Women's Basketball | November 21, 2017

FULL NOTEBOOK (PDF)


SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team will have Penguin on its holiday menu as Dominican University visits The Kelp Bed for a Thanksgiving Eve (Nov. 22) nonconference matinee before welcoming CCAA rival Sonoma State to The Kelp Bed Saturday. The Dominican game will tip-off at 3 p.m. while the Sonoma game will be a traditional 5:30 p.m. tip.

The Otters are coming off a spilt of their CCAA-opening weekend after winning at Cal State L.A. and falling at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The split leaves CSUMB at 2–3 overall and 1–1 in CCAA play. Dominican and Sonoma both enter their games in Seaside at 2–1 overall. Saturday's game will be the CCAA opener for the Seawolves.

Also note that there will be free admission for all fans to both women's games this week.

Fans who can't make it to The Kelp Bed can catch all of the action online. Rob Ponce will call Wednesday's action on the video Stream at OtterAthletics.com Tuesday. Embele Awipi will have the mike for Saturday's tilt with the Seawolves.

As always, live stats also will be available via OtterAthletics.com.
 

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PENGUIN 3–DOT NOTES (2–1 OVERALL): It's early, but Dominican comes in to Wednesday's game as the highest–scoring team in the West at 84.7 ppg…Sandra Ikeora (Sr./F), who grabbed a CSUMB opponent–record 25 rebounds against the Otters last season, is tearing it up again by averaging 22.3 ppg and 16.3 rpg through the first two games…Natalie Diaz (Jr./F) adds 17.0 ppg, including a 25–point, 11–rebound double–double at San Francisco State Sunday.

WHEN LAST WE MET: Sandra Ikeora posted an incredible 20–20 game with 22 points and a CSUMB opponent–record 25 rebounds as the Penguins held off the Otters for a 70–66 win last season in San Rafael. The game was close throughout, but Dominican hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to hold on. McKenna Hill led a balanced Otter effort with a 12–point, 12–rebound double–double.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: The Otters led for most of the first three quarters before hitting a wall that allowed host Cal State Dominguez Hills to rally for a 68–60 win in Carson on Nov. 18. Aubri Smith led the offense once again, this time with a career–high 27 points. Courtney Keaton pulled down 10 rebounds to lead all players.

THE GAME WAS STATISTICALLY OVER WHEN… A pair of Jade Williams free throws made it 67–58 Toros with 30 seconds remaining.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: The Otters will be playing on Nov. 22 for just the second time ever and the first since dropping an 87–89 decision to Southern Oregon at Mac Martin Tournament in Chico on Nov. 22, 2003.

THIS GIRL IS ON FIRE: Aubri Smith's 27 points at Dominguez Hills not only marked her personal high, they are the eighth most points ever scored by an Otter. Dana Andrews owns the MB record of 41 points scored at Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2008.

20–20–20–20 VISION: Aubri Smith's four consecutive 20–point games mark just the second time an Otter has scored 20–plus points back–to–back–to–back–to–back. She joins Helen Suarez as the only Otter women to accomplish that feat. Suarez did it in four straight from Jan. 16–30, 2008.

ICE, ICE BABY: The Otters failed to make a 3–pointer at Dominguez Hills, going 0–for–13 from beyond the arc. It's the first time they have failed to connect from long range since going 0–for–10 against Cal Poly Pomona on Jan. 11, 2013. That's a span of 132 games.

ICE, ICE BABY, PART II: It was a tough shooting night all–around for the Otters. Take Aubri Smith out of the equation and the Otters were just 13–for–48 (.271) from the floor.

OTTERS AMONG THE CCAA LEADERS: Aubri Smith's 20.6 ppg ranks her No. 2 on the CCAA scoring chart as we near the quarter pole of the regular season. Other Otters amongst the leaders include: REBOUNDING: No. 5 Courtney Keaton (9.2 rpg); ASSISTS: No. 5 Aubri Smith (4.4 apg).

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 are 5–0 when leading after 35 minutes and 0–25 when trailing after 35 minutes. The women, meanwhile, are 9–0 when leading after 35 and 0–22 when trailing after 35.

70 IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING: With apologies to Douglas Adams, the answer to everything isn't 42, it's 70. With last Friday's 71–70 win at Cal State L.A., CSUMB is now 40–5 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 15 consecutive games when scoring at least 80 points dating back to the 2005–06 season.