BOX SCORE

CAL STATE L.A. 61, CAL ST. MONTEREY BAY 58 FINAL BOX SCORE

SCOREBOARD  1  2  OT  FINAL Cal St. Monterey Bay (4-13, 1-12 CCAA)  29  29  58 Cal State L.A. (11-6, 8-5 CCAA)  35  26  61

TOP PERFORMERS

OTTERS No. STAT No. GOLDEN EAGLES Jenna Bandy 17 Points 19 Paige Melville Jenna Bandy 7 Rebounds 11 Destinee La Fountain Angelique Bailey 5 Assists 2 Bree Parsons Emily Tevez

LOS ANGELES — It looked like a little long–overdue good fortune was coming the way of the Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team, but Lady Luck turned her back on the Otters in the end as Cal State L.A.'s Tina Fantroy knocked down a 3–pointer at the buzzer to hand the Otters a 61–58 defeat Saturday night in The Eagles's Nest.

CSUMB had battled back from six points down  in the final 91 seconds to tie the game at 58–58 on a 3–ball from Angelique Bailey (Fontana/Etiwanda HS) with 33 seconds remaining. The Otters then fouled quickly, sending Alisha Belt to the line with 29 seconds to play.

Belt promptly missed the front end of a 1–and–1 opportunity and Ashley Morgan (Rohnert Park/Santa Rosa JC) grabbed the rebound with 29 seconds remaining and the shot clock off.

The Otters appeared to have a lock on at least overtime with the opportunity to win on the final possession. But they turned the ball over with six seconds to play. Following a CSULA timeout, Paige Melville raced upcourt and dished to a well–guarded Fantroy, a 23 percent shooter from beyond the arc on the season to that point, who somehow managed to find nothing bit net from two steps beyond the 3–point line as the buzzer sounded.

Not only did the Otters battle from behind to tie it late, they trailed by as many as 14 points midway through the second half. They still found themselves down 11, 54–43, with less than six minutes to play when a Jenna Bandy (Thousand Oaks HS) 3–pointer ignited the 15–4 run that ultimately tied the game inside the final minute.

Bandy came off the bench to lead the Otters with 17 points and a season–high seven rebounds. The Otters also got 16 points from Morgan and 11 points and five assists from Bailey.

CSUMB stays on the road to conclude its 4–game trip at Cal Poly Pomona (Feb. 6) and Humboldt State (Feb. 8). The Otters return home to host UC San Diego on Friday, Feb. 13.