ARCATA, Calif. – After a halftime deadlock, Humboldt State tightened its defense and A'Jaee Foster scored 12 of her game-high 15 points in the second half to defeat Cal State San Bernardino, 60-50, Saturday night in Lumberjack Arena.
 
Trailing 38-37 with 12:47 remaining, the Lumberjacks ran off the next seven points and never trailed again. The HSU defense stifled the Cal State San Bernardino attack to the tune of 8-of-27 for 29.6 percent shooting. The Jacks grabbed 21 of its 36 rebounds, swiped six steals and forced 10 turnovers in the second 20 minutes to key the victory and held the Coyotes to their lowest point total of the season.
 
HSU (7-1) improves to 3-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association for the first time in five seasons when it started 2009-10 with wins in the first seven league contests. Cal State San Bernardino dropped to 6-1 and 2-1 in the CCAA.
 
"It feels great as we defeated a really good Cal State San Bernardino team," said HSU Head Coach Joddie Gleason. "The team was dialed in all week and executed the game plan very well, especially on defense to get stops. The kids played hard."
 
Foster was the key Jacks' player in the second half, while Neika Puryear spurred the team in the opening period. Foster hit 5-of-7 second half shots and went 3-for-4 from the foul line for 12 of her 15 points. The forward also grabbed three of her four rebounds.
 
"It was a great win," said Foster. "We crashed the boards, played good defensively and were able to get a lot of steals. We worked harder on defense in the second half as we were more focused."
 
Puryear netted 10 of her 14-point night in the first half. The guard was 4-for-5 from the floor and 2-of-3 from long range in the first half. She added 4-of-4 from the foul line for her second-highest point total of the season to go with three steals and two boards.
 
Jae Shin chipped in 11 points, including three treys in five attempts.
 
Amanda Kunst contributed six points and four rebounds in the first half. She totaled eight tallies, six rebounds and three assists on the night.
 
Nikki Powell provided a big boost inside with nine rebounds, seven on the defensive end, four points and a pair of blocked shots.
 
Cal State San Bernardino's Chelsea Barnes was its lone double figure scorer with 10 points and pulled down six rebounds. Brianna Harden and Alexcia Mack added nine points apiece, respectively.
 
The Coyotes started the night strong. They scored nine of the first 10 points to open a 9-1 lead in the first 5:02. The Jacks cut the margin down to a single point, 12-11, with their 10-2 run over the following three minutes.
 
HSU did not lead the entire first half. Kunst tied the contest, 27-27, at the halftime buzzer on a quick layup on a wild scramble.
 
Behind 31-27 in the opening two minutes of the second half, HSU went on a 10-0 spurt behind Foster's six points in the run to open its first lead of the night, 37-31.
 
The Coyotes rallied with the next seven points to edge ahead, 38-37, with 12:47 left.
 
Shin started the Jacks' run of the night with a 3-pointer. Puryear followed with a pair of free throws and Megan Shields banked home her lone bucket of the night for a 44-38 advantage.
 
Cal State San Bernardino pulled to within a point, 44-43, at 9:08. HSU had the answer again with a 14-2 run over the next seven minutes to seal the victory.
 
The two CCAA travel partners will switch locations. HSU will travel to face Cal State San Bernardino in the rematch next Saturday, Dec. 20, at Coussoulis Arena. The game has a 5 p.m. tipoff.