Women's Basketball | January 05, 2016

SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team will make the second of three trips to Southern California this season this week. The Otters will play at defending CCAA champion Cal State Dominguez Hills Thursday (Jan. 7) before visiting CCAA newcomer Cal State San Marcos Saturday (Jan. 9).

Tipoff for both games will be a 5:30 p.m. as the openers of men's/women's doubleheader action. Rob Ponce will call both games live on OtterAthletics.com. Free live stats and video will be available on GoToros.com (Thursday) and CSUSMCougars.com (Saturday).

 

THURSDAY at CAL STATE DOMINGUEZ HILLS	SATURDAY at CAL STATE SAN MARCOS
Date: Thursday, January 7 (5:30 p.m.)	Date: Saturday, January 7 (5:30 p.m.)
Location: Carson, Calif.	Location: San Marcos, Calif.
Arena: The Torodome (3,602)	Arena: MIra Costa College Gym (1,000)
TV: None	TV: None
Live Video Stream: www.GoToros.com	Live Video Stream: www.CSUSMCougars.com
Live Stats: www.GoToros.com	Live Stats: www.CSUSMCougars.com

TORO 3–DOT NOTES (7–6, 5–0 CCAA): The Toros' overall record and team stats are skewed thanks to a brutal preseason schedule but they've looked every bit the defending conference champion since CCAA play began…Sr./G Breanne Garcia leads the CCAA in scoring at 18.8 ppg…Sr./F Kielyn Wilson is the CCAA's No. 3 rebounder at 8.9 rpg.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters played a strong first 25 minutes, but the Toros were stronger late, breaking a 34–34 tie with a 31–17 run down the stretch to win 65–51 in The Torodome on Feb. 13, 2015. Jenna Bandy led 10 Otter scorers with 10 points. Breanne Garcia led Dominguez Hills with 18 points.

SOMETHING IN COMMON: The Otters and Toros have two common opponents so far this season, with the Otters holding a 0–2 record and Dominguez a 2–0 record in games vs. UC San Diego and Cal Poly Pomona.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: The Otters led for more than 36 minutes, but faded down the stretch as San Francisco rallied to take a 56–52 win Saturday night in The Kelp Bed. McKenna Hill led the Otters once again with 14 points. Addie Garza came off the bench to grab a career–high eight rebounds.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: The last time the Otters played on a January 7th, they defeated 11th ranked Cal Poly Pomona 51–48 in Kellogg Gym on Jan. 7, 2012. Shonetta Crain-Williams led the Otters with a 14–point, 12–rebound double–double.

B–B–B–B–B–B–B–B–B–BLOCKED SHOTS: That's 10 Bs (in case you weren't counting), matching the Otter record for blocked shots in a single game the Otters posted in last Friday's win over Sonoma State. Senior forward Jazmine Johnson led the way by tying her own school record with six blocks of her own.

CLIMBING THE SCORING HILL: McKenna Hill continued her rise up the CSUMB career scoring chart by moving into the Top 10 to close the 2015 calendar year. She began 2016 with 27 points last weekend to pass Julie Heurung for 9th place with 556 points. She enters tonight's game two points behind Krista Herr (558) for 8th place.

ON THE REBOUND: McKenna Hill and Jazmine Johnson are rewriting the Otter career rebounding leaderboard this season. Entering the new year, Hill ranks No. 6 with 327 career boards and Johnson ranks No. 12 with 250. Krista Herr (2005–08) owns the Otter record with 643.

THE DOUBLE–DOUBLE TRIPLETS: McKenna Hill joined what is becoming a crowded club against Cal Poly Pomona (Dec. 13) by becoming the third Otter this season to post a double–double (11 points/12 rebounds). Rachel Amerine (vs. NDNU) and Jazmine Johnson (vs. Western Oregon) are the club's other members.

'TIS BETTER TO GIVE: Stephanie Sack continued her record setting pace for assists by dishing eight more last week. As mentioned elsewhere she ranks No. 2 the CCAA and ranks No. 35 in the nation at 5.1 assists per game. With 15 games remaining in the regular season, her 64 dimes already ranks No. 11 on the Otter season list. At her current pace she will finish with 141 assists. The Otter record is 119 set by Helen Suarez in 2009.

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.

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 64.7 ppg through the first nine games. The Otters have held their opponents under 70 points per game for seven consecutive seasons.

WORKING OVERTIME: With their 53–52 overtime win at Fresno Pacific on Nov. 24, the Otters improved to 6–3 in overtime games at the NCAA level. CSUMB has played only two Division II seasons (2006 & 2012) without playing at least one overtime game.

70 IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING: With apologies to Douglas Adams, the answer to everything isn't 42, it's 70. CSUMB is now 35–4 when scoring 70 or more points since the 2008–09 season. Up that number to 80 points and the numbers get even more impressive. The Otters have won 16 consecutive games when scoring at least 80 points dating back to the 2005–06 season.