ARCATA — Sandwiching a brief period of dormancy in between two explosive outbursts, the Humboldt State women's basketball team eventually pulled away to a 71-58 victory in the California Collegiate Athletic Association women's basketball season-opener Wednesday.

The Lumberjacks used a 19-3 run in the second half to nail down the victory, improving to 5-2 overall record. Sonoma State lost for the first time this year, dropping to 3-1.

"It feels great to get a win against a quality team," said Humboldt State head women's basketball coach Joddie Gleason. "It's nice to open up the season with a conference win at especially after being on the road for our last six games."

Brittney Taylor scored 19 points and Katie Franci added 13, along with a game-high 10 rebounds a piece to pace the Lumberjacks. Andrea Bobic, Taylor Kilgore and Trisha Alaba added eight points each to help HSU claim its first win in the new Lumberjack Arena.

Leading Sonoma State in scoring were Katie Keilig and Olivia Larkin with nine points each. The Seawolves struggled with their shooting touch, hitting only 35 percent overall from the field, and were out-rebounded, 43-35.

Humboldt State blasted out to a 21-6 lead in the game's opening minutes, hitting from both inside the paint and on the perimeter. Taylor was particularly effective during the surge, putting up 10 points early and benefiting from her teammates' efforts to get her the ball.

Just when it looked like the Jacks were on their way to an easy blowout, Sonoma State settled down and put together an 11-2 run, cutting the lead to three at 28-25 on Stephanie Barnes' jumper with 3 minutes, 28 seconds remaining in the half. Paige Peterson drove for a layup and Kilgore drained a three-pointer to give the Jacks an eventual 33-28 lead at the break.

After exchanging baskets in the early part of the second half, Humboldt State raced away again and was never in jeopardy after Bobic hit a three-pointer from the corner to provide a 50-42 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining.

"We were playing sloppy in the first half but were able to come out with a better grip on defense and offense by getting the ball inside during the second half.," said Gleason.

Humboldt State goes on the road for its next CCAA contest, traveling to La Jolla for Friday's 5:30 p.m. game against UC San Diego.

"UC San Diego is a pretty good team and knows how to win, so we need to go out and play well against them," said Gleason.

Newspaper Box Score
Sonoma State vs Humboldt State University
12/3/08 5:30 pm at Arcata, Calif.
At Arcata, Calif.
HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY 71, SONOMA STATE 58
SONOMA STATE (3-1, 0-1 CCAA)
KEILIG, Katie 3-5 3-3 9; LARKIN, Olivia 4-11 1-2 9; BISORDI, Jaclyn 1-6 3-5
6; RUSSO, Jennifer 3-4 0-0 6; BARNES, Stephanie 2-4 0-1 5; REDFIELD, Lauren
1-5 2-2 4; CONWAY, Aly 1-2 2-3 4; HUSSEY, Katherine 2-4 0-0 4; MONTANARI,
Kristin 2-3 0-0 4; MERTLE, Heidi 1-4 2-4 4; GARDNER, Michelle 1-6 0-0 2;
RENTSCHLER, Roxanne 0-2 1-2 1; SHREVE, Christy 0-1 0-0 0; MEADE, Carissa 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 21-59 14-22 58.
HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY (5-2, 1-0 CCAA)
TAYLOR, Brittney 8-12 3-6 19; FRANCI, Katie 3-7 6-6 13; BOBIC, Andrea 3-4
0-0 8; ALABA, Trisha 3-4 0-0 8; KILGORE, Taylor 3-8 0-0 8; PETERSON, Paige
3-7 0-0 6; ENOS, Jennifer 1-6 1-2 3; WILLIAMS, Kayla 1-4 0-0 2; HALSEY, Bree
1-2 0-0 2; OSBORNE, Luiza 0-3 2-2 2; HOWARD, Whitney 0-0 0-0 0; O'KEEFE,
Kristina 0-1 0-1 0; WILSON, Alyssa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 12-17 71.
Sonoma State..................   28   30  -   58
Humboldt State University.....   33   38  -   71
3-point goals--Sonoma State 2-9 (BISORDI, Jaclyn 1-3; BARNES, Stephanie 1-2;
RUSSO, Jennifer 0-1; REDFIELD, Lauren 0-2; LARKIN, Olivia 0-1), Humboldt
State University 7-24 (BOBIC, Andrea 2-3; KILGORE, Taylor 2-7; ALABA, Trisha
2-2; FRANCI, Katie 1-2; OSBORNE, Luiza 0-2; WILLIAMS, Kayla 0-2; ENOS,
Jennifer 0-4; PETERSON, Paige 0-2). Fouled out--Sonoma State-None, Humboldt
State University-None. Rebounds--Sonoma State 35 (GARDNER, Michelle 6),
Humboldt State University 43 (FRANCI, Katie 10; TAYLOR, Brittney 10).
Assists--Sonoma State 10 (BARNES, Stephanie 3), Humboldt State University 16
(OSBORNE, Luiza 3; BOBIC, Andrea 3; PETERSON, Paige 3; ENOS, Jennifer 3).
Total fouls--Sonoma State 11, Humboldt State University 20. Technical
fouls--Sonoma State-None, Humboldt State University-None. A-428