BOX SCORE

TURLOCK, Calif. — Needing a win to lock up the No. 2 seed in next week's CCAA Championship Tournament, the Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team got a big night from a depleted backcourt quartet to earn a 72-60 win at Cal State Stanislaus Friday night in Fitzpatrick Arena.

The win locked up second place for CSUMB (18-8, 15-7 CCAA) and, unofficially, a first round home game against Cal State East Bay on Tuesday, Feb. 28 in The Kelp Bed. Although the seedings have already been determined, the CCAA won't make the official announcement until 10 a.m. Saturday.
“We are excited to be back home again and playing in front of our fans,” says CSUMB Head Coach Renee Jimenez. “We believe our students and community give us one of the best home court advantages in the CCAA. This is what we have been working towards and all our hard work is about to pay off.

“It's the time of year when teams decide the which path they want to take to finish their season,” she continues. “From this point on, we have to show up with our 'A' game every time we step on the floor.”

All four CSUMB guards who played Friday scored in double figures, led by senior Erika Ward (Simi Valley/Royal HS/Ventura JC), who led all scorers with 18 points. It was her highest output since she dropped 22 on Colorado State-Pueblo back on Nov. 23.

The Otters also got career highs of 14 points and seven rebounds from junior Britnee Lewis (Antioch/Pittsburg HS). The surprise of the night, however, came from freshman Angelique Bailey (Fontana/Etiwanda HS), who reached double figures for the first time with 13 points in her most extensive action of the season. Bailey played 27 minutes (her previous high was 12) replacing starting point guard Stefanie Corgel, who missed her second consecutive game due to illness.

The Otters didn't start to pull away Friday until midway through the first half. A Ward layup gave CSUMB its first double-digit lead at 20-10 just inside the 10-minute mark. But they had trouble getting more separation than that until midway through the second half, when a Lewis layup and a Ward three-pointer kick-started a 10-0 run that turned a 39-32 lead into a 49-32 advantage that would not be threatened.