SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team will look to avenge a pair of early-season losses that literally set a record for heart-break (see note below) when UC San Diego (Thursday) and Cal State San Bernardino (Saturday) visit The Kelp Bed to complete their annual home-and-home series with the Otters. The UCSD game will be a special 7 p.m. start Thursday night to allow the Otters and San Bernardino Friday to prepare for their nationally-televised (CBS Sports Network) game Saturday at 11 a.m.

As always, fans who can't make it to Thursday's game may watch live on www.OtterAthletics.com. Veteran play-by-play man Kevin Richardson (@krichardson46) has the call with Juan Batista handling the color duties. Saturday, Richardson and Batisita will handle the audio on OtterAthletics.com while Tony Luftman (@TonyLuftman), Leah Secondo (@LeahSecondo) and Cat Andersen call the game on CBS Sports Network.

As always, live stats will be available for both games at OtterAthletics.com.

After this weekend, the Otters conclude the home portion of their 2013-14 schedule by hosting Chico State (Feb. 21) and Cal State Stanislaus (Feb. 22). 

SCOUTING THE TRITONS (11–9, 8–8 CCAA): After winning four of five games (a streak which began with a come from behind win over CSUMB on Jan. 11), the Tritons have struggled, losing four in a row and five of six entering Thursday's game in The Kelp Bed. Just like CSUMB, which is coming off a grueling 4–game roadtrip of its own, the Tritons will be completing a 4–game trip this weekend that began with losses at Chico State (55–42) and Cal State Stanislaus (65–59). Miranda Seto leads three Tritons averaging in double figures at 15.4 points per game. Erin Dautremont adds 10.6 ppg and a team–leading 6.7 rebounds per game.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters just missed what would have been their first CCAA win of the season when Dana Webster converted a traditional 3–point play with 14 seconds remaining to give UCSD a 40–38 win in RIMAC Arena on Jan. 11. The Otters had three layup opportunities to send the game to overtime in the final seconds, but couldn't get any of them to fall before time expired. Chezla Self (Sacramento/S.J. Delta College) led the Otters with a then career–high 15 points while Ashley Morgan (Rohnert Park/Santa Rosa JC) chipped in a career and team season–high 14 boards. Miranda Seto led a balanced UCSD offense with nine points.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED, OTTER EDITION: The Otters shook off a fast start by Humboldt State to earn their first conference road win of the season with a 70–63 defeat of Humboldt State Saturday night in Arcata. CSUMB led by as many as 17 points in the second half before Humboldt chipped away to make things interesting late. Chezla Self led all scorers with a career–high 19 points while Ashley Morgan chipped in 15. Mykayla Harris (Orange/Villa Park HS) led a strong Otter contingent on the boards with 10 rebounds.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED, TRITON EDITION: UCSD led by as many as nine points in the first half and still led with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation before a 14–0 run lifted host Cal State Stanislaus to a 65–59 win in Fitzpatrick Arena Saturday night. McKennan Berch led three Triton scorers in double figures with 16 points. Miranda Seto added 15 points, four assists and six steals.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: The Otters made 10 3–pointers—at the time the No. 3 mark in the CSUMB record book—in a 69–47 win over Cal State L.A. on Feb. 13, 2010. Veronica Williams led the Otter bombers by going 4–of–6 from beyond the arc.

HOLCOMB FROM LONG RANGE: Senior forward Holly Holcomb (Ventura/Buena HS) passed current Otter Assistant Coach Stefanie Corgel) for the No. 2 spot on the CSUMB career list for 3–point field goals by making her 94th Thursday night at Cal Poly Pomona. She needs five more to become only the second Otter ever to reach 100 career treys. Dana Andrews holds the high water mark at 178 in a career that spanned from 2006–09.

HOLCOMB ON THE REBOUND: Holly Holcomb entered the season holding the No. 2 mark in the CSUMB career rebounding list and now has 582. If she continues at her current pace, she will join Krista Herr (643 from 2005–08) as the only Otters to reach 600 career rebounds.

HARRIS ON THE REBOUND: A return to the starting lineup has done wonders for Mykayla Harris, who has posted the two best rebounding games of her career in the last two games. She grabbed a career–high 14 rebounds at Cal Poly Pomona (Feb. 6) and 10 at Humboldt State (Feb. 8).

SHE SHOOTS, SHE SCORES: Holly Holcomb moved up another spot on the CSUMB career scoring chart Saturday at Humboldt State, passing Helen Suarez (616) for fourth place. With 619 points on her ledger, Holcomb is now just eight behind Brittani Jefferson (627) for third place. Dana Andrews holds the Otter record with 1,359 points.

DOUBLE–DOUBLE TOIL AND TROUBLE: Mykayla Harris recorded her first collegiate double–double with 13 points and 14 rebounds last Thursday night at Cal Poly Pomona. The effort was not only Harris' first double–double, it was just the second double–double of the season by an Otter. Alexous Robinson (Dublin/Ohlone College) had 12 points and 12 boards versus Sonoma State on Jan. 25.

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). 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.

'TIS BETTER TO GIVE AND RECEIVE: Junior guard Angelique Bailey (Fontana/Etiwanda HS) set personal career highs with seven assists (previous high was five) and three steals (previous high was two) in the Jan. 25 win over Sonoma State. The seven assists matches Nikki Beckman's (Dublin/Ohlone College) effort at Cal State East Bay on Dec. 14 for most by an Otter this season.

THE DEFENSE DOESN'T REST: Defense continues to be the staple of the Otter diet, with CSUMB entering the week allowing a CCAA–leading 60.5 points per game. The Otters enter the week ranked No. 1 in the West Region and No. 22 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 Saturday's 70–63 win at Humboldt State, 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. 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 78–5 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.