmdale/Quartz Hill HS) need just 17 minutes to record her first double–double, finishing with a season–high 22 points and 10 rebounds. Erika Ward (Simi Valley/Royal HS) added 17 points, including five three–pointers.

WELCOME BACK: After missing the first six games of the season, senior forward Shonetta Crain–Williams (Oakland/El Cerrito HS) made a splash in her first weekend back, averaging 7.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. She grabbed a game–high 10 rebounds Dec. 18 against Cal State L.A.

20–POINT POWER: Brittani Jefferson's 22–point game at Cal State East Bay was the was the sixth 20–point game of the season by the Otters. Four different Otters have reached that plateau this season. Jefferson has done it twice, including a 21–point night vs. Simpson. Erika Ward (22 vs. Colorado State–Pueblo), Stefanie Corgel (20 vs. Cal State L.A.) and Brandi Stephens (22 vs. Humboldt State; 25 vs. Sonoma State) account for the other four.

20–POINT POWER, PART II: The above statistic stands out a bit more when you consider that the Otters posted just three 20–point games during last season's 27–4 CCAA Championship run. All three of those games belonged to Julie Heurung.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN… After playing eight games at home to open the 2011–12 season, the Otters are on the road for the first time, opening a five–game road trip with last week's win at Cal State East Bay. This begins a stretch in which they play five in a row and nine of 11 away from The Kelp Bed.

…JUST CAN'T WAIT TO GET ON THE ROAD AGAIN: If recent history is any indication, hitting the road is a good thing for the Otters. CSUMB has won 13 of its last 14 regular season road games dating back to the 2009–10 season.

LARGE MARGINS: The 86–55 win over Simpson University equalled the largest margin of victory—31 points—in CSUMB women's basketball history. It matched the 83–52 win over William Jessup University on Dec. 13, 2008 and the 52–21 win over Cal State East Bay on Feb. 5, 2011.

'TIS THE SEASON OF NOT GIVING: While not quite on its record setting pace which led all of NCAA Division II last season, the Otter defense has not been in the giving spirit this holiday season. CSUMB has yet to allow and opponent to score 70 points in a game. The Otters have held seven of their first nine opponents to 60 or fewer points.

HIGH (TWENTY) FIVE: Brandi Stephens' 25–point effort against Sonoma State made her just the fifth player in CSUMB women's basketball history to score 25 points in a game. The only Otters to score more were Dana Andrews (who did it eight times, inlcuding a school–record 41 points against Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2008) and Alma Lopez (who dropped 33 on SFSU in 2008). The other 25–point scorers were Julie Heurung (vs. Cal State Stanislaus on Feb. 25, 2011) and Helen Suarez (at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Jan. 9, 2009).

KEEP IT ROLLING: The December 30 win over Cal State East Bay brought CSUMB's CCAA win streak to 11 games dating back to a Feb. 11, 2011 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Otters have won nine consecutive CCAA home games and are on a 16–1 CCAA home streak dating back to the 2009–10 season.

WHY PLAY 40 MINUTES? Second halves have become all but irrelevant when the Otters lead at intermission under Renee Jimenez. CSUMB has won 46 consecutive regular season games in which it has led at halftime. In fact, under Jimenez, the Otters have a 52–2 all–time regular season record when leading at intermission. The last time the Otters lost such a game came on Feb. 14, 2009 when Cal State L.A. overcame a 29–25 deficit at the break to win 67–63.

WARD HEADLINES OTTERS AMONG THE CCAA LEADERS: Erika Ward leads the CCAA in three–point field goals made (2.8 per game) to top several Otters ranked on the CCAA top 10 lists so far this season. Other top performers include:
A THIEF IN THE NIGHT: Junior guard Jessica Fontenette (Chino Hills/Bishop Amat HS) enjoyed her back–to–back three–steal games in the wins over Sonoma State and Simpson College. With those efforts, she passed Andrea Hanshew for sole possession of eight place with 68. She is chasing the career record of 133 set by Dana Andrews from 2006–09.

BOMBS AWAY, TEAM EDITION: As a team, the Otters have tied the school mark for three–pointers in a game twice this season with 11 in wins over Pueblo and Academy of Art. If they keep their current pace, they will break the school record for three–pointers made (182) in the Feb. 24 game at Cal State Stanislaus.

BOMBS AWAY, PLAYER EDITION: While the Otters have shot from long range at an historic pace as a team so far this season, senior guard Erika Ward just missed the CSUMB single–game record with six treys in the Nov. 23 win over Colorado State–Pueblo (Dana Andrews twice set the standard with seven). Ward reached six 12 attempts while Andrews needed 15 and 13 attempts to set the record.