Women's Basketball | November 06, 2017

FULL NOTEBOOK (PDF)


SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay women's basketball team will unveil its new look Friday when it opens the 2017–18 season against Concordia–Portland at the Stanislaus Challenge in Turlock. CSUMB will play Cocordia at 5:30 p.m. before facing Northwest Nazarene Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Both games will take place in Fitzpatrick Arena on the campus of Stanislaus State.

"I am excited to see this veteran squad out on the court this weekend. We have focused on getting better each day and I think so far through the first couple weeks we have accomplished that goal," says CSUMB Head Coach Kerri Nakamoto, now in her fifth season as an Otter.

"We are an upperclassman–heavy roster with a lot of experience playing together. I think my point guards Aubri Smith and Christine Golfo understand our system and what they need to do to control our offense and defense now that they have a year under their belts. My veteran post players Alexa Sperling, Courtney Keaton and Kylie Fujioka each brings at least years experience to our front court."

The Otters return the bulk of their roster from last season, but minus All–CCAA picks McKenna Hill and Victoria Dorn, who graduated in the spring. With two of the top players in program history gone, new faces will have to step up for the Otters to be successful this season.

"Replacing McKenna Hill and Dorn will be more of a collective effort, spread out amongst numerous players," says Nakamoto. "We had a really strong fall of workouts and each player has elevated her individual game in anticipation for this season. Our goal is to have a balanced attack and a strong defensive presence which will be difficult for opponents to key in on particular individuals."

Fans who can't make it to Turlock for this weekend's games can watch online and follow live stats at www.warriorathletics.com. 
 

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CAVALIER 3–DOT NOTES (12–16, 9–11 GNAC): The Cavaliers are NCAA postseason eligible for the first time this season…averaged 10 wins per season in their three seasons of transition from NAIA…Sr./G Danielle Hartzog was the only CUP player to avg. in double figures last season 11.9 ppg)…the Cavs also return leading rebounder Jr./F Bailey Cartwright, who pulled down 7.0 rpg as a sophomore.

WHEN LAST WE MET: The Otters led at the end of one and trailed by just two late in the fourth, but Concordia pulled away in the final 93 seconds to win 61–52 in the season opener for both teams last November in Portland. Aubri Smith and Victoria Dorn scored nine points apiece for CSUMB while McKenna Hill pulled down a game–high 10 rebounds. Keesha Sarman led all scorers with 15 points for Concordia.

WHEN LAST WE PLAYED: The Otters nearly erased a 14–point, fourth–quarter deficit—twice pulling to within two points—only to fall to Chico State 55–51 in the 2016–17 season finale. Playing in her final collegiate game, McKenna Hill went out with a bang, pouring in 25 points.

THE GAME WAS STATISTICALLY OVER WHEN… We're returning the feature "The Game Was Statistically Over When…" again in 2017–18. This feature uses and algorithm developed by sabermatician Bill James to calculate the point in the game at which it became statistically impossible for the losing team to win.

THIS DATE IN OTTER HISTORY: This will mark just the second time the Otters have played on a Nov. 10. The last time it happened, they fell in 67–60 in overtime to Concordia–Irvine on Nov. 10, 2002.

FOR OPENERS: After winning seven consecutive openers from 2008–09 to 2014–15, the Otters have dropped their last three lid–lifters, including last season's 62–51 setback at Concordia–Portland. The Otters are 7–7 in 14 season openers at the NCAA Division II level.

TOURNEY TIME: The Otters are 17–15 all–time in regular season tournament action at the NCAA Division II level. They are 14–6 in their last 20 such games. They are 5–5 in tournament play under Kerri Nakamoto.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: Friday's game against Concordia–Portland will mark the first time since Nov. 16, 2012 that the Otters will have played a game without Victoria Dorn on their roster.

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 were all but irrelevant for the Otter men's and women's basketball teams last season. The Otter men finished 4–0 when leading after 35 minutes and 0–22 when trailing after 35 minutes. The women, meanwhile, finished 7–0 when leading after 35 and 0–19 when trailing after 35.

THE DEFENSE DOESN'T REST: The Otters were up to their old defensive tricks again last season by allowing just 64.2 ppg. The Otters have held their opponents under 70 points per game for eight consecutive seasons.

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.