ROHNERT PARK — (Dec. 20) Down 15 points late in the game, Humboldt State's women's basketball team forged a comeback effort that brought the Jacks to within three, but Sonoma State would hold on for a 55-51 win in California Collegiate Athletic Association action Wednesday.

The Lumberjacks fall to 5-2 overall and 1-2 in the CCAA, while the Seawolves improve to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in league play.

With both teams returning to the court for the first time following an 11-day break, the first half displayed some rugged play with 32-percent shooting on both sides and a combined 18 turnovers.

“We didn't start the game being aggressive to score,” said HSU head coach Joddie Gleason. “We wait to see what Katie (Wilder) or Mia (Spasowska) will do and don't play with a sense of urgency on every possession.”

Humboldt took a 9-4 lead early on, scoring five straight points on a jumper by Claudia Nelson and a three-pointer by Katie Wilder.

Sonoma State eventually took a 12-11 lead at the 10:37 mark on a layup by Heidi Mertle though the team's traded the lead six times during the half before the Seawolves took a 25-20 lead into the break.

After SSU opened the second half with a bucket to take a 27-20 lead, Mia Spasowksa scored five straight points for the Jacks to pull within two.

The Seawolves then went in a 7-0 run to open up a 35-25 lead. SSU increased it's lead to 48-33 at the 6:47 mark before the Jacks went on a scoring spurt, pulling to within seven with three minutes remaining.

Down 51-41 with under two minutes remaining, Taylor Kilgore and Wilder hit back-to-back three pointers to make the deficit 51-47. With five seconds on the clock, another trey by Wilder made the score 53-50 in favor of the Seawolves, but that's as close as the Jacks would get as Lauren Redfield nailed a pair of free throws to seal the 55-51 win.

“We hit some big shots and played with a sense of urgency at the end,” said Gleason. “We need to play like that all the time while also making good decisions.”

Wilder led HSU with 11 points while Spasowska, who spent most of the first half on the bench in foul trouble, added 10 points. Kristina O'Keefe had a career-night for the Jacks, scoring nine points and pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds.

“Kristina played great tonight,” Gleason said. “She stopped her player from getting offensive boards we had been giving up in the first half.”

Humboldt was able to hold Sonoma State's leading scorer Danae Wellander to just six points, but Redfield picked up the slack, pouring in a game-high 17 points.

“Jessica (Haayer) had a heck of a game defensively (on Wellander),” said Gleason.

The Lumberjacks return to the East Gym Friday, for a 2 p.m. non-conference match-up against UC Santa Cruz.
   
Humboldt State vs Sonoma State
12/20/06 7:30 pm at Rohnert Park, CA  (Seawolf Gym)
SONOMA STATE 55, HUMBOLDT STATE 51
HUMBOLDT STATE (5-2, 1-2 CCAA)
WILDER, Katie 4-13 0-0 11; SPASOWSKA, Mia 4-12 2-3 10; O'KEEFE, Kristina 4-5 1-4 9; KILGORE, Taylor 2-4 0-0 6; HAAYER, Jessica 1-4 2-2 5; ARGANDA, Biava 2-9 1-4 5; NELSON, Claudia 2-5 0-3 4; ENOS, Jennifer 0-3 1-2 1; PETERSON, Paige 0-1 0-0 0; TAYLOR, Brittney 0-0 0-0 0; ANDREWS, Haley 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 19-59 7-18 51.
SONOMA STATE (3-4, 2-1 CCAA)
REDFIELD, Lauren 4-9 7-10 17; ARMACOST, Chelsey 1-4 6-6 9; MERTLE, Heidi 4-5 0-0 8; HESTER, Nichola 2-8 2-4 6; WELLANDER, Danae 2-6 1-4 6; CARGILL, Mallorie 1-3 1-2 3; ANDERSON, Genny 1-5 0-1 2; GETGEN, Brianne 1-3 0-0 2; RIBERDY, Renee 0-2 2-2 2; DREHER, Lindsey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-46 19-29 55.
Humboldt State................   20   31  -   51
Sonoma State..................   25   30  -   55
3-point goals-Humboldt State 6-13 (WILDER, Katie 3-4; KILGORE, Taylor 2-4; HAAYER, Jessica 1-2; ARGANDA, Biava 0-1; ENOS, Jennifer 0-1; ANDREWS, Haley 0-1), Sonoma State 4-15 (REDFIELD, Lauren 2-5; WELLANDER, Danae 1-3; ARMACOST, Chelsey 1-2; CARGILL, Mallorie 0-2; ANDERSON, Genny 0-1; GETGEN, Brianne 0-1; HESTER, Nichola 0-1). Fouled out--Humboldt State-SPASOWSKA, Mia, Sonoma State-HESTER, Nichola. Rebounds-Humboldt State 38 (O'KEEFE, Kristina 10), Sonoma State 46 (REDFIELD, Lauren 8; ANDERSON, Genny 8). Assists-Humboldt State 9 (WILDER, Katie 4), Sonoma State 9 (ANDERSON, Genny 3). Total fouls-Humboldt State 23, Sonoma State 20. A-372

###