ARCATA — California Collegiate Athletic Association action resumes for the Humboldt State Lumberjacks as the new year begins, bringing tough competition right from the start.
"Preseason is a strange set up since we had four conference games in mid of preseason," said head coach
Joddie Gleason. "It's a good time to refocus and regroup and start new 'season' with restart of conference. We play two great teams and it'll be a good test for us to get started again."
HSU faces Cal State San Bernardino Thursday night before taking on UC San Diego on Saturday. Both games will tip off at 5:30 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena.
Head-to-Head
Both CSUSB and UCSD are no stranger to the Lumberjacks. The Jacks and Coyotes are currently at a stand-still in the all-time series, with each team winning seven games. Last year, Humboldt State swept the series after claiming a 71-65 victory on the road and a 61-55 home win to conclude the regular season.
On the other hand, the Tritons hold a slight edge over the Jacks, standing at 9-8 in the all-time series. Last year, Humboldt State handed the then No.1-ranked UCSD squad its first loss of the season in a dramatic 74-73 home result, breaking the Tritons' 26-game unbeaten streak.
On-the-Air
Coyote Notes
Cal State San Bernardino enters Thursday match with a 4-4 overall record, 2-2 in the CCAA, after falling 57-34 to UC San Diego Sunday night. ... As a team, the Coyotes average 58.2 points per game and give up a similar 58.5 ppg to their opponents. ... While Trinidee Trice is the only Coyote to average points in double figures with a 11.8 ppg average, four other players average points not far behind Trice. Alexcia Mack picks up an average 9.6 ppg, followed by Tayllor Gipson with 7.1 ppg and Kristen Huffman and Jaslyn Cosey round out with 6.9 ppg and 6.1 ppg, respectively. ... Cosey proves to be a threat on the perimeter with a .417 three-point shooting percentage. ... Adriana Brodie and Huffman handle a majority of the boards for the Coyotes, averaging 4.6 rebounds per game and 4.5 rpg, respectively.
Triton Notes
UC San Diego is in its first season under new head coach Heidi VanDerveer, currently sitting 5-6 overall and 3-1 in CCAA action (tied with Humboldt State for second in the conference standings). ... As a team, UCSD averages 65.7 points per game, while allowing 60.6 ppg for its opponents. ... The Tritons are without last year's CCAA Most Valuable Player Chelsea Carlisle on the court, but Carlisle isn't far from her former team and currently helps assist the squad. ... Two returners, who have proved to be handfuls in the past, have stepped up to lead the Tritons in scoring. Daisy Feder averages 21.2 ppg (topping the conference scoring leaders and ranking sixth in the nation), followed by Emily Osga with 13.0 ppg. Erin Dautremont also averages points in double figures, picking up 10.9 ppg. ... Feder also tops UCSD's efforts off the boards, averaging 5.8 rebounds per game.
Lumberjack Notes
Humboldt State comes off a strong 92-77 win over non-conference opponent Simpson to put the Jacks 7-3 overall. In the CCAA, HSU sits tied for second with UCSD with a conference record of 3-1. ... As a team, the Jacks average 65.5 points per game, while surrendering 63.2 ppg to their opponents. ...
Lisa Petty, hot off a career-high 29 point performance on Saturday, averages 19.5 ppg, putting her third in the conference and 34th in the nation. Petty also leads the Jacks with a 8.5 rebounds per game average, putting her in first on the CCAA stat leader board. ...
Caitie Richards follows Petty with a 12.2 ppg average, making the two the only Jacks to average double-digit points. As point guard, Richards leads the team with 33 assists. ...
Elle Anderson also had a career-high game on Saturday, finishing the night with 18 points off 9-for-11 shooting. Her .540 field goal percentage on the season puts her tied for first in the conference. ...
Kelly Kime, who Gleason wants to see take more of an active role as a scorer rather than an assister, has 17 assists on the season and averages 9.5 ppg and 6.7 rebounds per game, putting her third in the conference off the glass.
Gleason's Gabs
"It was great to see Elle [Anderson] have a great game Saturday. She's the type of player who looks to pass a lot more than we think she should, but she did a good job of recognizing when to score, even if there was a defender there. We were happy to see her get success Saturday and we hope that confidence will carry over to conference. We still need a few extra people to produce for us. ... Lisa [Petty] draws a lot of attention, she's not a secret. She's been an all-conference player so people know who she is. She does a good job of recognizing when it's not a good opportunity to score and when it is. It's always tougher in conference since there's a lot more film and preparation done by opponents. We need her to continue to be aggressive to go score and recognize when teams do double team her so she can find her teammates. ... Statistically, CSUSB has a pretty balanced attack, so you can't really focus on one or two players. Historically, they do a good job on defense and keep you from getting high percentage shots. We need to be patient and execute our offense to get good shots. ... CSUSB has a variety of people who have started and scored. It's kind of an unknown of who will start and play a lot of their minutes since they've had some injuries. That's something we obviously something can't control though. ... We saw film on UCSD early in the season when we were scouting for our game against Grand Canyon, but haven't gotten a chance to look at them recently yet. They have Daisy Feder and Emily Osga back, who are all-region and conference players. They're still the quality team they've always been. It's great for us to not have to worry about Chelsea Carlisle playing anymore though. They have a bunch of leaders and the kind of players find a way to win so it's always a battle to play them. ... We're happy to be home because we traveled so much in preseason. It'll be nice to be rested and in our own routine. Lumberjack Arena is also a great place to play."
