ARCATA — Showing it can grind out the tough ones against a talented opponent, Humboldt State stretched its winning streak to eight straight with a 71-57 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills in the California Collegiate Athletic Association finale Friday.

"It's good to be tested and go to battle," Gleason said about tonight's game. "In regionals no other team will let us be up by 20, so it was nice to have this game. I think we did a good job of taking care of the ball, our defense and making plays down the stretch."

Brittney Taylor scored 19 points and Paige Peterson added 16, helping the Jacks improve to 21-6 overall and finish the CCAA season in second place with a 16-4 mark. Katie Franci posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds and Jennifer Enos added 10 points to the Jacks' offensive efforts.

CSUDH, now 18-10 overall and 13-7 in league, was led by Aujanee Baldwin and Neka Mixon with 12 points each. Mixon also added a game-high 12 rebounds, and Mackenzie Mathias added 11 points for the Toros.

Starting slowly, the first several possessions of the game resulted in turnovers or missed shots on both ends of the floor. The result was a 6-5 CSUDH lead six minutes into the game.

Kayla Montalvo's three-pointer gave the Toros their largest lead of the half at 13-8, but Humboldt State recovered to score the next nine points. Taylor's bucket with 7 minutes, 17 seconds remaining before the break gave HSU a 17-13 lead.

Another basket by Montalvo tied the game at 17, and the Toros gained a 22-19 lead on Whitney Gantt's three-pointer with 3:15 to play. But HSU finished the half with a flourish, scoring 11 straight points to move ahead by eight before CSUDH scored the final four of the period to cut the lead to 30-26 at halftime.

It took awhile, but Humboldt State built a modest lead in the second half, going up 52-44 on Franci's three-pointer with 7:59 remaining. HSU allowed CSUDH to come as close as five on Mathias' three-pointer at the 6:14 mark, but the Jacks gained momentum down the stretch, pulling away to its eighth straight win.

"I think it is important to play our style and not dictate what the other team wants us to do," Gleason said on future competition at regionals. "Our team does a good job of preparing for each game no matter who we play. We look forward to hosting the first of the conference tournament. It was one of our goals that we set before the season and it's exciting and I'm glad to be home for it."

Next up for the Lumberjacks is a first-round CCCA Tournament game against Cal State Stanislaus on Tuesday. HSU had earned the right to host the game in Lumberjack Arena by virtue of finishing in the league's top four.

Newspaper Box Score
CSU Dominguez Hills vs Humboldt State University
2/27/09 5:30 p.m. at Arcata, Calif. (Lumberjack Arena)
At Arcata, Calif. (Lumberjack Arena)
HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY 71, CSU DOMINGUEZ HILLS 57
CSU DOMINGUEZ HILLS (18-9, 13-7 CCAA)
BALDWIN, Aujanee 4-7 4-5 12; MIXON, Neka 5-15 1-3 12; MATHIAS, MacKenzie 5-8
0-0 11; GANTT, Whitney 2-3 2-2 7; KYLES, Ennisha 3-7 0-0 6; MONTALVO, Kayla
2-7 0-0 5; HUGHES, Sherrie 1-3 0-0 2; HOUSTON, Barbara 1-4 0-0 2; HUCKABEE,
Kayla 0-1 0-0 0; LOFTIN, Teriana 0-0 0-0 0; JOHNSON, Ashley 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 23-56 7-10 57.
HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY (21-6, 16-4 CCAA)
TAYLOR, Brittney 6-15 7-7 19; PETERSON, Paige 6-10 1-1 16; FRANCI, Katie
4-15 4-5 14; ENOS, Jennifer 3-8 3-4 10; OSBORNE, Luiza 1-2 0-0 3; ALABA,
Trisha 1-2 0-0 3; BOBIC, Andrea 1-5 0-0 3; O'KEEFE, Kristina 1-1 0-0 2;
KILGORE, Taylor 0-1 1-2 1; HALSEY, Bree 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 16-19 71.
CSU Dominguez Hills...........   26   31  -   57
Humboldt State University.....   30   41  -   71
3-point goals--CSU Dominguez Hills 4-15 (MONTALVO, Kayla 1-5; MIXON, Neka
1-5; GANTT, Whitney 1-1; MATHIAS, MacKenzie 1-4), Humboldt State University
9-19 (PETERSON, Paige 3-3; FRANCI, Katie 2-3; ENOS, Jennifer 1-5; BOBIC,
Andrea 1-4; OSBORNE, Luiza 1-2; ALABA, Trisha 1-1; KILGORE, Taylor 0-1).
Fouled out--CSU Dominguez Hills-None, Humboldt State University-None.
Rebounds--CSU Dominguez Hills 38 (MIXON, Neka 12), Humboldt State University
37 (FRANCI, Katie 10). Assists--CSU Dominguez Hills 15 (BALDWIN, Aujanee 4),
Humboldt State University 14 (FRANCI, Katie 6). Total fouls--CSU Dominguez
Hills 21, Humboldt State University 13. Technical fouls--CSU Dominguez
Hills-None, Humboldt State University-None. A-926