SEASIDE – Taking out their frustration on a stunned opponent, Humboldt State raced away to a 78-56 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay in California Collegiate Athletic Association women's basketball action Friday.

Coming out strong following last Saturday's tough overtime loss to UC San Diego, the Jacks turned to their inside game.  Katie Franci and Brittney Taylor responded with 18 and 16 points, respectively, Bree Halsey added 13 off the bench, and Andrea Bobic contributed 12 points for HSU.

Helen Suarez scored 14 points to lead CSUMB, and Janet Osequera had 12. Leading scorer Dana Andrews was held five points below her average, scoring 11 points, eight of them coming from the free throw line.

“I loved the way we responded to the heartbreaker we lost last week,” HSU head coach Joddie Gleason said. “A lot of heart and a lot of energy went into this win. The way that Paige (Peterson) and Katie (Franci) defended Andrews is what wins games.”

Humboldt State improved its record to 14-6 overall while moving to 9-4 in the CCAA. Cal State Monterey Bay dropped to 9-10 on the season, falling to 4-9 in league.

Cal State Monterey Bay found it difficult to prevent the Jacks from going inside to Taylor and Franci, who made good on seven of their first 10 chances combined. The Otters also offered HSU extra opportunities by turning the ball over nine times in the game's first 10 minutes.

“Brittney and Katie forced them into a zone, and that's a big complement,” Gleason said. “I think they did a nice job of getting touches and easy buckets by working hard. “

CSUMB finally reached double digits on a putback by Devin Riezebos,  but that only briefly slowed the Jacks, who expanded the lead to as many as 18 points.  Andrews hit a three from the corner for a rare Otter highlight to cut the lead to 30-15.

Suarez kept the momentum with a steal, taking the ball the length of the floor before hitting a short jumper to pull her team within 13 points.  The lead dwindled further, down to 12 at 33-21 on a pair of free throws by Andrews.

After trading baskets, Bobic hit another three-pointer to extend the margin before the Otters turned the ball over and the half ended with the Jacks ahead, 38-23.

Franci scored the Jacks' first six points of the second half, and Enos worked open for a three-pointer that completed the quick outburst and forced the Otters to call a timeout.

All of the Jacks' players got into the action, with only Taylor Kilgore kept from court time. Kilgore sat out the game because of the effects of a concussion suffered in practice early in the week.

Humboldt State remains on the road for Saturday's game against San Francisco State. Tip-off time is set for 5:30 p.m., with the game carried live on KATA 1340 AM.

Newspaper Box Score
Humboldt State vs CSUMB
02/06/09 5:30 PM at Seaside, CA (Kelp Bed)
At Seaside, CA (Kelp Bed)
HUMBOLDT STATE 78, CSUMB 56
HUMBOLDT STATE (14-6, 9-4)
FRANCI, Katie 8-16 0-0 18; TAYLOR, Brittney 7-9 2-4 16; HALSEY, Bree 6-10
1-2 13; BOBIC, Andrea 4-11 2-2 12; ALABA, Trisha 2-4 0-0 6; ENOS, Jennifer
1-7 1-2 4; PETERSON, Paige 2-4 0-0 4; WILLIAMS, Kayla 1-1 0-0 3; O'KEEFE,
Kristina 1-1 0-1 2; HOWARD, Whitney 0-0 0-0 0; OSBORNE, Luiza 0-1 0-0 0;
WILSON, Alyssa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-64 6-11 78.
CSUMB (9-10, 4-9)
SUAREZ, Helen 4-13 5-5 14; OSEGUERA, Janet 6-8 0-0 12; ANDREWS, Dana 1-4 8-8
11; TROUT, Lindsay 3-3 0-0 8; RIEZEBOS, Devin 3-4 1-2 7; JOHNSON, LaShawn
1-4 0-0 2; BAKER, Denelle 1-6 0-1 2; PINEDA, Anna 0-0 0-0 0; TSUCHIYAMA, Aly
0-3 0-0 0; BERTELSEN, Alexis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-45 14-16 56.
Humboldt State................   38   40  -   78
CSUMB.........................   23   33  -   56
3-point goals--Humboldt State 8-20 (BOBIC, Andrea 2-7; FRANCI, Katie 2-3;
ALABA, Trisha 2-4; WILLIAMS, Kayla 1-1; ENOS, Jennifer 1-4; OSBORNE, Luiza
0-1), CSUMB 4-9 (TROUT, Lindsay 2-2; ANDREWS, Dana 1-1; SUAREZ, Helen 1-3;
JOHNSON, LaShawn 0-1; BAKER, Denelle 0-2). Fouled out--Humboldt State-None,
CSUMB-None. Rebounds--Humboldt State 27 (FRANCI, Katie 7), CSUMB 24
(OSEGUERA, Janet 7). Assists--Humboldt State 23 (FRANCI, Katie 6), CSUMB 10
(BAKER, Denelle 4). Total fouls--Humboldt State 17, CSUMB 13. Technical
fouls--Humboldt State-None, CSUMB-None. A-210