Box Score ARCATA – With a festive crowd wearing pink in honor of Play 4 Kay Night, Humboldt State suffered from a tough night on the floor as Cal State Monterey Bay pulled off a surprising 70-63 victory.
After the opening 4:27 with an eight-point lead, the Lumberjacks lost its momentum and could not regain it in enough time to win and extend their winning streak on the breast cancer awareness pink evening.
"It was a huge loss for us to give up on our home court. Monterey Bay came in to win and did what was necessary," said HSU head coach
Joddie Gleason. "We dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half."
The HSU (11-9/8-8 California Collegiate Athletic Association) hole was a 22-point turnaround from the opening minutes. With the 11-3 early advantage, the Jacks were outscored 38-16 over the final 15 minutes of the first half for a 41-27 halftime deficit.
The home team pulled to within three points, 61-58, with 47 seconds remaining, but could get no closer to the upset-minded Otters (5-14/2-14 CCAA).
"Our shot selection and defending allowed them to scored 41 points in the first half and that is too many. We did not play with passion to win and didn't defend," noted Gleason. We had opportunities to score and missed players cutting and turned it over. We worked to get back to a one-possession game and then fouled when we didn't want to do so. We just were not being mentally tough enough."
Center
Megan Shields led HSU with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. The junior made eight of 13 tries and blocked four shots.
Despite a tough night from the floor shooting,
Kersey Wilcox finished with 15 points with nine of nine from the foul line. She added six assists and three steals.
Amanda Kunst chipped in eight points and
Jain Tuey seven. Dani Gaumer grabbed seven rebounds.
Chezla Self paced Cal State Monterey Bay with 19 points and nine boards in her team's second win in the past three months.
HSU will be on the road next week starting on Friday night in a 5:30 p.m. game at San Francisco State.
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