CARSON – After what might have been Humboldt State's worst offensive effort of the season against Cal State Los Angeles the night before, the Jacks bounced back from the loss to beat Cal State Dominguez Hills Saturday night 65-60. 

The win puts the Jacks back into their winning ways, improving to 10-2 on the season, 6-2 in California Collegiate Athletic Association contests. While the Toros beat Sonoma State Friday night, they couldn't pull off the back-to-back victories, dropping to 2-13 on the season, 1-7 in conference.

"The players were really disappointed with their performance last night, so we didn't need to motivate them at all to get back on the court tonight," said head coach Joddie Gleason. "We were just looking at the two keys that we wanted to focus on yesterday: take care of the ball better and keep our opponents off the free throw line. We didn't do a great job of those tonight, but we did well enough."

While missed shots plagued HSU against Cal State L.A., the Jacks were able to learn from their mistakes, starting the game with an early 11-point lead, which they never surrendered to the Toros. However, Gleason knew it wouldn't be a cakewalk for her Jacks' squad, but Humboldt State gave up a 16-point lead to finish with only a five-point cushion.

"We were executing our offense really well and finding the open shooters," said Gleason. "I think they had redemption in their minds because we shot so poorly last night. They wanted it really bad tonight and did a good job of finding open looks."

Lisa Petty scored a season-high 22 points—just two points shy of tying her HSU career record set last year against Cal State Stanislaus—while Caitie Richards was just three points under her with 19 points on the night. Bree Halsey posted 11 of the Jacks' 29 rebounds off the boards.

"Last night was a rough night for all of us," said Petty. "All of us got together and said that the percentages were with us, we just needed to relax and let our better instincts take over, and that's what happened here."

The Jacks kept their defense tight, limiting Cal State Dominguez Hills to just 10 points in the first 10 minutes, as well as not allowing a Toro to sink a three-pointer. CSUDH may not have been able to finish the only shot it took from beyond the arc in the first half, but HSU shot 5-for-10 for 50-percent on its three-point shooting effort.

"It was a great victory," said Petty. "It's hard to win on the road. Especially after a tough loss like last night, it's easy to be down and lose another game. We wanted to bounce back quick and at least get this victory on the road."

Humboldt State went into halftime with a nine-point cushion and came out firing in the second half. Petty started the scoring for the Jacks with a nice three-point shot off an assist from Kayla Williams. CSUDH continued to battle, but lost grip with just over seven minutes in the game when HSU grabbed its biggest lead with 16 points.

With a little help from the Jacks, the Toros didn't lose hope and went on an eight-point run down the stretch, sinking five free throw shots and a three-pointer from Porcha Davis—who finished with 11 points for CSUDH—to cut the lead to just six points. The Toros' leading scorer, Ashley Hudson, scored a layup for two of her 17 points of the night to bring Cal State Dominguez Hills within four, but a free throw shot from Petty sealed the five-point victory for the Jacks.

"We're glad we win, but we always criticize ourselves," said Petty. "But a win is a win and we're always happy about that."

The Jacks return home to host Cal Poly Pomona and San Francisco State on Thursday and Saturday, both at 5:30 p.m., before hitting the road again.

"We're always excited to come home," said Gleason. "We're home for two and then on the road for four more so it's definitely a tough stretch for us. It's great to get a split in the CCAA and it's always challenging going out on the road."