LA JOLLA — (Feb. 10) Opening the game with nine straight missed shots, Humboldt State's women's basketball team made a run at the No. 1 ranked team in the West, but UC San Diego hung on for a 66-55 final in California Collegiate Athletic Association action Saturday.

The Lumberjacks fall to 14-7 overall and 9-7 in league play while the Toros win their eighth straight, moving to 18-3 overall and 14-2 in the CCAA.

Haley Andrews' three-pointer at the 12:24 mark of the first half gave the Lumberjacks their first points of the game after going down 13-0 in the opening minutes.

Despite the slow start, the Lumberjacks crept back into the game throughout the 20-minute period, hitting five three-pointers and pulling to within two as the period ended 26-24 in favor of the Tritons.

“The team never quit and continued to believe that shots would fall if we didn't panic,” said HSU head coach Joddie Gleason.

UCSD took a 26-10 advantage on the boards in the first half, but were unable to convert on  many of their 10 offensive rebounds. The Tritons also cooled off after a hot start as both teams shot 9-for-26 from the field in the half.

A pair of free throws by Katie Wilder gave the Lumberjacks a 35-34 lead at the 12:46 mark of the second half, but the Tritons immediately reeled off 10 straight points to break the game back open.

Mia Spasowska, who finished with a team-high 14 points, broke the scoring drought with a layup to make it a 44-37 Triton advantage. Wilder was the only other Jack to reach double figures, netting 10 points.

Leora Juster led the Tritons with 18 points while Jillian Ricks and Hillary Hansen chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively.

“(UC San Diego) has a lot more weapons than us,” said Gleason. “When you play a team that deep, it's tough to stop everyone.”

The Lumberjacks will look to break their three-game losing streak on the road next week when they take on CSU Monterey Bay and San Francisco State.

Humboldt State vs UC San Diego
02/10/07 5:30 p.m. at La Jolla, Calif. - RIMAC Arena
UC SAN DIEGO 66, HUMBOLDT STATE 55
HUMBOLDT STATE (14-7, 9-7 CCAA)
SPASOWSKA, Mia 5-9 1-2 14; WILDER, Katie 2-4 5-6 10; ANDREWS, Haley 3-8 0-0 8; KILGORE, Taylor 3-6 0-0 7; ENOS, Jennifer 2-8 0-0 6; NELSON, Claudia 2-7 1-2 5; O'KEEFE, Kristina 1-3 0-0 2; PETERSON, Paige 1-1 0-0 2; ARGANDA, Biava 0-2 1-2 1; HAAYER, Jessica 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 19-52 8-12 55.
UC SAN DIEGO (18-3, 14-2 CCAA)
JUSTER, Leora 5-8 7-8 18; RICKS, Jillian 6-13 0-0 13; HANSEN, Hillary 2-6 6-6 11; OSIER, Michelle 3-9 3-6 9; KOSTLAN, Kacie 2-5 0-0 6; NOUD, Meaghan 2-7 0-0 5; GASKIN, Alexis 1-2 2-4 4; MEZZETTA, Alexis 0-0 0-0 0; NOONAN, Erin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 18-24 66.
Humboldt State................   24   31  -   55
UC San Diego..................   26   40  -   66
3-point goals-Humboldt State 9-21 (SPASOWSKA, Mia 3-5; ENOS, Jennifer 2-4; ANDREWS, Haley 2-3; KILGORE, Taylor 1-4; WILDER, Katie 1-2; HAAYER, Jessica 0-3), UC San Diego 6-15 (KOSTLAN, Kacie 2-5; NOUD, Meaghan 1-2; RICKS, Jillian 1-3; JUSTER, Leora 1-3; HANSEN, Hillary 1-2). Fouled out--Humboldt State-ANDREWS, Haley, UC San Diego-None. Rebounds-Humboldt State 26 (SPASOWSKA, Mia 7), UC San Diego 42 (JUSTER, Leora 11). Assists-Humboldt State 12 (WILDER, Katie 5), UC San Diego 16 (KOSTLAN, Kacie 5). Total fouls-Humboldt State 21, UC San Diego 14. A-949

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