ARCATA — After grabbing a comfortable lead early, the Humboldt State women's basketball team held Cal State Monterey Bay at a comfortable distance on the way to a 90-70 win on Saturday in Lumberjack Arena.

With the victory, Humboldt State improved its record to 8-3 overall, moving to 3-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association standings. Cal State Monterey Bay fell to 7-3 overall and 2-2 in league games.

Led by the interior tandem of Brittney Taylor and Katie Franci, who finished with 20 and 18 points, respectively, the Jacks eased out to a lead that they never relinquished. Paige Peterson, with 15 points and six assists, and Taylor Kilgore, with 14 points, also contributed to a 53 percent team shooting effort from the field.

"We spread the wealth on offense tonight," Humboldt State head women's basketball coach Joddie Gleason said. "We did a nice job being two-dimensional. This weekend we got to play different styles. Yesterday we slowed-down and played half court and tonight we picked up the tempo. We did both effectively."

Franci and Taylor also dominated on the boards, Taylor grabbing 14 rebounds and Franci finishing with 10. As a team, the Jacks held a 46-42 edge in rebounding while also committing only 14 turnovers to 17 by the Otters.

"Brittney played really well in the second half," Gleason said. "She did a nice job defending one-on-one and forced tough shots and got the rebounds."

Helen Suarez was the Otters' leading scorer with 22 points, and Dana Andrews added 19. Janet Oseguera scored nine points and Devin Riezebos had a team-high nine rebounds.

"Our plan was to force Andrews and Suarez to take tough shots and not give them anything easy and I think we did a good job of that," Gleason said. "Taylor Kilgore had a break out game defensively guarding Andrews. She answered the call and did really well."

HSU found holes aplenty in the Otters' interior defense, working the ball inside persistently for easy baskets. Franci provided the early advantage, scoring all eight of her first half points in the opening six minutes to help HSU take a 16-7 lead.

Soon after, Franci was forced to the bench after picking up her second foul, but Taylor quickly took over in the paint. The junior post consistently scored on long outlets and putbacks before teammate Andrea Bobic drained a three-pointer to give the Jacks their largest lead at 44-24.

Cal State Monterey Bay cut into the lead briefly, but the Jacks managed to keep a safe distance. Lindsay Trout hit a jumper just before the first period ended, pulling the Otters within 16 points at the break.

The Otters were within 12 points twice early in the second half before the Lumberjacks put them away with a 16-4 run.

Next up for Humboldt State is a road trip to take on CCAA rivals Chico State on Friday, and Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday.

Newspaper Box Score
CSU Monterey Bay vs Humboldt State University
1/3/09 5:30 p.m. at Arcata, Calif.
At Arcata, Calif.
HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY 90, CSU MONTEREY BAY 70
CSU MONTEREY BAY (7-3, 2-2 CCAA)
SUAREZ, Helen 8-16 6-7 22; ANDREWS, Dana 5-17 6-8 19; OSEGUERA, Janet 4-13
1-2 9; JOHNSON, LaShawn 2-2 2-3 6; BAKER, Denelle 2-7 2-4 6; RIEZEBOS, Devin
2-6 0-0 4; TROUT, Lindsay 2-3 0-0 4; PINEDA, Anna 0-2 0-0 0; TSUCHIYAMA, Aly
0-4 0-0 0; KIKUCHI, Brittany 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-71 17-24 70.
HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY (8-3, 3-1 CCAA)
TAYLOR, Brittney 8-13 3-6 20; FRANCI, Katie 7-10 4-4 18; PETERSON, Paige
7-15 0-1 15; KILGORE, Taylor 5-12 0-0 14; BOBIC, Andrea 4-5 0-0 9; HALSEY,
Bree 3-5 1-2 7; WILLIAMS, Kayla 1-2 1-2 4; O'KEEFE, Kristina 1-1 1-2 3;
ALABA, Trisha 0-1 0-0 0; ENOS, Jennifer 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 36-68 10-17 90.
CSU Monterey Bay..............   32   38  -   70
Humboldt State University.....   48   42  -   90
3-point goals--CSU Monterey Bay 3-10 (ANDREWS, Dana 3-8; BAKER, Denelle 0-1;
KIKUCHI, Brittany 0-1), Humboldt State University 8-20 (KILGORE, Taylor 4-9;
PETERSON, Paige 1-2; BOBIC, Andrea 1-2; TAYLOR, Brittney 1-1; WILLIAMS,
Kayla 1-1; ALABA, Trisha 0-1; ENOS, Jennifer 0-4). Fouled out--CSU Monterey
Bay-None, Humboldt State University-FRANCI, Katie. Rebounds--CSU Monterey
Bay 42 (RIEZEBOS, Devin 9), Humboldt State University 46 (TAYLOR, Brittney
14). Assists--CSU Monterey Bay 13 (SUAREZ, Helen 5), Humboldt State
University 22 (PETERSON, Paige 6). Total fouls--CSU Monterey Bay 15,
Humboldt State University 18. Technical fouls--CSU Monterey Bay-None,
Humboldt State University-None. A-712