Women's Basketball | December 02, 2015
SEASIDE, Calif. — With a solid 4–2 preconference record now in the rearview mirror, the Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team will get its first taste of CCAA action Friday when it heads to La Jolla to take on 23rd-ranked UC San Diego in RIMAC Arena. UCSD (5–1 overall) is the only CCAA team ranked in this week's NCAA Division II Top 25.
Tipoff Friday will be at 5:30 p.m. as the opening game of men's/women's doubleheader action. UCSDTritons.com will carry a free live video stream. The free live audio stream will be on OtterAthletics.com with Ropb Ponce calling the action live from courtside.
TRITON 3–DOT NOTES (5–1, 1–1 CCAA): The Tritons are proving their preseason accolades are deserved with a quick start to the 2015–16 season…picked to finish second in the CCAA behind Dominguez Hills (fyi, UCSD's only loss is to the Toros), the Tritons are currently ranked No. 23 in the latest D2SIDA Top 25…Jamie Katuna has scored in double figures in all six games this season and lead UCSD at 17.2 ppg…SF State transfer Farrah Shokoor is up to her old tricks, averaging a double–double with 14.2 ppg and 10.7 rpg.
WHEN LAST WE MET: McKenna Hill matched her (then) career high with 18 points but it wasn't enough to prevent UCSD from taking a 73–56 decision in RIMAC Arena on Jan. 31. The Otters fell behind by 24 points at the half and, despite winning the second half 33–26, they never got closer than the final margin.
THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: The last time the Otters played on Dec. 4 they gave an epic defensive performance in a 56–38 win over Cal State East Bay in 2010. At the time it was an Otter record for fewest points allowed in a game and still ranks No. 2 on that list (they held the Pioneers to 21 points later in that same season).
LARGE MARGE(INS): The 22–point margin in CSUMB's 67–45 win last week with the third largest margin of victory in a road game in the NCAA Division II era of Otter women's basketball.
A HIGH LOW: The Otters scored 78 points in their season–opening loss to Dominican University. The Otters hadn't scored that many points in a loss since dropping an 85–79 decision to Cal State Stanislaus on Dec. 6, 2008. That's a span of 191 games.
FOR (CCAA) OPENERS: The Otters are 6–5 in their 11 previous CCAA openers. This will be just the fourth time they've opened their CCAA schedule on the road. They are 1–2 when opening conference play on the road with the lone win coming at Sonoma State (78–45) in 2012.
THE DOUBLE–DOUBLE TWINS: Rachel Amerine joined
Jazmine Johnson in the double–double club with 11 points and 10 rebounds in last week's win over NDNU.
ON THE REBOUND: Jazmine Johnson pulled down a career–high 14 rebounds in the win over Western Oregon. Only Julie Heurung—who twice grabbed 16 rebounds in a game—has posted more rebounds in a game in an Otter uniform.
Oddly enough, three of the Otters who are tied behind Heurung at 14 rebounds are active players: Johnson,
Mykayla Harris and
McKenna Hill.
GIVE THAT GIRL A HAND FOR GIVING A HAND: Stephanie Sack is in a giving mood this holiday season. She entered the week leading the CCAA and ranked No. 27 nationally by averaging 5.7 assists per game. In case you're wondering, Helen Suarez owns the Otter season records for total assists (119) and assists per game (4.6) both set during the 2008–09 season.
CLIMBING THE SCORING HILL: Junior
McKenna Hill is averaging 14.2 points per game as we near the season's quarter pole. She's on pace to score 383 points in the regular season, which would rank as the No. 3 scoring season in Otter history.
THE DEFENSE DOESN'T REST: After allowing just 69.4 points per game last season, the Otters are up to their old defensive tricks again by allowing 63.3 ppg through the first six games. The Otters have held their opponents under 70 points per game for seven consecutive seasons.
WORKING OVERTIME: With their 63–59 overtime win versus Stanislaus on Jan. 23 last season, the Otters improved to 5–3 in overtime games at the NCAA level. It was CSUMB's first overtime win since defeating Sonoma State 64–59 (1 OT) on Dec. 3, 2011. CSUMB has played only two Division II seasons (2006 & 2012) without playing at least one overtime game.
GO OTTERS!
