Women's Basketball | November 13, 2017

FULL NOTEBOOK (PDF)

SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team returns to The Kelp Bed to host Academy of Art in its 2017–18 home opener Tuesday evening (Nov. 14). It will be a rare 5 p.m. tip-off Tuesday night.

Fans who can't make it to The Kelp Bed can follow the action on local TV (Ch. 73) and online (OtterAthletics.com). Rob Ponce has the mike for Friday's action.
 

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URBAN KNIGHT 3–DOT NOTES (0–2 OVERALL): The Urban Knight are coming off a pair of close losses at their own Tip–Off Classic last weekend…they fell to Montana State–Billings in their season opener, 68–65…dropped a 56–52 decision to CCAA rival Cal State East Bay the following afternoon…Sr./G Jazzlyn Brewster is off to a sizzling start, with games of 21 and 20 points to open the season…Sr./F Helena Orts (a native of Barcelona, Spain) adds 10.5 ppg and a team–best 7.0 rpg.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The game literally went down to the buzzer as an Otter 3–point attempt didn't fall as time expired, allowing ArtU to escape with a 72–70 win last Dec. 17 in Kezar Pavilion. McKenna Hill (17 pts) and Aubri Smith (10 reb) led the way for CSUMB. Rodericka Ware scored 20 points and Helena Orts had a 14–point, 11–rebound double–double for ArtU.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: The Otters kept making runs, but Northwest Nazarne University kept responding, pulling away late to earn a 96–69 win over CSUMB Saturday afternoon in Turlock. Aubri Smith scored a career–high 21 points to lead CSUMB.

THE GAME WAS STATISTICALLY OVER WHEN… Raquel Jardine made a layup with 4:12 remaining to put NNU on top 83–64.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: The Otters earned a victory in their last Nov. 14 appearance as Jazmine Johnson posted an 11–point, 14–rebound double–double to lead CSUMB over Western Oregon, 59–50 on Nov. 14, 2015.

FOR OPENERS: After winning seven consecutive openers from 2008–09 to 2014–15, the Otters have dropped their last four lid–lifters, including last Friday 64–51 setback versus Concordia–Portland. The Otters are 7–15 in 14 season openers at the NCAA Division II level.

FOR HOME OPENERS: The Otters are 4–0 in home openers under Kerri Nakamoto. The Otters have won 11 consecutive home openers dating back to the 2006–07 season. They are 11–2 in home openers at the NCAA Division II level.

A LEAGUE OF HER OWN: The Otters return the bulk of their roster from 2016–17, but they don't return much experince. By scoring 21 points Saturday against Northwest Nazarene, Aubri Smith becomes the first player on the roster to score 20 points in a collegiate game.

THE 300 CLUB: The Otters have to replace a pair of 300–point scorers—McKenna Hill (343) and Victoria Dorn (323)—this season. They are just the fourth Otter duo from the season team to scorer 300+ points in a season. In case you're wondering (and, if you're reading this, you are), the highest scoring duo in Otter history for a single season was Dana Andrews (488) and Alma Lopez (320), who combined to score 808 points during the 2007–08 season.

WHY PLAY 40 MINUTES? The final five minutes of games have been all but irrelevant for the Otter men's and women's basketball teams since last season. Since the start of 2016–17, the Otter men 4–0 when leading after 35 minutes and 0–24 when trailing after 35 minutes. The women, meanwhile, are 7–0 when leading after 35 and 0–21 when trailing after 35.

WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? The 96 points scored by Northwest Nazarene are the most allowed by the Otters in the Kerri Nakamoto era. The previous high was 88 by Dominican University in 2015. They're the most points allowed by the Otters since Cal State Bakersfield scored 106 points on Feb. 1, 2007. That's a span of 287 games.

70 IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING: With apologies to Douglas Adams, the answer to everything isn't 42, it's 70. Despite a 72–70 loss at Academy of Art on Dec. 17 last season, CSUMB is 38–5 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 14 consecutive games when scoring at least 80 points dating back to the 2005–06 season.