Women's Basketball | November 20, 2014
SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team will get its first taste of home cooking this season when Pacific West Conference rival Holy Names University visits the Kelp Bed for the 2014–15 home opener on Sunday, Nov. 23. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Fans who can't make it to The Kelp Bed can watch the live stream on OtterAthletics.com and on campus on Ch. 73.1. Rob Ponce will call the action live from courtside.
HNU 3–DOT NOTES (1–1, 1 game pending): The Hawks are still in search of their first win of the after dropping games to Great Northwest Athletic Conference foes Alaska and Alaska–Anchorage to open the season…they also dropped an exhibition game against Cal–Maritime…they are scheduled to host CCAA rival Sonoma State Thursday night…Garysha Youngblood leads a balanced scoresheet at 7.5 points per game…Tatiana Howard is the team's top rebounder at 6.5 rpg.
WHEN LAST WE MET: This will be the first meeting between the Otters and the Hawks in women's basketball.
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.
FOR (HOME) OPENERS: The Otters are 8–2 in home openers since moving to the NCAA Division II level for the 2004–05 season. They have won their last eight home openers dating back to the 2006–07 season.
HOME SWEET HOME: The onerous CCAA schedule which requires 22 conference home games (out of 26 dates) hasn't left much room for nonconference play in The Kelp Bed, but the Otters have enjoyed those games when they could. The Otters are 12–2 in nonconference play at home since the 2007–08 season.
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: CSUMB's loss to Academy of Art on Nov. 14 snapped a strong of 10 consecutive regular season nonconference games away from The Kelp Bed. Priot to that game 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 78–68 win at Notre Dame de Namur on Nov. 15, CSUMB is now 33–2 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 the win at Notre Dame de Namur, CSUMB has won 74 of its last 78 regular season games in which it has led at halftime. Since 2008–09, the Otters have an 80–5 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.
