BOX SCORE

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The luster is off Saturday's showdown of CCAA women's basketball Titans as both Cal State Monterey Bay and UC San Diego lost control of their own destinies in the championship race with upset losses Friday night. CSUMB fell in a shocker, losing 58–49 to a San Bernardino that still has yet to clinch a CCAA Tournament bid, while UCSD lost at home to red–hot Cal State East Bay, 59–44.

The loss drops CSUMB (17–5, 14–5 CCAA) two games behind Chico State with three to play in the CCAA race. While the Otters finish the regular season at home against the Wildcats—whom they defeated 51–44 in Chico on Jan. 9—they'll need them to lose to either Cal State L.A. and/or Cal State East Bay prior to that meeting for a chance at the CCAA title and the No. 1 seed in the CCAA Tournament.

The loss continued a troubling trend for the Otters, who have suffered three of their five setbacks against teams that entered the game with losing records. San Bernardino improved to 11–12 and 9–10 with Friday's win.

The Otters actually led for much of Friday's game. They led by as many as five points twice in the second half. But the Coyotes came back, ironically enough, by missing shots. Forced by the Otter defense to settle for jumpers and wild runners, the Coyotes worked the offensive glass to record 18 second chance points in the second half alone.

The Otter offense, meanwhile, couldn't take advantage of 11 offensive rebounds of its own in the second half, shooting just 30 percent from the floor in the period.

Senior forward Brittani Jefferson (Palmdale/Antelope Valley JC) led all scorers with 19 points for CSUMB. Gabby Munsch (Lodi/CSU San Marcos) came off the bench to grab a season–high 10 rebounds.

CSUMB travels to La Jolla to take on UC San Diego Saturday night in RIMAC Arena. The winner will stay alive in the CCAA title championship race and take the inside track for at least the No. 2 seed in the CCAA Tournament.