ARCATA – With the season winding down, Humboldt State knows it cannot afford to take a night off, even when playing the team who stands in the last spot in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Knowing a spot in the CCAA Tournament to extend the season is still a possibility, the Jacks had no intention of taking it easy against visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills as four HSU players scored in double-figures to lift the Jacks 68-55 over the Toros Thursday night. 

HSU improves to 15-6 overall and 11-6 in conference (putting them in the fifth spot), while CSUDH drops to 3-21 on the season, 2-15 against CCAA opponents. 

Caitie Richards came out ready to play as soon as the game started, scoring the first two points and grabbing a steal, both in the first minute of competition—and secured another steal just a minute later. The Jacks kept the attack on, getting a nine-point lead in the first five minutes.

"We didn't want to lose to a team ranked lower than us like we did with Cal State East Bay," said Richards. "We played really well against Cal State Monterey Bay so we wanted that to carry over against CSUDH. We tried to repeat everything we did against CSUMB and nothing we did against CSUEB."

Like the game against CSUMB, points came from multiple players on the HSU squad. Bree Halsey led the scoring by picking up a game-high 15 points. Lisa Petty added 12 points, followed closely by Kayla Williams with 11 points and Richards with 10 points.

While the Jacks shot 48 percent from the field, 56 percent from beyond the arc and a perfect 100 percent from the free throw line in the first half, they put the pressure on the Toros, forcing them to struggle in shooting three-pointers and free throws. CSUDH only hit one three-pointer the entire night (coming in the first three minutes of the game by Sherrie Hughes) and shot 66 percent from the line. Hillarie Perrin and Porcha Davis scored in double-digits, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively.

"We've been emphasizing the whole defense aspect and being able to contain teams, especially teams that have athletic girls who just attack and rarely shoot threes," said Halsey. "Defense gives us momentum on offense."

Head coach Joddie Gleason knows games aren't going to be handed over to her team and knew CSUDH would give a battle, especially at the boards. The Jacks out-rebounded the Toros 37-33, led by Halsey with eight rebounds and four other players helping box out. Whitney Howard, Petty and Kelly Kime each registered five rebounds, with a determined Richards grabbing four of her own.

"Coach warned us it'd be tough on the boards," said Halsey. "Usually teams that do attack and throw up anything, they go get it. You have to be able to to box them out and be strong to rip it out. I thought Kelly and Whitney, and even some guards, got in there and were strong with the ball to get the rebound."

Gleason constantly reminds her team that if they can't grab rebounds, they can't run. If the Jacks want to have the better offense, they first need the better defense.

"We've really been focusing on our defensive rotations and being aggressive to defend and rebound," said Gleason. "CSUDH is a really athletic team that loves penetration. We were talking about taking away easy layups and I thought we did a nice job of that."

Once the Jacks started scoring, they continued to fire shots and even grabbed a 16-point lead with five minutes left before the half. The Toros, however, still had some fight left in them and cut the lead to 12 points heading into halftime off two back-to-back baskets from the field.

With just over 10 minutes left in the game, Davis intercepted a pass to set Nikki Boutté up for a layup bringing the cushion down into a single digit. HSU responded with a run of its own, scoring eight straight points from four different players.

"We had a little stretch in the second half where they went on a run, but I thought we did a great job of answering it," said Gleason. "We called a timeout and reiterated the focus we needed to have. The veteran group of seniors sees the end is near and we rely on them to keep that intensity up."

The Jacks brought their lead back into double-digits, grabbing their highest cushion at 19 points with just over six minutes left to play, but couldn't keep the momentum up, finishing with the 68-55 victory. 

Humboldt State returns Saturday, Feb. 11, to host Cal State Los Angeles, a team currently sitting above the Jacks in conference. 

"It would be huge to win against Cal State L.A.," said Richards. "We didn't play very well when we played on their court and they're ranked above us right now. We talk about pulling people off the ladder and they're above us on the ladder. We want to pull them down and get above them in the rankings."

The game has a tipoff time of 5:30 p.m. and is designated the Play 4Kay night to bring awareness to breast cancer. Fans are encouraged to wear pink.

In other CCAA contests: Cal State Los Angeles beat Sonoma State 71-60 in Rohnert Park.