FULL NOTEBOOK vs. SAN BERNARDINO IN PDF FORMAT


SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team will look to remain perfect in league play and extend its current winning streak to nine games when it plays at Cal State San Bernardino Friday (Jan. 13). It will be game four of the current five-game road trip that concludes Saturday (Jan. 14) at No. 3 UC San Diego.

If you can't make the trip, be sure to listen online at www.OtterAthletics.com. Rob Ponce and Patrick Kelley will call all of the action.

SCOUTING THE COYOTES: After reaching the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five seasons in 2010–11, the Coyotes have been slow out of the gate so far in 2011–12. San Bernardino lost three All–CCAA players to graduation, so perhaps that was to be expected. The Coyotes snapped out of a four–game skid by winning two of their last three. Senior guards Angela Streets and Eliza Dy lead the Coyote offense at 14.7 and 14.3 points per game respectively. Junior forward Kristen Huffman is the top rebounder at 7.3 rebounds per game.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters and Coyotes met in a barn–burner at the 2011 CCAA Championship semifinals on Mar. 4, 2011, when Julie Heurung's last–second putback secured a 62–60 victory for CSUMB. The Otters led for much of the second half before Eisha Sheppard's jumper tied the game at 58–58 with 22 seconds remaining. But Heurung grabbed a rebound from her own miss and layed it in as the buzzer sounded to propel the Otters to the title game.

A SERIES OF STREAKS: There's been a lot of streaking going on this season series, which began in the 2004–05 season. San Bernardino took the first eight meetings. The Otters have dominated since then, however, winning four in a row and six of the last seven.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Otters opened the week by racing to a 30–point lead before coasting to a 64–56 win at San Francisco State on Jan. 5. Brittani Jefferson (Palmdale/Quartz Hill HS) led the way with a 14–point, 10–rebound double–double. The big game came two days later as the Otters took a wild one at No. 11 Cal Poly Pomona, 51–48. Shonetta Crain–Williams (Oakland/El Cerrito HS) posted the double–double this time, finishing with 14 points and 12 boards.

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, finishing a five–game road trip at San Bernardino and San Diego this week. It's part of 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 15 of its last 16 regular season road games dating back to the 2009–10 season.

'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 season. CSUMB has yet to allow and opponent to score 70 points in a game. The Otters have held nine of their first 11 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, including 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).

DOUBLE–DOUBLE TOIL AND TROUBLE: With her effort at Cal Poly Pomona, Shonetta Crain–Williams became the third Otter this season to post a double–double The trio of Crain–Williams, Brittani Jefferson and Holly Holcomb already have combined for four double–doubles. Last season, only two Otters posted double–doubles in the regular season: Julie Heurung (3 times) and Holcomb (once)

KEEP IT ROLLING: The January 7 win at San Francisco State brought CSUMB's CCAA win streak to 13 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 48 consecutive regular season games in which it has led at halftime. In fact, under Jimenez, the Otters have a 54–2 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: Entering the week, 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:
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.

A THIEF IN THE NIGHT: Junior guard Jessica Fontenette (Chino Hills/Bishop Amat HS) added two steals to her larder at CPP. With that effort, she moved past Holly Holcomb for the No. 7 spot on CSUMB's all–time list with 76. 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: The Otters have shot from long range at an historic pace 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.