SEASIDE, Calif. — A balanced offense and one of its best shooting nights of the season wasn't enough as No. 14 UC San Diego rallied in the fourth quarter to topple upset–minded Cal State Monterey Bay 65–56 Thursday night in The Kelp Bed.

All nine Otters who played more than two minutes scored with eight of them scoring five or more points in CSUMB's most balanced performance of the season. Courtney Keaton (Bishop Montgomery HS) led that octet with nine points. Brianna Tucker (Clovis North HS) added seven points, four assists and a career–high four steals.

CSUMB was shooting a season–high 49 percent through three quarters, helping it take a 47–44 lead into the final period. But the Otters made just three of their final 11, allowing the Tritons to finish the game on a 21–9 run.

Aubri Smith's (Ventura College/Buena HS) short jumper gave CSUMB its final lead at 51–50 three minutes into the final quarter. But two possessions later a Kayla Sato 3–pointer gave UCSD the lead back and the Tritons went 8-for-10 from the line down the stretch to pull away.
 

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THE GAME WAS STATISTICALLY OVER WHEN… Dalayna Sampton rebounded a missed Otter 3–pointer with 23 seconds remaining and UCSD leading 65–56.

BANGING THE BOARDS… Credit UCSD's rebounding corps for this win. The Tritons out–rebounded CSUMB 41–18 Thursday night. CSUMB's 18 rebounds were a season low and its fewest in at least eight seasons.

WHAT A STEAL… The Otter defense was in top form Thursday night, matching its season high with 14 steals against UCSD..

LEADERS OF THE RAFT… POINTS: Courtney Keaton 9; REBOUNDS: Courtney Keaton 6; ASSISTS: Brianna Tucker 4; BLOCKS: Emily Hardin/Courtney Keaton 1; STEALS: Brianna Tucker 4.

THE LAST WORD… "We played tough tonight. Credit to UCSD because it capitalized on every mistake we made defensively. We need to be better cleaning up the boards, but I definitely think we did a lot of positive things to build on for Saturday's game." – CSUMB Head Coach Kerri Nakamoto

THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters conclude their 3–game homestand with a rare matinee doubleheader against Cal State San marcos. The women will tip-off at 1:30 p.m. and the men will tip-off at 3:30 p.m.