Women's Basketball | November 12, 2014

FULL NOTEBOOK vs. ACADEMY OF ART  |  LIVE STATS & VIDEO


SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team begins its second season under Head Coach Kerri Nakamoto (@CoachKNakamoto) this weekend when it heads up Highway 101 to play in the Lady Argo Classic Friday and Saturday (Nov. 14–15) at Notre Dame de Namur's Gleason Gym. The Otters will take on 2014 NCAA Tournament qualifier Academy of Art University Friday and host NDNU Saturday. Tipoff for both games will be 2 p.m.

NDNU is providing free live stats and a live video from both games. The live video feed costs $7.95 per game. Links for both are available at NDNUArgos.com.

ARTU 3–DOT NOTES (23–8 in 2013–14): The Urban Knights are coming off consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and are ranked No. 26 in the first Division II national poll…they won 15 of their last 17 regular season games…fell to Montana State–Billings, 60–59 in the opening round of the NCAA West Regional…five players averaged in double figures last season and all of them return for Saturday's opener…ArtU is led by 2013–14 leading scorer and rebounder Krystal Forthan, who averaged a double–double in 2013–14 with 19.7 ppg and 12.3 rpg.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters opened a double–digit lead late in the first half and never looked back in a 79–63 win over ArtU on Dec. 5, 2012 in The Kelp Bed. Gabby Munsch led four Otters in double figures with 21 points. Jordan Rogers led the Urban Knights with 14 points.

FOR OPENERS: The Otters bring a streak of seven consecutive opening day wins dating back to the 2008–09 season into Friday's meeting with ArtU. The Otters are 7–4 on opening days since moving up to the NCAA Division II ranks in 2004–05.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: This will be the first time the Otters have played a game on a Nov. 14. The last time they played on a Nov. 15 they defeated ArtU 82–58 in The Kelp Bed on Nov. 15, 2011.

YOU CAN'T TELL THE PLAYERS WITHOUT A SCORECARD: Otter fans will have plenty of new faces to remember as we kickoff the 2014–15 season. Eleven of the 16 active players will be making their debutante appearances this weekend at the NDNU tournament.

THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY: The theory of relativity applies to the Otter bench this season. Joining the team as a volunteer assistant coach is Kellie Beckman, the mother of Otter senior guard Nikki Beckman. Kellie was most recently on the coaching staff at Ohlone College.

ROAD SWEET ROAD: The Otters enter this weekend's action having won 10 consecutive regular season nonconference games away from The Kelp Bed. The last time they lost a regular season game nonconference game outside of Seaside was a 71–57 setback to Western Oregon on Nov. 16, 2008.

THE DEFENSE DOESN'T REST: Defense continues to be the staple of the Otter diet, with CSUMB finished last season allowing just 59.2 points per game. The Otters finished their first season under Head Coach Kerri Nakamoto ranked No. 1 in both the CCAA and the West Region and No. 13 in the nation in scoring defense.

70 IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING: With apologies to Douglas Adams, the answer to everything isn't 42, it's 70. With the 70–63 win at Humboldt State on Feb. 8, CSUMB is now 32–2 when scoring 70 or more points since the 2008–09 season. Prior to the 2013 regular season finale (an 84–75 overtime loss to Chico State), the Otters hadn't scored 70 in defeat since a 85–79 loss to Cal State Stanislaus on Dec. 6, 2008.

WHY PLAY 40 MINUTES? Second halves have become all but irrelevant when the Otters lead at intermission. With Saturday's win over Stanislaus, CSUMB has won 73 of its last 77 regular season games in which it has led at halftime. Since 2008–09, the Otters have a 79–5 regular season record when leading at intermission. Included in that run was a 52–game winning streak broken when Humboldt State overcame a 32–31 on deficit Feb. 4, 2012 to win 65–51.

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR
The Otters dropped consecutive games by one point (47–46) at San Bernardino (Jan. 10) and two points (40–38) at UC San Diego (Jan. 11) last season. It marked the first time ever that the Otters played consecutive games decided by a total of three points. The previous record for consecutive close games was five points, with the Otters falling at San Francisco State (55–52) and to Cal State Dominguez Hills (52–50) on Feb. 10–12, 2010.