SEASIDE – Senior Paige Peterson scored 11 of her team high 16 points in the second half as the Humboldt State women's basketball team outlasted the Otters of Cal State Monterey Bay for a 65-57 win on Saturday night.

The win improves the Jacks record to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in California Collegiate Athletic Association action.  CSUMB is now 6-2, 2-2 in conference play.

Box Score

HSU was in control throughout the first half.  The Jacks shot 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from the field and held the Otters to just 19.4 percent (6-of-31).  Freshman Kristen Huffman came off the bench to lead the attack with seven points as the Lumberjacks took a 35-17 halftime advantage. 

A 10-2 run in the first two minutes, 30 seconds of the second half gave the Jacks their biggest advantage of the night, 26 points, 45-19.  But CSUMB started chipping away at the HSU lead.

When Brittney Taylor committed a foul with 12:09 to go, HSU had a 47-33 lead but the Otters were in the double-bonus and would go to the line on any foul for the rest of the night.

CSUMB cut the Humboldt State lead to seven points twice down the stretch and were led by 16 points from Veronica Williams and 12 by Helen Suarez.  Jazz Herrera pulled down 13 boards.

In the final 30 seconds, with the Jacks clinging to a 61-54 lead, senior Luiza Osborne hit four free throws to seal the win for HSU.

“In the second half we came out and competed, but got into foul trouble,” said head coach Joddie Gleason.  “We went down 10-2 in fouls pretty quickly and that took Brittney (Taylor) and Bree (Halsey) out of the flow for us.   We showed a lot of resiliency and toughness in the second half.  We could have folded, but we battled and got the win.”

Kayla Williams was the only other Jack to score in double figures. She had 10 points and grabbed four rebounds.  Peterson had seven boards as did Halsey, who added six points.

“It is so important to have depth in this conference,” Gleason added.  “When you play back-to-back games and get in foul trouble like we did tonight it is so important to have a strong bench.  (Kristen)Huffman came in tonight and did a great job.  Kayla (Williams) was strong for us again.  She can really defend and has a lot of savvy out there.”

The Jacks finish the weekend in San Francisco on Sunday as they face the Gators of San Francisco State in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.